Moose Jaw businesses on edge as Hoopla cancellation looms

As the scheduled date of Saskatchewan’s high school basketball provincials draws near, the uncertainty has many businesses in Moose Jaw on edge.

The “Hoopla” host city has been planning around the event for over a year, and now the standstill between Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF) and the government has thrown a wrench in those plans.

“After a few years of not seeing anything like this in our city the last year, having these things come back, has been pretty impactful,” Executive Director of Tourism Moose Jaw, Jacki L’Heureux-Mason said.

“So having 750 kids which they all have families and coaches, we were anticipating about 2,000 - 2,500 people.”

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Planned province wide strike action for March 20 as well as the withdrawal of extracurricular supervision on March 21 and 22nd threatens Hoopla’s prospects of proceeding this weekend.

Something the City of Moose Jaw sees as a major issue for its businesses.

Mayor Clive Tolley chimed into the conversation on Tuesday morning.

“Well, if, in fact, there’s no Hoopla this weekend that means a lot of children won’t be able to participate in competitions in Moose Jaw, and it’ll affect the Moose Jaw economy in that our hotels won’t be full. Our restaurants won’t be filled,” he said.

“Other than the fact that we prefer positive promotion of things great happening here, the economics benefit is massive,” L’Heureux Mason added.

In response to the STF’s strike action announcement on Monday, the Saskatchewan High School Athletics Association (SHSAA) stated that unless the collective bargaining impasse is solved, the tournament will be cancelled.

“A lot of these restaurants will have made their orders already. They’re going to have freezers full of food and staff that’s looking for hours and I mean that’s not even mentioning the impact it’s going to have on these kids,” L’Heureux Mason said.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the fate of the tournament is still undecided.

Saskatchewan’s Hoopla tournament sees an average of 750 athletes, managers and coaches from 48 teams compete for provincial titles every year.

The SHSAA took to X on Monday to make a plea for both the STF and the province to reach an agreement and suspend sanctions.

“It will be extremely disappointing if the two sides cannot come to an arrangement that will allow the sanctions to be lifted,” the statement read. “The negative economic impact will be vast.”

Those in Moose Jaw are trying to remain optimistic as they await a final decision. The SHSAA has said it will be forced to cancel the tournament if the situation is not rectified by 3 p.m. on Wednesday, March 19.