First locally schooled Hong Kong woman to play basketball in America’s NCAA on her dream come true, and the coach who helped it happen

During Lunar New Year people wish their loved ones good health, happiness and hope their wishes will come true.

For 19-year-old Yannie Chan Yan-man, the Year of the Ox has already seen her dream become reality with the help of her coach, William Lo Wing-kwan, 34.

She will be the first locally schooled Hong Kong woman to play basketball in the prestigious women’s NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) tournament in the United States, having been awarded a four-year partial academic scholarship to study at Emmanuel College in Boston on the strength of her basketball skills and academic performance. She plans to study sports management, starting in August.

Two other women from Hong Kong, both of them graduates of Hong Kong International School, have played basketball in the NCAA since 1996.

“After coming back home from my grandparents’ house around 9pm, Will called me and told me to get on a Zoom call right away,” Chan says. “And then the coach [of Emmanuel College] said, ‘I have good news for you. Emmanuel accepted you as a basketball player.’”

Needless to say, tears were shed. “Will and I are so happy, it’s like a dream come true moment for both of us,” Chan says. “All the people here, we have been working very hard for more than a year for this, so it was really exciting when the coach said, ‘Yes, you are accepted.’

Fish curry for 5.6 million: ‘ordinary food’ makes Hong Kong mum a YouTube star

“When my mum opened the door, I was crying and I said, ‘Mum I did it! They accepted me!’ and my mum said, ‘Congratulations – just don’t cry on the first day of Chinese New Year.’”

Andy Yosinoff is the coach who recruited Chan. He has an impressive 44-year career as a college basketball coach and was the first women’s coach to log 850 wins in the NCAA’s Division 3, which is made up of institutions that do not offer athletic scholarships (Chan will play in this division). The NCAA is an amateur league, but players with exceptional talent can move on to the famed National Basketball Association.

Yosinoff saw a video of Chan playing and despite the ongoing global pandemic and the impossibility of meeting her in person, he reached out halfway around the world to invite her to join the college’s Saints team.

Coach Lo beams with pride at the thought that his first female basketball student has begun achieving his vision of nurturing women’s sports in Hong Kong. It has been a two-year journey of hard work involving lots of sweat and dedication for both of them.

When she was a child, Chan’s parents bought her a small basketball hoop and she learned how to dribble and shoot the ball. Growing up in Tai Po, in Hong Kong’s New Territories, she had a lot of space to play outdoors.

“I always like to challenge myself, especially on the court. I feel pure happiness when I dribble and shoot on the court,” Chan says. 

“I remember in primary school my coach made a difficult shot and I tried it for many days. Once I did it I was very satisfied. I love the feeling of success on the court, even just making a simple shot or trick shot. That happiness can’t be replaced.”

Chan went to Heep Yunn School in To Kwa Wan and was chosen to play in the school’s basketball team, competing against other secondary schools.

About two years ago, Chan’s former school coach introduced her to Lo, who is also a co-owner of Strive Fitness in Wong Chuk Hang. Lo invited her to train in his strength and conditioning classes.

He was on a mission to find and train young women players. “I always wanted to do something for Hong Kong sports,” he says. “In terms of girls, I saw so much talent and I knew they could make it to the NCAA.”

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Lo had learning difficulties as a child, and aged nine he was diagnosed with dyslexia and ADD (attention deficit disorder). His American mother, who also has ADD, knew Lo would do better in an American school where he would get more attention in smaller classes.

When he was 15, Lo went to boarding school in the US state of New Jersey. He thrived academically and excelled at basketball. He went on to Manhattanville College, a liberal arts college in New York in 2005, and played in the NCAA’s Division 3 for three years, but he says he didn’t have “a great coach”, which made him determined to be a good coach to others.

“I try to let the athlete find themselves and that takes time. I believe in letting the athlete fail or ‘wobble’, but parents and athletes want a quick fix. But a master coach is a guide, to tailor the environment for you to learn, and learn skills.”

Lo set up Strive Fitness in 2014. The only fitness centre in Hong Kong with a mini basketball court, it provides strength and conditioning training including to some of the top basketball players in Hong Kong, as well as several Olympic athletes.

“I immediately identified [Chan] as someone who could play outside of Hong Kong,” Lo recalls. “She had the athleticism and the height, but she’s really not tall when she leaves Hong Kong. But she possesses the skills of a ‘small person’ or a guard that could be used in the US. She is where I want to put my attention.” 

He asked Chan if she was interested in getting into the NCAA. She and three other 14- and 15-year-old basketball players from Heep Yunn School began training together, under the banner Gold Team, supervised by Lo.

Lo provides technical and tactical training in the sport, as well as tips for motivation, recovery, nutrition and self-confidence.

He says if he can get Chan into the NCAA during the pandemic, he can help many more female basketball players in the future, which could bode well for Hong Kong.

Chan says Lo helped her hone her skills and boost her confidence. “Before, on the court, I would get very nervous if I made just one mistake. But here, he always says there is no absolute right or wrong, but just your decision at that moment.

“I have a better understanding of the game; I know what choice is good or bad for me and I’m not afraid of making mistakes – these are the nutrition for you to grow and learn. Without this trial and error, you will never grow. I think that’s my major improvement, not only in basketball but also outside the game. The biggest failure would be not trying something you want to do.” 

Chan has been transformed from a lanky teenager into a young woman with a much stronger upper body. She regularly plays against the other coaches and players at Strive Fitness and they are impressed by her skills and strength.

Lo’s wife, Angela Wong On-ying, 39, carves out time on the weekends to help Chan and the other three teenage players with their school work. “Yannie is a wonderful person to help,” Wong says. “She will take what you give her and work 100 per cent.” 

One of the sponsors of Gold Team is Zonta Club of Hong Kong II, whose mission is to advance the status of women. For one of its events, Wong asked Chan to give a speech in front of 200 people. “She took it very seriously,” Wong says. “She knows she will be an example to other girls.” 

After coronavirus, health is your currency. Enter the luxury sport hotel

Wong helps the basketball players with English homework or assignments. “With Yannie I helped her prepare for the interview process, to practice how to answer, how to write a college essay,” she says.

“A lot of people doubted she could do it, that she could get a scholarship, that this might be too big a dream,” Wong says. “When someone wants it that bad you need to help her, and getting the news on Chinese New Year was a gift.”

She believes Chan will be an excellent role model for girls in Hong Kong and her basketball scholarship is inspirational. “This gives hope to the girls, to be able to go abroad and study, see the world, improve their English,” Wong says.

“When they come back to Hong Kong, they will be an asset to us. They are motivated, they have this background, play on a team, can speak Chinese and English.”