Surge’s Holiday Party Continues Their Commitment To Local Communities

The CEBL’s Calgary Surge hosted a Holiday Pajama Party at the Genesis Centre this past Sunday, and the event was a huge hit.

Coined, “a magical day for the kids that’ll be about the memories they get to take home,” before the event by Brittany Easton, Senior Vice President of the Surge, the special day lived up to that and more.

The event was executed in partnership with Calgary Meals on Wheels, a local not-for-profit organization, to provide a fun and free holiday event for families across Calgary.

Sunday was the latest in a long list of community initiatives the Surge have involved themselves in during the short time they’ve been in the city. After relocating from Guelph, Ontario, to Calgary in October of 2022, the Surge have engaged in over 100 community events.

That should come as no surprise, considering community partnership has been a core value of the basketball team. From the moment they set foot in the city nearly a year ago, they made it a priority to interact with Calgarians and understand what they could do to give back.

“We got into as many places as possible and we truly just listened,” Easton said. “Listening eventually turned into implementation and that really helped set us up for success. We listened to what Calgary needed and did our best to deliver what we had to offer.”

Over the 12 months that followed since those initial conversations, the Surge have offered a wide variety of programming intended to make sports and other activities accessible to all Calgarians.

The Surge Assist program in partnership with Kids Up Front, for instance, helped over 900 kids and their families experience Surge games for free throughout the CEBL season.

There’s also the NET GAINZ initiative the team started to help grow the game of basketball in and around the Calgary area. Through NET GAINZ, they helped raise over $10,000 to support low-income families with registering their kids into basketball programming.

Sunday’s Holiday Pajama Party was another instance in which the Surge brought the community together for a fun and accessible event. The idea for the event branched off from their free in-season watch parties for away games, held throughout the summer at the Genesis Centre.

“We always threw a big party in the plaza just outside the venue and everyone was so sad that the season was over,” said Easton. “We missed the parties and meeting with all of our partners.”

That thought led to a conversation with local partner Meals on Wheels which resulted in the Surge’s first off-season holiday event this past weekend.

Not long after that plan started coming to life, other community organizations started jumping on board to participate. Groups like Siksika Health Services, Parachutes For Pets, and Calgary Fire and Police, among others, committed to helping out with the festivities.

The outpouring of support from local organizations and families throughout the season and after is something the team is especially grateful for this holiday season.

“I don't think we truly anticipated that we would have such an overwhelming response from our community,” said Easton. “At the end of the day if we didn’t have the community behind us, then we would have never had this success that we had. I think that just goes to show how dialed in and connected we are with the folks here in Calgary.”

What’s made the connection even stronger is the buy-in from players to the city and vice-versa. Many Players have taken part in events throughout the year such as making meals at Ronald McDonald House or helping in a city-wide cleanup that was done in conjunction with the Surge’s presenting sponsor Zeno Renewables.

It’s evident that through events like those and the consistent showing at home games, that players were left impacted in a positive way.

Just days after the season concluded for the Surge, members of the team took part in the unveiling of a new Sport Court in downtown Calgary. During that ceremony, unprompted, players began expressing their gratitude for the city and its people, making sure to thank everyone for their contributions.

Calgarians continued to show their support for the Surge this Sunday at the event that was described as an ‘early holiday party’. Free to the public, there were multiple stations that included activities such as ornament making, writing letters to Santa, and other crafting fun. Pajamas weren’t mandatory, but encouraged, and even team mascot Surgio was rocking some festive pajamas himself.

The hoop heads in attendance were drawn to the Surge Corner, an interactive segment of the event for people to show off their basketball skills and even win some prizes such as signed merchandise.

One of the premier prizes dished out was tickets to the Surge’s home opener next season that’s set to take place at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

For anyone interested in learning more about the work the Surge have done in the community throughout the year and how they can get involved, check out the team’s 2023 impact report.