{"id":609391,"date":"2026-04-17T03:21:06","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T03:21:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/609391\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T03:21:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T03:21:06","slug":"basketball-legend-superfan-nav-bhatia-partners-with-the-brampton-honey-badgers-as-community-ambassador","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/609391\/","title":{"rendered":"Basketball Legend Superfan Nav Bhatia Partners With The Brampton Honey Badgers as Community Ambassador"},"content":{"rendered":"

Calgary Surge Strengthen 2026 Coaching Staff With Championship-Level Experience<\/a> <\/p>\n

April 15, 2026\n<\/p>\n

The Calgary Surge of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) announced today their coaching staff for the 2026 season, adding a blend of professional, university, and international experience to the organization\u2019s bench. Joining the Surge and Head Coach Perry Huang for the 2026 campaign are Sidney Dobner, David DeAveiro, and returning assistant coach Kenny Otieno. Otieno returns to the Surge after a strong 2025 season with the club. A former standout at the University of Alberta, he helped lead the Golden Bears to a Canada West Championship and U SPORTS national bronze medal. He most recently played for the Edmonton Stingers at the professional level. Following his playing career, Otieno transitioned into coaching with both the Edmonton Stingers and University of Lethbridge Pronghorns, where he eventually became the program\u2019s head coach in 2023. He brings a strong foundation in player development, scouting, and defensive structure. \u201cI\u2019m looking forward to my secon d year with the Surge! Last year was special even though we fell short of our championship goal,\u201d said Otieno. \u201cI\u2019m excited to run it back this season with a reloaded team and a great staff. We appreciate the continued support of our fans and look forward to seeing them this summer!\u201d Dobner joins the Surge after coaching in the NBA and NBA G League system, most recently with the Stockton Kings. She previously worked within the Milwaukee Bucks organization, advancing from player development and video roles with the Wisconsin Herd before becoming the first female assistant coach in Milwaukee Bucks history in 2023. Dobner served in a developmental role during the franchise\u2019s 2021 NBA Championship-winning season. Dobner has also worked in NBA Summer League and pre-draft environments, specializing in film breakdown, scouting, and player development. \u201cI am grateful for the opportunity to join the Calgary Surge and be part of a group that\u2019s hungry to compete,\u201d said Dobner. \u201cIt\u2019s special to be back in Canada, and I\u2019m looking forward to bringing energy, attention to detail, and a winning mindset as we build something special this season.\u201d DeAveiro brings over two decades of coaching experience across U SPORTS, Canada Basketball, and the CEBL. He is currently the head coach of the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold, and previously led both the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees and McGill University, combining for over 400 career wins, multiple conference championships, and eight U SPORTS Final 8 appearances. At McGill, he captured five RSEQ titles and while at the University of Ottawa he set the program\u2019s all-time wins record. Internationally, DeAveiro has coached with Canada Basketball at multiple FIBA events. He has also held multiple coaching roles in the CEBL with the Ottawa BlackJacks. In 2025, he reached his 500th U SPORTS career win, ranking among the winningest coaches in Canadian university basketball history. \u201cI\u2019m excited for the opportunity to join the Surge coaching staff and help bring a championship to the city of Calgary,\u201d said DeAveiro. The Calgary Surge continues to prioritize building a coaching staff that reflects the organization\u2019s core values of community, development, and competitive excellence. With a blend of continuity and new leadership, the 2026 staff is well-positioned to support the team\u2019s pursuit of a CEBL championship. ### About REAL Entertainment & Culture Inc. & the Calgary Surge REAL Entertainment & Culture Inc. (REC) is a professional sports and live entertainment company co-founded by Jason Ribeiro that operates the Calgary Surge Professional Basketball Club and REAL Studios. The Calgary Surge tipped off their inaugural season at WinSport Event Centre in May 2023, after originating as the Guelph Nighthawks, one of the founding members of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL). The Surge are active members of the community and have participated in a few hundred events (and counting) around the city that connect the team with diverse communities through sport, entertainment, and arts and culture. Over three seasons, the Surge have made three straight CEBL Championship Weekend appearances, were crowned Western Conference Champions in 2023 and 2025, hold the league\u2019s single-game attendance record, and have sent over 6500 deserving kids and families to their games for free. For more information, visit www.calgarysurge.ca .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Calgary Surge Strengthen 2026 Coaching Staff With Championship-Level Experience April 15, 2026 The Calgary Surge of the Canadian…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":609392,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194339],"tags":[51759,49,48],"class_list":["post-609391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brampton","tag-brampton","tag-ca","tag-canada"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=609391"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609391\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/609392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=609391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=609391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=609391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}