Toronto Chinese Women’s Basketball Team Captures North American Championship in Boston

On Monday May 29th 2006, the CCYAA’s Women’s team captured the 26th Annual North American Chinese Basketball Association Invitational Tournament Championship (www.nacbait.com) for the first time in club history in Boston, Massachusetts. Having competed previously for the past 8 years, the CCYAA team has finished as high as 2nd place (1999) but has never managed to capture the championship.

They defeated San Francisco Red Coach at the Reggie Lewis Memorial Community Centre in the finals 44-40 with tournament MVP Cecilia Chan going for 20 points.

The caliber of play in the women’s bracket is very high with most teams featuring at least a few NCAA players on their respective rosters. The CCYAA team is comprised of a group of high school and college-aged players with roots in Toronto’s Chinese community. Three of its key players are former Toronto Star High School All-Stars:

Guard Christine Vuong played for Grand Valley State in Michigan before transferring to play with the Windsor Lancers. Forward Kimberly Lee has led the Waterloo Warriors in scoring average for the past two seasons.

2006 NACBAIT Tournament MVP Cecilia Chan played 4 years on a full NCAA scholarship at Alaska-Fairbanks where she captured Great Northwest Athletic Conference player of the week honours in December 2003. Since then, she has moved to California and has become a personal trainer and body builder.

In addition to the women’s team, the CCYAA also had success with their other teams representing Toronto in various divisions of the tournament which attracted over 60 teams this year.

CCYAA Youth: Finalists (18 & under)
Toronto Dragons: Semi-finalists (Men’s open)
CCYAA Masters: Semi-finalists (35 & over)
CCYAA Girls: Semi-finalists (Liberty Division)

On heels of this successful initiative, the CCYAA will be hosting the 15th Annual Overseas Chinese Basketball Tournament (the largest Chinese basketball tournament in Canada) on July 28th – 30th at the University of Toronto and Ryerson University. For more information on the tournament or the CCYAA, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 416 845-8933.