- North East Chinese Basketball League
-
The North East Chinese Basketball League was formed on August 8 2008 with sponsorship from the non-profit organization GAPS Foundation. It features Chinese American players in the North East United States.
Contents
History
At about the same time Chinese students were immigrating in large numbers to the United States during the late 1980s, basketball was becoming an international sporting attraction. Players such as Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley and Karl Malone were not only American basketball idols, but were also supported in China. Starting in 1999, Chinese stars like Wang ZhiZhi and Mengke Bateer entered the scenes of the National Basketball Association and immediately caused a surge of interest among Chinese fans. In 2002, Yao Ming became the #1 Draft and successfully competed in the challenging NBA. Since then, he has continued to inspire Chinese in China, Chinese in the US, Americans and fans across the world.[1]
Formation
Additionally, in 2007, another Chinese star - Yi Jian Lian - entered the scene and had an outstanding season. On 8 August 2008, as China and global citizens are participating the start of the Beijing XXIX Olympic Games, Chinese people celebrated in the United States by publicly announcing 8/8/08 as "Official North-East Chinese Basketball League Formation Date."[1]
The annual games, and especially the charity component, are endorsed by senior executives and star athletes of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). Li Nan (李楠), star player for the Bayi Rockets, said the following: “我向所有参加 '北美中国篮球联赛' 的华人朋友们和现场为汶川捐款的朋友致敬！也希望他们的北美篮球联赛越办越好，参加的球队越来越多，你们的义举已经超越的篮球赛本身的意义，欢迎你们有机会也回国观看中国国家队和CBA比赛。” David Yang, Corporate Vice President of NBA China, was quoted: "...he's just been great - especially with forming the North East Chinese Basketball Tournament. I used to live in Philadelphia and New York City - so I know Interstate 95 well. The annual games are a great idea - I hope it can grow and encourage more to come out and play. You never know who you're going to be able to meet!" [1]
Competitions
Each year, all NECBL participating teams will pay a registration fee, which will actually be donated to various charities.[1]
The first years games (April 19 2008) were held in Aston, Pennsylvania and composed of Drexel University, West Philly, Temple University CSSA, University of Pennsylvania (Bronze), South New Jersey (Silver), and the University of Delaware (Gold). [1]
The 2nd Annual NECBL Tournament was hosted by China Club of Delaware[2] on April 11 2009 and composed of Temple University CSSA, George Washington University, Towson University CSSA, Johns Hopkins University CSSA (Best Cheerleading Team), Lehigh University (Bronze), South New Jersey (Silver), and University of Pennsylvania (MVP Lu Chao) (Gold).[1]
The 3rd Annual Competition was organized by Mr. Wenxiao Li and the China Club of Delaware student association on April 25, 2010. The participating teams included SUNY Stony Brook, Johns Hopkins University CSSA, West Virginia University, Temple University CSSA, China Club of Delaware, University of Pennsylvania, University of Pittsburgh, University of Maryland (Best Cheerleading Team), Princeton University (Semi-finalist), Stevens Institute of Technology (Semi-finalist), Lehigh University (Silver Medal), and UDCBA captained by Mr. Nan Wang (Gold Medal). Ke Du of the Stevens Institute of Technology won the 2010 NECBL Three-point Shootout.
The 2011 Tournament, the largest since NECBL's formation, is organized by Ms. Shuo Chen (& the China Club of Delaware student association [2]), Mr. Mark Lin, Mr. Wenxiao Li, Mr. Peter Du, and Mr. Dong Dong. The 4th annual competition will take place April 9th at the University of Delaware Carpenter Sports Building [3]. The 16 participating teams include Johns Hopkins University CSSA, West Virginia University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Pittsburgh, University of Maryland, Princeton University, Stevens Institute of Technology , Lehigh University, George Washington University, Rutgers University, Towson University, Syracuse University, New Jersey Institute of Technology, University of Rochester, and the University of Delaware. Part of this year's registration fee will be donated to commemorate the 2010 Yushu earthquake in Qinghai, China which occurred April 14, 2010. Central Michigan University received Gold medal, Stevens University received Silver medal, Syracuse University received Bronze.
References
- ^ a b c d e "NECBL.pdf (application/pdf Object)". http://udel.edu/stu-org/ccd/docs/NECBL.pdf. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
- ^ "Welcome to CCD Website". http://udel.edu/stu-org/ccd/index.html. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
External links
Categories:- Basketball leagues in the United States
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
