About Us

Columbia Youth Basketball Association (CYBA) was founded in 1992 to provide children in Columbia with an opportunity to play basketball in a recreational environment. Before CYBA was founded, the only ways to play were competitive leagues and school teams. Dean Berry realized this and seized the opportunity when what started as an informal gathering for his son and 20 other kids in a rented church gym exploded into Columbia’s premier recreational basketball league. At first, Dean wouldn’t even refer to what he was doing as a basketball program, despite the numerous phone calls asking about joining the “program.” Dean did not want to deny anyone the opportunity to play, so he very quickly had 40 kids in his “program,” all from Fairview Elementary. Then it occurred to Dean, if there were 40 fourth graders from just one school, there must be countless other kids wanting to play throughout Columbia; Columbia needed a youth basketball league! After Dean didn’t have any luck getting help with the league start up, he went at it himself. It was very important to Dean that everyone who wanted to play was able to, regardless of their financial situation. This created the scholarship program that is still in effect today. Emphasizing sportsmanship is another part of the league that was important to Dean and is a core value of CYBA to this day. The Matt Twenter Sportsmanship Award was developed as a way to reward kids who exhibited model sportsmanship. The award was named after Matt Twenter, who tragically passed away a few years after the start of CYBA. This young man was very important to Dean, important to CYBA, and a prime example of sportsmanship. Sportsmanship, ensuring a learning environment, and keeping a recreational atmosphere are the core values of CYBA. It is thanks to countless selfless people like Dean Berry that there is a basketball league emphasizing these values for all of Columbia's kids! We hope that your family and/or your child enjoys participating in CYBA and can appreciate how far this league has come; this league is for the kids and wouldn’t be possible without them!