The Bedford Road Invitational Tournament (BRIT) is a boy's high school basketball tournaments in Canada. It takes place every January at Bedford Road Collegiate in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The current format has 12 schools take part in the tournament. Some notable alumni of BRIT include Martin Riley, Brent Charleton, Karl Tilleman, John Hatch, Byron Tokarchuk, Eric Mobley, and Robert Sacre.
History The Bedford Road Invitational Tournament, held annually at Bedford Road Collegiate in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, is one of Canada's most prestigious high school basketball tournaments. Founded in 1968, BRIT originally featured only local Saskatoon high schools before expanding to include teams from across Saskatchewan and beyond.
Expansion and national reach In 1969, schools from Regina and Weyburn were invited, turning the tournament into a province-wide event. By 1972, out-of-province teams such as Sisler High School from Winnipeg and Calgary's E.P. Scarlett began competing, marking BRIT's transformation into a national tournament.
In 1975, the tournament moved from December to its now-traditional January slot. Over the late 1970s and early 1980s, teams from British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec began participating regularly.
International participation The first non-Canadian team to participate in BRIT were the New York Gauchos in 1988. The Gauchos were an Amateur Athletic Union club team of students from various high schools rather than a school team, and they dominated the tournament, winning easily. The Castle Hill Kings, also from New York City, participated in 1993.
The first non-North American team, The Scots College from Sydney, Australia, played in the 2004 tournament. They returned for the 2007, 2012, and 2015 tournaments.
Recent developments The tournament was cancelled for the first time in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2022 tournament was cancelled for the same reason. The tournament resumed in 2023. In 2024 the Walter Murray Marauders won the BRIT54 Championship, defeating city rivals Holy Cross in only the third all-Saskatoon final.
Champions YearSchoolCityProvince1968Bedford Road CollegiateSaskatoonSaskatchewan1969Sheldon-Williams CollegiateReginaSaskatchewan1970Sheldon-Williams CollegiateReginaSaskatchewan1971Mount Royal CollegiateSaskatoonSaskatchewan1972Sisler High SchoolWinnipegManitoba1973Sheldon-Williams CollegiateReginaSaskatchewan1975Sheldon-Williams CollegiateReginaSaskatchewan1976Sheldon-Williams CollegiateReginaSaskatchewan1977Burnaby South Secondary School BurnabyBritish Columbia1978Sir Winston Churchill High SchoolCalgaryAlberta1979Mennonite Educational InstituteClearbrookBritish Columbia1980Mennonite Educational InstituteClearbrookBritish Columbia1981Bell High School OttawaOntario1982Bell High SchoolOttawaOntario1983 St. Pius X High SchoolOttawaOntario1984Dr. E.P. Scarlett High SchoolCalgaryAlberta1985M.E. LaZerte High SchoolEdmontonAlberta1986M.E. LaZerte High SchoolEdmontonAlberta1987Kelvin High SchoolWinnipegManitoba1988New York Gauchos (an Amateur Athletic Union club rather than a high school team)New YorkNew York1989Windsor Park CollegiateWinnipegManitoba1990Walter Murray CollegiateSaskatoonSaskatchewan1991Harry Ainlay Composite High SchoolEdmontonAlberta1992Harry Ainlay Composite High SchoolEdmontonAlberta1993Nepean High SchoolOttawaOntario1994Pitt Meadows Secondary SchoolPitt MeadowsBritish Columbia1995 Bishop Carroll High SchoolCalgaryAlberta1996M.E. LaZerte High SchoolEdmontonAlberta1997Holy Cross High SchoolSaskatoonSaskatchewan1998Carson Graham Secondary SchoolNorth VancouverBritish Columbia1999Balfour CollegiateReginaSaskatchewan2000Ross Sheppard High SchoolEdmontonAlberta2001Ross Sheppard High SchoolEdmontonAlberta2002Lester B. Pearson High School CalgaryAlberta2003 Holy Cross High SchoolSaskatoonSaskatchewan2004Holy Cross High School SaskatoonSaskatchewan2005Handsworth Secondary SchoolNorth VancouverBritish Columbia2006Handsworth Secondary SchoolNorth VancouverBritish Columbia2007Handsworth Secondary SchoolNorth VancouverBritish Columbia2008Vancouver CollegeVancouverBritish Columbia2009Vancouver CollegeVancouverBritish Columbia2010Pitt Meadows Secondary SchoolPitt MeadowsBritish Columbia2011 St. George's SchoolVancouverBritish Columbia2012The Scots CollegeSydneyNew South Wales2013Calgary Sir Winston ChurchillCalgaryAlberta2014Dr. Martin LeBoldus High SchoolReginaSaskatchewan2015Dr. Martin LeBoldus High SchoolReginaSaskatchewan2016Archbishop O'Leary Catholic High SchoolEdmontonAlberta2017St. Francis Xavier High School EdmontonAlberta2018Handsworth Secondary SchoolNorth VancouverBritish Columbia2019Bishop McNally High SchoolCalgaryAlberta2020Handsworth Secondary SchoolNorth VancouverBritish Columbia2021Cancelled due to COVID-192022Cancelled due to COVID-192023Raymond High SchoolRaymondAlberta2024Walter Murray CollegiateSaskatoonSaskatchewan2025St. Francis Xavier High SchoolEdmontonAlberta2026Magrath High SchoolMagrathAlberta
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