With over 40 years of experience in badminton under his belt, Yee Tantiyavarong is one of the very few world class athletes who is gifted both in playing the sport and in teaching the game to people who seek to improve their games.

At the age of 12, Yee was already considered by many in Thailand to be the prodigy who could bring badminton to the next higher level for the country. Yee started as a singles player and switched to being a doubles specialist in 1973 when he won the gold medal in doubles in the Thailand National Junior Championship. His accomplishment had earned him a spot in the national team of Thailand where he was personally groomed by the national head coach Chaisak Thongdedsri. Under Thongdedsri's guidance, Yee became the most prominent uprising player in Thailand. His talent impressed even Yonex who was fast in sponsoring him. In the next few years, Yee's career as a professional athlete continued to thrive when he was crowned as the doubles champion in the Thailand University game and represented the country in the ASEAN University Game.

In 1985, Yee had to make the most difficult decision of his life to give up his badminton career and migrate to the San Francisco Bay Area for career opportunities. But even as a new immigrant, he continued to make significant contributions to the sport in the Bay Area where his winnings of many local tournaments had opened up the eyes of badminton enthusiasts. Friends and students of all ages who sought for his advice always found him passionate about sharing his wealth of knowledge and experience with them. He would show them the importance of mastering the fundamentals of the game such as having the correct racquet grip, footwork, and strokes. For the more advanced players, he would help hone their skills and game strategies to win against their opponents. As a matter of fact, many of the local "A" players were brought up under his wings.

Currently, Yee is sponsored by Black Knight and he has recently won the 2009 Yonex/OCBC Senior International Championships. After retiring from his fiber-glass business last year, Yee decided to dedicate his life to badminton when he joined Smash City as a professional coach. His vision is to help groom the younger generations into world beaters. More recently, he was hired by a new world class badminton facility in Fremont, California - California Badminton Academy - to be its official coach.

Being a world champion was Yee's dream; he had all the skills and talent, yet was deprived of it because of constraints that he had faced as an immigrant and living in a country where badminton was only known by many as a backyard sport. But witnessing how time has changed for youngsters today, Yee now hopes to make this world champion dream come true for them at the California Badminton Academy.