Hotwire cancellation forces Maritime basketball teams to leave U.S. early

A group of young Nova Scotia and New Brunswick basketball players and their parents have decided to leave New Jersey early, following problems with their hotel reservations.

Colter Simmonds, founder and director of the We Will Win Youth Association, says the group hasn't been able to secure rooms for Sunday night.

The group encountered problems Friday when they arrived at the Crowne Plaza, only to find out the 17 rooms they say they paid for through Hotwire had been cancelled. 

Simmonds says the group spent hours trying to find a place to stay Friday and Saturday. 

Hotwire says they are looking into the issue. 

"It makes no sense of going through the stress of another night," he said. 

"It's been terribly frustrating just to feel like you're left out in the cold with a bunch of kids and their parents that have worked hard to make the trips that we have gone on happen."

The tournament is finishing Sunday afternoon and Simmonds says the plan is to drive through the night with parents rotating shifts driving.

He says they had to change arrangements for their bus as well since they had been planning to drive back Monday. 

More than 40 players, ranging in age from 12 to 15, travelled from the Halifax-area and Windsor, N.S., as well as Moncton, N.B. to Neptune, N.J.to participate in the Under Armour Hoop Group Jam Fest, which has also attracted teams from several northeastern U.S. states.

The group fundraised $5,000 to go on the trip.

Simmonds says the group has been loyal to Hotwire when booking because of the company's low rates but now he feels betrayed.

"The lesson I think is that sometimes the people and the things you trust to work are not actually in your corner when you need them," he said. 

He says players are keeping their spirits up and volunteers and parents are trying to keep them sheltered from the dispute with Hotwire.

"I tried to make sure they didn't see that and feel like they weren't being valued," he said.