Toronto Community Housing Corporation issued the following announcement on May 30.

Chester Le has won its first Midnight Madness Basketball (MMB) trophy! The Chester Le team outscored Canlish 48-33 in a decisive final game which took place at the Goldring Centre, University of Toronto, on May 18.

In the other final, Trethewey beat Jane and Finch 57-40 for the third place medal. Several awards and prizes including laptop computers, donated by First Book Canada, were given out to outstanding youth of the tournament. Ahmed Geeti from Canlish received the leadership award while Kevin Brown from Chester Le won the Most Valuable Player award.

A Chester Le player makes a jump shot during the MMB finals against Canlish.

The Midnight Madness Basketball tournament brought together 60 youth from diverse Toronto communities. Every Friday night, over a six-week period, the youth attended workshops and ate dinner together before showing off their basketball talents on the court. At the workshops, they learned how to develop personal and professional skills through volunteer work, the importance of networking, how to overcome adversity and resolve conflicts.

Chester Le coach Tim Tokunboh praised his team for their passion and commitment to learn from the shared experiences of the guest speakers and from their friends on the court.

“The tournament has been a great opportunity for our youth to showcase their skills, make new friends and be inspired. These guys love basketball and we hope to keep the momentum going,” said Tim.

Youth receiving medals from Angela Cooke, Vice President, Resident and Community Services, Toronto Community Housing.

At the finals were Angela Cooke, Vice President, Resident and Community Services, and Tom Best, Executive Director, First Book Canada. They thanked all the partners for their continued support of the tournament and advised the youth to put into practice what they’ve learned on and off the court.

The next Midnight Madness Basketball tournament will be held in October 2018.

Original source: https://www.torontohousing.ca/news/whatsnew/Pages/Chester-Le-wins-Midnight-Madness-Basketball-tournament.aspx