Surge stalwarts hope to lead WCBL club back to the finals in 2026

There will be several new faces at the Calgary Surge's training camp this Sunday.

The Calgary Surge open up training camp on Sunday at the MNP Centre, with some familiar faces on hand for the upcoming 2026 season -- and a few new ones, too.

Evan Gilyard is just back from winning the NBA G League championship. Gilyard and the Greensboro Swarm defeated the Stockton Kings to in the league final.

Gilyard said he’s still basking in the glory of going all the way with Greensboro.

“Feels great, feels amazing to be able to get the job done,” he said. “Took a little while while being a professional (basketball player) but we finally got it done.”

The 5′10 guard is returning to Calgary for a second season, and now that Gilyard has had a taste of championship basketball, he wants to bring the Surge -- and Calgary -- a title.

“I want it bad,” he said. “We got to the championship last year. I felt we worked hard and got to the point we wanted to be, we just didn’t finish the job so it would be amazing to get back there and be able to finish the job this year.”

But to “just learning and growing from our last experience, having a better mindset going into it and being more of a team and staying together collectively and staying together even when things start going down the drain a little bit.”

New faces

The Surge will have several new faces this season and some of those players were on the court on Thursday at the MNP Centre to get in a workout before camp starts on Sunday.

Forward Caelum Swanton-Rodger comes to the Surge from Old Dominion University. The Calgarian played his high school basketball at the Edge School.

“I’m unbelievably excited,” said Swanton-Rodger. “It’s been a very long time since I’ve been home for more than like three days, so getting the opportunity to be home and play in my city is unbelievably exciting.”

Joshua Francis is also an Edge School graduate.

The Calgarian watched the Surge growing up and now he gets to wear their jersey.

“It’s crazy,” Francis said. “You say that because I remember being with my mom and watching the Surge on TV.

“I think they played Scarborough one time and I was like, ‘this is incredible!” and ‘maybe one day’ -- and two years later, here I am.

“I’m just grateful for the opportunity and grateful to be here.”

The Surge open their regular season May 12 in Ottawa, with their home opener set for May 28 at WinSport against the Scarborough Shooting Stars.

-- With files from CTV’s Glenn Campbell