Continuation from Long Teng Cup: An Azkals’ Historical Relevance (Part 1)

After years of playing with a unique group of Chinese players, my father and his friends had bonded over time and connected themselves to one another through a passion for soccer. This group was formed in a foreign country, in a far away place from home, by ethnicity, culture and love for the game. This brotherhood would soon find its way back to it roots in the years to come, reuniting with a past time through the very sport that brought them together.

In 1971, my father and a group of Chinese American immigrants from New York City’s Chinatown made a trip to Taiwan to play in their first overseas tournament. As the very first NY’s  Chinatown Chinese American team to travel back to Asia for a international friendly, it was a historical moment for Chinatown soccer having beat the ROC National Team 1-0.  For immigrants that found themselves in a new country with little cultural acceptance and a lot of ethnic segregation, this group of young Chinese Athletes bonded through a sport familiar only to foreign soil, as football was slowly being introduced to the American culture with the arrival of immigrants from around the world. This was a triumphant moment to return to familiar faces, family and friends, for they have found a commonality that allowed them to revisit Asia and reconnect with their past.

Rewind 40 years and here I am boarding a flight bond for Taiwan for my first tournament representing the Philippines National team. In many ways I look at my fathers trip to Taiwan as a very significant point in his life and for what it meant to the community of Chinatown and it’s significance to Chinese Football.

After graduating university, I carefully chose to travel to Hong Kong in hopes to play on a football team in the first division. I signed first professional contract with Tai Chung Football Club and played one season in a city my father grew up in. With a dual purpose and a open eye for learning and exploring more than just my football career, I sought out family roots and uncovered more about myself, my heritage and my identity.  My dream was to take the sport I loved and use that as a mode for exploration and a means for discovering my past, present and future.

Shortly after playing in Hong Kong I was informed that I could be eligible for trying out with the Philippines National team. At the time, little has crossed my mind about it, but as support for Filipino football spiked and national recruitment found its way towards me, I had to wonder if this opportunity could be my next step to exploring my Filipino side as I did my Chinese side through the very sport that made me.

With only a Filipino passport in hand and my friendship with Nate Burkey at heart, I arrived in the Philippines unannounced. I showed up for training camp and found my way onto the team. In the back of my mind, as I took this very crucial step of making the team, I knew the real journey can begin. To represent my mothers country in my profession, I was able to embark on a new journey in discovering where I came from and uncover the stories of my past, and how I came to be this Chinese-Filipino-American Footballer from Chinatown.

As we entered the stadium for our first match in the 2011 Long Teng Cup against none other than the Hong Kong Representative team, emotions ran high. To play against former teammate, opponents, and friends from my first Hong Kong season meant a rush of excitement and competitiveness. To know that my father had traveled to Taiwan with other Chinese immigrants that reunited with a cultural past and represented a new era in Chinese accomplishment in a new country meant a surge of pride and triumph. To listen to the Philippines National Anthem for the first time in official competition in a loud stadium the echoed proudly, meant I was able to contribute to the identity of my mothers country and attribute my own identity to her unconditional and supportive upbringing.

I am thankful for my cultural diversity and I will continue to dig deep into my heritage so that I may tell the story of what it means to be the Chinese-Filipino-American born and raised in New York City’s Chinatown that found football and found himself.

Before I dive into the significance of the Long Teng Cup, I think it is important to uncover the history that brings us to this day in age where football has developed to its very critical turning point. To some people, this massive wave of Azkals frenzy might seem like an overnight explosion, and to others, I might seem like just a player that suddenly appeared from an unlikely place to find himself amidst all the commotion. It was not long ago that I realized my National Team edibility, and it was not long ago that I decided to take action and move to the Philippines. But to fully understand the meaning of playing my first games against Hong Kong, Taipei and Macau in the 2011 Long Teng Cup, it is important to rewind 40 years to reveal the soccer history in my life that make this very special experience relevant.

I was born and raised in Chinatown New York City to a Chinese father and a Filipina mother. I grew up in a predominantly Chinese household with my Chinese grandparent and my older sister. Introduced to the sport by my father at the age of 8, my soccer career started and was developed on the concrete courts of Chinatown.  What seemed to be just a fun time watching my father and his friends playing soccer on Sunday mornings, would later evolve into the sport that defines my life today.

My dad was born in China and after spending much of his childhood in Hong Kong, he immigrated to the United States. At the age of eleven, he found himself in a new country and a new home. This home was Chinatown. After several years of adapting to the new life, he was introduced to soccer at the late age of fourteen. New to the game and fresh to the turfs of the city, he was excepted into the soccer circles by taking on the responsibilities of equipment and balls. Much like a student to older mentors or an apprentice to teachers, he took on this role to learn this intriguing and exciting new game he was so interested in. With access to the balls, he was able to practice by himself, all the meanwhile watching, observing and stealing valuable lessons from those that knew how to play.

After years of playing with this unique group of Chinese players, they had bonded over time and connected themselves to one another through a passion for soccer. This group was formed in a foreign country, in a far away place from home, by ethnicity, culture and love for the game. This brotherhood would soon find its way back to it roots in the years to come, reuniting with the pastime through the very sport that brought them together.

In 1971, the team of Chinese-Americans would be the first New York City overseas Chinese Soccer Team to visit Taiwan. Together with Hong Kong counterparts and teammates, the result was a 1-0 win against the ROC National Team and a victory for reconnecting with a cultural identity and soccer at it’s forefront.

“In 1971, first NYC overseas Chinese team went to Taiwan, and won 1-0 against the ROC national team.   I was on that team. In Taiwan I realized that I needed to speak Mandarin and learn more Chinese.  My first important Chinese books were bought in Taiwan.  I always have been grateful for my trip to Taiwan opened up so much of my live, and gained me the confidence to my future. I have not forgotten the people who have helped me.  It has been forty years.” ~Way P. Moy

My father’s experience in Taiwan that year went beyond the playing fields. He realized something about himself and something about his future. His revelation to learn Mandarin, more Chinese and other languages prompted him to buy his first important Chinese books that would significantly shape his career and the rest of his life. Although my father’s soccer days are now limited to the Sunday morning pass-arounds, which started 40 years ago as an outlet for Chinese American immigrants to escape violent gang activity and racial segregation, he has since had a successful career as a Chinese Interpreter and has continued his collection of books that stems from the very first ones from Taiwan. His library collection now extends tens of thousands of books.

Being able to to travel to another country to play soccer at that age was an exciting opportunity for a group of young kid off the streets of New York City. What they didn’t know at the time was that they were making history for Chinese Americans and for soccer in Chinatown. Embracing cultural identity, reconnecting with heritage and promoting passion is what my father and his friends found. The journey they took to discover such treasures, now inscribed in the history books, is a path I cherish, it is a path seek to follow and is one in which I seek to repave and continue in a my own direction.

Read the Second Part of  “Long Teng Cup: An Azkals’ Historical Relevance”

Continue to Part 2…