About Us

History

The Tri-City Youth Group (TCYG) is a private non-profit community organization established in the early 1960s under the auspices of the Tri-City Association. The Tri-City Association was formed many years before the youth group as a social/cultural club for the Japanese-American settlers in area. As the community grew, the members of the Tri-City Association recognized the need to keep their children active and engaged in their community. Thus, the Tri-City Youth Group was formed to provide activities for the children of Tri-City Association members.

Like many other Japanese-American youth organizations that were formed in the past, the TCYG hoped to provide an environment where their children could come together as Japanese-American youth to develop friendships, nurture their cultural heritage and foster a sense of community.

During the rise in popularity of Little League, Pony and other baseball organizations, the TCYG formed its own baseball team in the early 1960s. Over time, however, the focus of the sports program slowly shifted to basketball. The basketball program has become the major sports activity of the organization. Currently our program exceeds 150 children between the ages of 7-18 with our boys and girls teams participating in the NYBA (Nikkei Youth Basketball Association) League. Although basketball is the only competitive team sport that TCYG sponsors, the organization also offers instructional activities, including volleyball, and golf.

The name of the organization is derived from the three cities where its founders resided: Mountain View, Los Altos and Sunnyvale. Membership in TCYG is not geographically limited but most members reside in the local area. We are one of several Japanese-American youth organizations spread throughout the Bay Area who participate in organizations like the NYBA who support community ties, and cultural learning.

TCYG has evolved as demographics have changed. Initially founded as an organization for Japanese-American youth, today TCYG has more of a pan-Asian affiliation with members from a number of Asian-American communities.

family participation

TCYG is a locally-based organization supported financially by its active members and is a 100% volunteer organization run by parents and other volunteers. All parents are asked to help take on certain tasks or duties to support their team and the organization. Parent participation is vital to the success of our programs, and it is through the hard work of all of our parents that we manage to sustain activities from one year to the next.

TCYG has a long history of family participation, stretching back more than three generations. A number of our members grew up in TCYG being coached by their parents, and many of those members have returned to TCYG to coach their own kids. We also have a number of parents that have continued to coach and volunteer their time long after their kids have graduated and left the program.

sports as a way of fostering growth and social engagement

True to our roots as a social organization, we emphasize camaraderie, sportsmanship and rapport among the kids, parents and families. In addition to our sports offerings, we typically have Halloween and Christmas parties for the kids and an end-of-season awards banquet.

TCYG views sports as a means of promoting the broader individual growth of our youth. Through our programs, we strive to instill important life skills such as discipline, moral character, friendship, cooperation, sportsmanship, teamwork and a healthy competitive spirit. We also encourage involvement beyond their capacity as players in the form of assisting coaches, in providing basketball or volleyball instruction, or to serve as referees at our instructional jamborees.

It is our goal to positively influence the youth of our organization as they move along their paths toward college and career. To encourage this ideal, the TCYG Board awards a one-time college scholarship, the Youth of the Year Award, to a graduating high school senior, during our annual awards banquet.