Around The Islands
Feature Profile
Brian Ching: The Hawaiian Superman
by Brian McInnis
It would be a vast understatement to say the last year of Brian Ching's life has been a busy one.
The Kamehameha Schools graduate propelled himself onto the international stage with his participation with the US National Team for the 2006 World Cup, and capped it off with his stellar play in the 2006 Major League Soccer (MLS) Cup. Ching found enough time during his off season to return to his native Hawai'i - but only for about five days before his life as professional athlete took over again.
Brian is the first Hawai'i-born athlete ever to play in the MLS and qualify for the USA National Team. He was named the MLS Cup Most Valuable Player for his crucial plays that helped the Houston Dynamo defeat the New England Revolution in the championship game.
This local soccer phenomenon was generous enough to sit down for an interview at a local soccer event for youths at Waialae Iki Park in Hawaii Kai.
The One, The Only…
Hardcore MLS fans know Ching as the "Hawaiian Superman," and for good reason. Ching, 28, led the Dynamo last season with 11 regular-season goals, including a spectacular bicycle kick that was later named the Sierra Mist MLS Goal of the Year.
But it was his play in the league's title game that made him a household name well beyond his island home.
After more than 110 minutes of scoreless dueling, New England's Taylor Twellman scored what looked like the match-winning goal; Houston suddenly faced a 1-0 deficit with mere minutes to play in double overtime. But Ching didn't give up. The striker headed the ball off a deep cross from teammate Brian Mullan, setting off a wild celebration. When that goal forced a penalty kick shootout, Ching and three other orange-clad Dynamo teammates found the net and came away with a 4-3 edge in the shootout.
The Gonzaga alum from Haleiwa grinned as he reflected back to that magical night in November. "It was unreal. When [Twellman] scored their goal, I was like, 'crap! It's over!' I said that, but I wasn't going to give up trying. I think our teammates made a couple of good plays down the wing, and we got fortunate with the deflection [across the middle] and when the ball came to me there was no way I was going to miss that one. If you saw my celebration…" Ching paused to chuckle, "I was pretty excited."
Excited might be an understatement. He ran around the Pizza Hut Park with both fists clenched and his jaw dropped in pure exhilaration.
How big was that moment for him? Ching pondered the question. "…The biggest goal I've ever scored in my life."
Ching was so instrumental in the win, an online poll on the Dynamo's Web site released this statement: "Besides Ching, who was the top player in the MLS Cup?"
Brian's efforts have since been rewarded. In February, the Dynamo announced they locked up Ching with a new, multi-year contract, although terms of the deal were not announced.
A Learning Experience
Team USA's 2006 World Cup play couldn't have been considered dynamic by any stretch of the imagination. Even though Brian Ching was a proven commodity as a franchise player in MLS and in World Cup qualifying matches, he was unable to get playing time under USA coach Bruce Arena in Germany.
The USA was placed in a top-heavy group in opening-round play, with eventual champion Italy and a title contender in the Czech Republic in its group of four.
Brian's teammates managed a 1-1 draw with Italy - the best anyone would do against the champs - but lost to both the Czech Republic and Ghana en route to an unceremonious exit from the Cup.
Team USA struggled to find its offense with only two goals in three games, and Ching, who had made the roster because of his offensive capabilities, was nowhere to be seen on the field.
Brian conceded it wasn't the best situation, but remained confident that he could contribute in future contests. "Even though I didn't play in the World Cup, I was a little disappointed but overall I just stepped away from it and it was an amazing experience," he said. "It gives me something to shoot for the next time around, getting on the field and actually playing. Just to be a part of the World Cup team is such an honor and to be at that level was a dream come true for me.
"I've been to that level, I know what it is, and I think I can compete there," he continued, nodding. "So, in four years, when the next World Cup rolls around, hopefully my body holds up and I'll be in the mix again."
The Pioneer
Ching has had plenty of time to reflect on his local roots and the attention he's helped draw to Hawai'i soccer with his groundbreaking accomplishments.
"It's kind of exciting [to be the first kid from Hawai'i to make it pro]," he said. "It's an honor… it means a lot to me. Especially to represent people from Hawai'i because they really get behind their athletes and they've supported me all through the years and they really support me now."
Brian played extensive club soccer around his high school years at Kamehameha, and was noticed by Gonzaga University scouts on one of his team's trips to the Mainland. The MLS didn't come into existence until 1996, the same year Ching graduated from high school. At the time, he didn't know he wanted to be a pro, and was just looking for a way to get through college.
Now that he's helped put Hawai'i soccer on the map, he feels good knowing local kids might have the same opportunity to gain college scholarships via the sport he enjoys. He was reluctant to say that he might have single-handedly changed scouts' view of Hawai'i soccer, but acknowledges he helped make a start.
Hopefully, some of that popularity [I've had recently] brings more attention to the kids who play soccer here in Hawai'i, and gives them more of an opportunity to go to college and use soccer to go places," he said as he waved an arm to encompass the dozens of soccer-playing boys and girls at the park.
Size Doesn't Matter Ching stands at 6-foot-1, and currently weighs 195 pounds. That's a far cry from when he entered high school. Back then, he used quickness and smarts to gain an advantage; things that really helped him excel when he grew to have the size to mix it up physically as well.
"I probably wasn't even 5'2" [as a freshman]," Ching said with a grin. "Five feet, 100 pounds, pretty much going [through] finishing my sophomore year of high school. I was pretty tiny, and I ran cross country quite a bit so I stayed pretty slim, and even by the time I graduated from high school I was probably 5'11, 155."
Discouraging…?
…He thinks for a moment. "Nah, it wasn't discouraging. I think it affected my confidence a little bit, but I think once I got established on the high school team my sophomore year, I got more confident. Soccer's one of those games where it really doesn't matter how big you are a lot of times. If you're good with your feet on the ball then it's something everybody can participate in, and that's why it's such a huge sport. You don't have to be 6-6 and have like a vertical jump of 3 feet. I think that's why so many kids play soccer."
To Up-And-Comers…
Brian was happy to offer words of advice for high schoolers who might be suffering doubts in the sport they play, be it soccer, basketball, or anything between.
"What I like to tell kids is what I did. And that was; don't just show up for practice. It was show up, pay attention to practice, and then, you have to do a lot of work on your own. Beginning my junior year of high school, I would get to school an hour early. My freshman, sophomore year, all I would do is play cards with buddies and joke around and just kind of waste that time. But I realized I wanted to get better in soccer and get places with it. I used that hour my junior and senior year, I'd be down working on what I could before school started."
He added that watching some of the best in the game helped him grow into a player of their caliber. He ticked Brian McBride, Eric Wynalda, and Coby Jones off his fingers.
"You watch players that you want to be like or you think you play like and you see what they do," he explained. "You see how they move on the field, and you just watch them and try to emulate those things when you go into your own practices. "A Wonderful Year Ching will likely remember 2006 fondly far down the line.
"If I had to say, I just went to the World Cup and we didn't win the MLS Cup, I would still say it was the best year of my life as far as soccer goes. To cap it off with the MLS cup." he said, laughing, "there's no beating that. Just a wonderful year."
