The Winnipeg Storm Basketball Club which is a community based team located in Winnipeg and represents the Chinese community for the Province of Manitoba. After a 1 year hiatus due to cost and distance (Boston 2011) they returned to participate in the 32nd Annual North American Chinese Basketball Association Invitational Tournament (for more information go to www.nacbait.com) which was held at the Richmond Olympic Oval in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on the USA Memorial Day Long Weekend from Friday, May 25 - Monday, May 28, 2012. 
The Winnipeg Storm sent 3 teams (Men's Open Division, Men's Senior 35 and over Division and 18 Under Junior Boys Division) to this prestigious tournament. The Men's Open team who were semi-finalists 2 years ago in Toronto did not get similar results and success this time around as they struggled out of round robin play and did not advance into the play-offs after losing to NY USAB "B" in overtime, Los Angeles Blob City and Vancouver Boiling Point who eventually went on to win the Division in the end.
The Men's Senior 35 and Over team had high expectations as their team had more talent than the team from 2010 but yet had a similar fate as the Men's Open as they failed to advance to the play-offs. They lost in the round robin to Toronto CCYAA (5 -time Defending Champs), Seattle Bladewalkers and in the quarter-final play-in game they lost to their nemeisis Boston Knights in double overtime heartbreaker by 2 points which knocked them out of play-off contention. The lone bright spot in the tournament for the organization was the 18 Under Junior Boys team who were drawn into the toughest pool (NY USAB defending champions and Washington DC CYC who was dubbed "the best 18 Under Junior Boys Team ever assembled").
The Winnipeg Storm 18U Boys had the jitters for their first game against Wasington CYC possibly from the hype of the tournament and possibly the hype of their first opponent after keeping it close in the first half but eventually losing to close to 20 points due to frustration by the physicality of the game and how the game was called and in order to succeed the rest of the way they would need to adjust their mindset and strategy. From this loss they got bumped to the consolation side and in order to make play-offs and get back to the Championship side they would take the long route and need to win the next 2 games to get into the semi-finals. Coach Eric Sung never wavered and had confidence that the boys would bounce back in the next game against Vancouver Strathcona. The boys bounced back in a big way by coming out aggressive and mentally focused as they pressed their opponents and made them turn the ball over countless times. In the end after a great group effort the boys won by close to 40 points. In the next game against Philadelphia Suns the boys continued their hot streak from where they left off in their last game and came out with a vengeance and would not be denied a spot in the semi-finals as they won to the tune of 30 points and much needed confidence. Their semi-final opponent was a familiar foe from their first round robin game the Washington DC CYC. The boys had confidence that the first game and result was not a true indication of the discrepancy in talent between the two squads. This held true as the Winnipeg came out guns a blazing led by the serious pressure defense from JH Bruns Collegiate guard Steven Tran and former John Taylor Piper guard Derek Sin. From their top pressure alone made the opposing guards make timely mistakes and gave Winnipeg good looks at the basket especially scoring machine Jonathan Chan from Fort Richmond Collegiate. Factor in the intense rebounding by Fort Richmond Collegiate forward Riley Sova (Wong) and shut down interior defense on Washington DC CYC 's highly regarded MVP Robbie Lim and the poise of Stonewall Collegiate's point guard Quinton Ngo the game was almost deadlocked at half due to a serious run near the end of the first half by Washington DC CYC. After a defensive adjustment by midway in the second half by Washington DC CYC and some fatigue set in by Winnipeg from the extra game they needed to play to advance into the semi-final turned the tide around for their opponent as they pulled away by going to the free throw line numrous times. In the end the longer bench and fatigue hurt the Winnipeg Storm 18U Junior Boys and lost by 15 points. The game was closer than the score indicated and these kids represented Winnipeg with well and with class by finishing with a respectable 3rd place in North America. Congrats goes to shooting guard Jonathan Chan who was selected an All-NACBAIT Tournament All-Star.
With more than half of their roster returning for next year's tournament in Minneapolis 2013, the team looks from this year's experience to improve on their result. This bolds well for all of the teams in the Winnpeg Storm family. They are also possibly looking to add 2 more teams for 2013 in the form of Men's Recreational Division and a Woman's Division.
We are always looking for new players for any of our teams. Any interested players please do not hestitate to call the Winnipeg Storm team organizer's Eleazar Chan at (204) 297-2332 or Alain Wang at (204) 229-8665. Thank you for your interest.