Providence Journal
By MIKE SZOSTAK, Journal Sports Writer
They are Cambodian, Laotian, Hmong and Chinese. They are high school boys. And they are volleyball players.
Approximately three dozen boys with roots in Southeast Asia are playing volleyball for inner-city schools this spring. Classical has nine, Mount Pleasant six and Central six. Cranston East tops them all, with 14.
More than any spring sport at three of Providence’s four major public high schools and at nearby Cranston East, volleyball has become a huge draw for young athletes of Asian descent.
“There are quite a few Asians who are playing ball now,” Cranston East coach Tom Ferri said Tuesday “Maybe it has to do with their heritage. Some of their parents are players, and it gets handed down.”
It certainly has to do with the efforts of Ka Men, a 39-year-old Cambodian who came to America when he was 10, learned the fundamentals of the game at Mount Pleasant High School, learned a little more while studying and playing intramurals at Rhode Island College, became a teacher and coach, and for the last 15 years promoted volleyball to inner-city boys and girls.
“The kids at Mount Pleasant, Central and Cranston East, they all know me,” he said with a chuckle.
The kids at Classical know him best because he is their coach. He has also coached girls at Central and boys at Mount Pleasant during his career and coaches the Mount Pleasant girls in the fall now. During the day, he teaches physical education and health at the Alfred Lima Elementary School, Providence.
Men takes the game to the neighborhoods. In the summer, he puts up nets near Bain Middle School in Cranston and helps any youngster who wants to play. Former players do the same at the Sackett Street Park in Providence’s Elmwood section.
In the winter, he opens the gym at Classical.
“Anyone can come and play. My former players do it, too. We’re building the sport,” he said.
Men still plays, although he is thinking of slowing down.
“My two kids are getting older, and my ankles are a mess. My wife asks me why I’m still playing. I’m involved with it all the time,” he said with a laugh.
Boys will call Men at home and ask when he is putting up the nets or opening the gym. In the summer, their fathers will sometimes join the games.
When Ka Men came to America, “there were a lot of Asians, a lot of Cambodians and Hmong,” he said of the early 1980s. Brian Robert, an English teacher at Mount Pleasant, introduced him to the game. “The more I played, the more I loved it. I love the sport so much that I wanted to give it to somebody else.”
The Asian population in Cranston has grown since Ron Lee, a Chinese-American, watched his son Jeffrey set for the Thunderbolts and his daughter Julia play for the girls team in the mid-1990s.
“I can see how the dynamic has changed,” said Lee, a product of adult recreation leagues. “The Asian population in Cranston was small. When my daughter played, there might have been one other Asian girl on the team. Now it’s at least half.”
Lee started coaching about 15 years ago and is head coach of the Cranston East girls and Ferri’s assistant with the boys.
These coaches have influenced the lives of many Asians through volleyball. Erik Bou, the charismatic star at Cranston East the last two years, earned second-team All-State last spring, and plays intramural volleyball now at Bates College, in Maine.
“When he comes home on vacation, he texts me and asks if there’s any volleyball. He has improved. He’s a good kid,” Men said.
Kenny Li and Billy Chen of Cranston East were all-division and Viseth Phum all-division honorable mention a year ago. Chen is captain of the 2011 Thunderbolts. Other all-division players last spring were Naroth Chao of Central, a captain this year; Jimmy Phan and Jason Tow of Cranston West; Chris Xiong, Joe Champavannarath and Sai Lee of Mount Pleasant, and Vonn Chheng and Timothy Kounlavouth of Classical.
Donn Chu, the boys coach at Central, is Cambodian and Men’s friend. His assistant is Samboeun Gee. Their captains are Thanasansombath Srisoonthorn, Richard Luong and Naroth Chao. The Mount Pleasant captains are Corey Kue, Andrew Vongrasamy and Sai Lee. Kue’s cousins Chai Kue and Nha “Tim” Kue play for Cranston East.
Although they attend different schools, many of the Asian volleyball players know each other.
“We scrimmaged Classical, and a couple of guys on their team know my guys. Last year, a couple of guys on Mount Pleasant knew my guys,” Ferri said.
At that Classical-Cranston East scrimmage, Men jokingly asked why he wasn’t coaching Cranston East because “they’re all my guys.”
Ferri mentioned that one of his Asians “is overweight but has good hands, so I made him my setter.” Another is only 5-foot-2 but has potential.
As Providence becomes more diversified, Ferri and Men are hopeful that volleyball will continue to appeal to Asians.
“I’m happy that it’s getting popular here,” Men said. “Inner-city kids get two months of volleyball during school. They can’t afford camps, and a lot of parents work and can’t take them to leagues at the beach. That’s why I put the nets up. I’m attracting more Asian kids. It’s because I’m coaching (at Classical) and I’m out in the community.”
