Simon Yu doesn't play for the Harlem Globetrotters.
But with the travel schedule he has ahead of him in the next few months with his basketball teams, there's no doubt he will be a world traveler.
Having just returned from a trip to Mexico to unwind with his Prince George friends after another successful season playing for the UBC Thunderbirds, Yu has several foreign basketball ports of call marked on his atlas. On Saturday, the Duchess Park secondary school graduate left for El Salvador to begin a week-long adventure with nine UBC student athletes, building houses for impoverished people.
He'll return to Canada next week, and on May 15 he'll be back in Vancouver Airport with his T-bird teammates to catch a flight to Taiwan for an international tournament in Taipei.
The biggest trip on Yu's itinerary happens in August, when he travels to Shezhen, China as part of Canada's national development team for the FISU University Games. For Yu, a dual Canadian-Chinese citizen who was born in Vancouver and grew up in Prince George, the chance to play for Canada in the country where his father Simon was born is a huge honour, one that could lead to future employment.
"It's an amazing story just how it's come full-circle, playing in Prince George all my life as a little kid, and now I'll be putting on a Canadian jersey to represent Canada in an international tournament in my dad's homeland, it's pretty special," Yu said.
"I'm so happy for me and my family. We've put in so much to this game and we have so many people to thank, like my coaches in Prince George -- Dan Foster, Dave Holmes, John MacDonald. It's pretty special I made it this far."
UBC coach Kevin Hanson is head coach of Team Canada and Yu is the only B.C.-born player on the roster. The team will meet for a training camp in Vancouver the week before the University Games tournament, Aug. 13-17.
The Chinese Basketball Association is one of the world's top professional leagues and Yu is hoping to attract some attention from the scouts. Although pro teams in China are allowed only two foreign players, because Yu holds dual citizenship, he's hoping that will enhance his chances of being picked up.
"I'm definitely looking to play there professionally once I'm done at UBC," he said. "It's going to be a big tournament for me so hopefully I can try to get some looks from some pro teams."
UBC has been to the CIS national championship in each of the four years Yu has played for the T-birds. In 2008 the team finished fifth, followed by back-to-back CIS silver medals. In March, UBC won national bronze in Halifax, defeating the defending-champion Saskatchewan Huskies 111-95 in the medal round. Yu scored seven of his 17 points in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach for the Huskies.
He finished as the second-leading scorer at UBC, averaging 12.8 points per game. He played an average 21.3 minutes per game over 34 games, and led the team in three-point field goals with 54, an average of 1.6 per game. What makes those numbers even more remarkable is Yu was not a starter, with the exception of the last two playoff games.
"We definitely had higher expectations as a team, but individually it was my best season so far," said Yu. "We came out short in the end, but I've got one more crack at it."
Hanson has told Yu he will be the captain of the T-birds next season.
Yu is the youngest of four kids in his family. All of his older siblings were basketball players. Oldest brother Lee-Wei played for the O'Grady high school, CNC and UNBC, as did sister Reena. His brother Jordan, currently head coach of the Capilano University Blues, played three seasons for UBC at point guard after a high school career at O'Grady and Duchess Park.
Nathan, 21, is the tallest of the Yu clan, at six-foot-two.
"My brothers are midgets to me now [Lee-Wei is five-foot-eight and Jordan is five-foot-nine]," laughed Nathan. "I guess I got the good genes."
