Asian American Sports Festival

American-style sports mania will mix with an Asian sense of community and culture this weekend at Marathon Park.

About 1,000 athletes — mostly Hmong, but with all races participating and welcome — are expected to compete in the ninth annual Asian American Sports Festival, organized by Toulee Moua of Wausau. The festival will feature competition in flag football, soccer and volleyball for males and flag football and soccer for females.

There also will be Asian food and merchandise sold at the festival, an event that’s part of a national trend.

“These Hmong sports tournaments are becoming a huge part of what it means to be a Hmong-American,” said Noah Her, 24, of Wausau. “You pick up chicks, meet with friends, shop at different stores and vendors. A lot of it has roots way back in Thailand, where we come from. It’s just a sense of community and bringing the community together again.”

The Wausau tournament is small by national standards. Tens of thousands of athletes, including Her, competed in a tournament over the July 4 weekend in St. Paul, Minn.

But it’s growing.

“When I started, it was slow,” said Moua, 35. “I guess it has grown about 30 percent.”

There’s a low-key, backyard/street vibe to the tournament, but the competition is serious. Moua said first-place teams can take home as much as $2,000.

“I have some friends who play volleyball every night, training,” Her said. “I have friends who have ruined their shoulders from spiking the ball.”

The best athletes become national stars in the Hmong community, he said.

Sports festivals help younger Hmong-Americans bridge the gap between the old life of Laos and Thailand and the new life in the United States, said Thomas Lee, director of the Wausau/Marathon County Diversity Affairs Office.

“The younger generation are more Americanized. They participated in those sports in school,” Lee said. “And now, they’re able to compete at the festival as well.”

Source:  http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/article/20090721/WDH0101/907210427/1981