The Cambodian, Laotian, Hmong and Chinese communities.
mszostak@projo.com
They are Cambodian, Laotian, Hmong and Chinese. They are high school boys. And they are volleyball players.
Approximately three dozen boys with roots in Southeast Asia are playing volleyball for inner-city schools this spring. Classical has nine, Mount Pleasant six and Central six. Cranston East tops them all, with 14.
More than any spring sport at three of Providence’s four major public high schools and at nearby Cranston East, volleyball has become a huge draw for young athletes of Asian descent.
“There are quite a few Asians who are playing ball now,” Cranston East coach Tom Ferri said Tuesday “Maybe it has to do with their heritage. Some of their parents are players, and it gets handed down.”
It certainly has to do with the efforts of Ka Men, a 39-year-old Cambodian who came to America when he was 10, learned the fundamentals of the game at Mount Pleasant High School, learned a little more while studying and playing intramurals at Rhode Island College, became a teacher and coach, and for the last 15 years promoted volleyball to inner-city boys and girls.
“The kids at Mount Pleasant, Central and Cranston East, they all know me,” he said with a chuckle.
The kids at Classical know him best because he is their coach. He has also coached girls at Central and boys at Mount Pleasant during his career and coaches the Mount Pleasant girls in the fall now. During the day, he teaches physical education and health at the Alfred Lima Elementary School, Providence.
Men takes the game to the neighborhoods. In the summer, he puts up nets near Bain Middle School in Cranston and helps any youngster who wants to play. Former players do the same at the Sackett Street Park in Providence’s Elmwood section.
In the winter, he opens the gym at Classical.
“Anyone can come and play. My former players do it, too. We’re building the sport,” he said.
Men still plays, although he is thinking of slowing down.
“My two kids are getting older, and my ankles are a mess. My wife asks me why I’m still playing. I’m involved with it all the time,” he said with a laugh.
Boys will call Men at home and ask when he is putting up the nets or opening the gym. In the summer, their fathers will sometimes join the games.
When Ka Men came to America, “there were a lot of Asians, a lot of Cambodians and Hmong,” he said of the early 1980s. Brian Robert, an English teacher at Mount Pleasant, introduced him to the game. “The more I played, the more I loved it. I love the sport so much that I wanted to give it to somebody else.”
The Asian population in Cranston has grown since Ron Lee, a Chinese-American, watched his son Jeffrey set for the Thunderbolts and his daughter Julia play for the girls team in the mid-1990s.
“I can see how the dynamic has changed,” said Lee, a product of adult recreation leagues. “The Asian population in Cranston was small. When my daughter played, there might have been one other Asian girl on the team. Now it’s at least half.”
Lee started coaching about 15 years ago and is head coach of the Cranston East girls and Ferri’s assistant with the boys.
These coaches have influenced the lives of many Asians through volleyball. Erik Bou, the charismatic star at Cranston East the last two years, earned second-team All-State last spring, and plays intramural volleyball now at Bates College, in Maine.
“When he comes home on vacation, he texts me and asks if there’s any volleyball. He has improved. He’s a good kid,” Men said.
Kenny Li and Billy Chen of Cranston East were all-division and Viseth Phum all-division honorable mention a year ago. Chen is captain of the 2011 Thunderbolts. Other all-division players last spring were Naroth Chao of Central, a captain this year; Jimmy Phan and Jason Tow of Cranston West; Chris Xiong, Joe Champavannarath and Sai Lee of Mount Pleasant, and Vonn Chheng and Timothy Kounlavouth of Classical.
Donn Chu, the boys coach at Central, is Cambodian and Men’s friend. His assistant is Samboeun Gee. Their captains are Thanasansombath Srisoonthorn, Richard Luong and Naroth Chao. The Mount Pleasant captains are Corey Kue, Andrew Vongrasamy and Sai Lee. Kue’s cousins Chai Kue and Nha “Tim” Kue play for Cranston East.
Although they attend different schools, many of the Asian volleyball players know each other.
“We scrimmaged Classical, and a couple of guys on their team know my guys. Last year, a couple of guys on Mount Pleasant knew my guys,” Ferri said.
At that Classical-Cranston East scrimmage, Men jokingly asked why he wasn’t coaching Cranston East because “they’re all my guys.”
Ferri mentioned that one of his Asians “is overweight but has good hands, so I made him my setter.” Another is only 5-foot-2 but has potential.
As Providence becomes more diversified, Ferri and Men are hopeful that volleyball will continue to appeal to Asians.
“I’m happy that it’s getting popular here,” Men said. “Inner-city kids get two months of volleyball during school. They can’t afford camps, and a lot of parents work and can’t take them to leagues at the beach. That’s why I put the nets up. I’m attracting more Asian kids. It’s because I’m coaching (at Classical) and I’m out in the community.”
The Cambodian, Laotian, Hmong and Chinese communities.
mszostak@projo.com
No comments:
Post a Comment