Niagara River Lions’ president Michelle Biskup finds it hard to fathom the Canadian Elite Basketball League franchise will celebrate its 10th anniversary this summer.

“It feels like we were just talking about the fifth anniversary and all of a sudden it’s 10. Time flies when you’re having fun and it’s hard to believe the River Lions have been here 10 years but it’s really neat to look back and see where we’ve grown,” she said. “In doing this 10-year announcement, I was looking at a lot of old photos and videos and it was ‘Omigod. The stands were that empty?’ It’s hard to remember those times. Sometimes you have to take a moment to reflect on where we came from and how we got here and remember all the hard work that was put in to get us where we are.”

The River Lions have clearly become entrenched in the local sports landscape and Biskup finds it hard to determine when the exact tipping point was in the franchise’s upward trajectory.

“It is hard to pinpoint one TSN (we say BPSN) Turning Point, especially because COVID was right in the middle of that. We had a couple strange seasons when one summer was no fans and the next one we could have a 1,000 fans and then we were back to normal,” she said. “I would say it has happened in the last couple of years and it is due to a few different things. It’s our success on the court — we have proven to be a winning franchise — and Victor (head/coach GM Raso) has done a really good job of keeping a consistent roster. We are one of the few teams that always has a good returning core and this year we will have the most returnees. And the love of basketball in Canada is growing. The last couple of years has been great and the goal is to keep pushing that.”

The biggest news related to the 10th anniversary is a major transformation to the seating layout at the Meridian Centre. The team will be centering the court to create an enhanced game-day experience, offer improved sightlines, greater accessibility and a more immersive atmosphere. The Jumbotron will now we centered over centre court.

“If anyone has been to the Globetrotters or a Brock game there, the court has always been centered. The biggest difference is where someone’s section would have been in the past at centre court. They may be bumped over one but before we did the public announcement of the court move, we contacted all the season ticket holders to give them the opportunity first to move over their seats. Courtside people won’t notice a difference.”

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