Golden Ticket Sports and its owners are excited about what the future holds after the City of Moose Jaw announced that would be taking over the lease and operations at the Hillcrest Sports Centre. 

City council approved the lease agreement at their meeting on Monday night.

Co-owners Tanner Brightman and Chris King met in 2013 while taking their national basketball coaching certificate. After coaching together on Basketball Saskatchewan’s U15 Development Team in the summer of 2018, they partnered to start Golden Ticket Sports in the fall of 2019. 

The company started out coaching and education-based, as they worked with provincial organizations to host conferences and clinics. 

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, they started to branch out to sports facilities with their first being the Hoop Factory in Lloydminster, which eventually spawned into the goal of coming into Moose Jaw and ultimately the Hillcrest Sports Centre. 

Brightman said when he was coaching the boys’ provincial teams, he would bring practices to Moose Jaw because he loved the city and what it had to offer. So, when the Hillcrest Centre became available, he and King jumped at the opportunity. 

“The first thing was just the city and the people that we knew here and then the space. I mean the space has so much potential,” Brightman said.  

“I'm sitting in it here right now as I watched the guys drop off the first load of hardwood and, oh man, there’s just got so much cool opportunity here.” 

female locker rooms will be getting new tiling, new fixtures and the lockers will either be replaced or touched up depending on their condition and the exterior of the building will be painted.