Brian Ching scored a goal in the United States' 2-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago during the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup in June at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. - Photo: Ben Liebenberg/MLS

FEVER PITCH!

Soccer is the world's most popular sport,
and Kamehameha Schools grad Brian Ching is the
first player from Hawai'i to breach the
upper echelons of the game

Signing a ball for 7-year-old soccer and baseball player Kai Yasuda, Ching said, “I played baseball, too, for a year. I was scared of the ball, so it didn't last long.”

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Ryan Williams arrived for an autograph six hours early to make sure he wouldn't miss the chance to meet Ching. “He's a Ronaldinho,” Williams said, referring to the Brazilian standout – and he went to Kamehameha Schools, “which I want to try out for.”

Ching, the son of a Waikīkī beach boy, is the first player from Hawai'i to be drafted to the MLS and roster on the U.S. World Cup team. In 2006, he was named MLS Cup MVP after scoring the game-tying goal and the game-winning penalty kick. Dynamo repeated with another MLS title in 2007, but Ching sat out of the game due to injury.

Home for the holidays with his wife, Charisse, who is from Maui, Ching participated in the annual Dec. 26-29 ProXtreme Soccer Camp with his former Honolulu Bulls soccer club and also met with young soccer players in other venues, sharing his experiences and “letting them know I was in their shoes 13 years ago,” he said. “Usually they're curious about how many times I can juggle a ball (he stops after 1,000), how big I was (stood 5 feet, 100 pounds as a freshman), how many goals I score (averages one goal for every two games), things like that.”

Next month Ching will play for the first time as a pro in front of a Hawai'i crowd at the inaugural Pan-Pacific Championship Feb. 20 and 23 at Aloha Stadium. The tournament will feature four teams in single-elimination play: Houston Dynamo, Los Angeles Galaxy, Japan's Gamba Osaka and a team from Australia's Hyundai A-League. It will be Ching's first competitive game here in 12 years.

Brian Ching's shot beats Oswaldo Sanchez but hits the post. USA prevailed over old rival Mexico 2-1 to win the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup at the sold-out Soldier Field in Chicago on June 24. - Photo: Tony Quinn/MLS.

“It's been a dream of mine ever since I became a professional to play a game in Hawai'i and it's actually something I've been trying to do for the past three or four years,” he said, adding that he “was extremely disappointed not to be asked to be part of the first MLS event here in Hawai'i,” in 2005. “Los Angeles Galaxy decided that Freddy Adu was a better player to bring back to Hawai'i than I was so they asked D.C. United instead of our team so that really hurt. Now to get this opportunity, I'm so excited and so happy to not only be able to play in front of friends and family who've never been able to see me play live, but also to bring my team here and show them the aloha spirit. And it's something I've been thinking about every day since the announcement's been made.”

Among the fans expected to attend is Chris Nied, Ching's former high school coach, who knew even then that Ching was headed for soccer greatness. Nied recalled taking Ching out to dinner his senior year and telling him he wanted to be his agent when Ching turned pro. “He thought it was a joke, and he laughed at me,” said Nied, who now coaches girls varsity soccer at 'Iolani School. “After he got drafted I said, 'I guess the next thing that's going to happen is you're going to make the Men's National Team,' and he laughed at me again. He doesn't laugh at me anymore.”

Brian Ching signs a soccer ball for 11-year-old Santo Ruiz at Rogue Soccer in Waiau. - Photo: Blaine Fergerstrom

Nied described Ching as a consummate competitor with a “team first” attitude and an unmatched work ethic. “He won't allow anybody to out-train him whether it's physical, the conditioning side of it, or mastering another skill or mastering a certain style of play,” Nied said. “He's going to put more time into it than anybody else will on any team that he's ever on.”

As a senior at Kamehameha, Ching started as a sweeper then midway through the season moved up to midfield to help the team score goals. He ended the year as the Interscholastic League of Honolulu's leading scorer and its Player of the Year – despite Kamehameha's third-place finish in the ILH. “That speaks volumes of what everybody else thought of him,” Nied said.

Brian Ching signs a shirt for Ryan Williams, 11, while his brother, C.J., 14, looks on. “He's a pro from Hawai'i and he went to Kamehameha, which I want to try out for,” says Ryan. - Photo: Blaine Fergerstrom

Ching, who earns about $225,000 and has a contract with Puma, said he has had to overcome a lack of self-confidence, which had hurt him in the past. After his first season as a pro he was sent to the second division – where he focused on improving his skills and his self-image – and worked his way back to the top division after one season. “I was just as good as the other players, just as athletic,” he said. “But when I'd go into new situations I'd always be shy and timid and question myself. And once I learned to be confident in myself and my abilities then my career really took off.” His advice to young Native Hawaiians? Believe in yourselves, he said. “There's a big difference between being cocky and being confident.”

Ching, who strives to be “involved in the National Team on a more consistent basis,” said being selected for the 2006 World Cup team as “one of 23 guys to represent your country in the most popular sporting event in the world (was) truly an honor.”

“As much fun as I had and learned from the World Cup it is disappointing to go there and not play, but having said that I think it gives me something to strive for in four years.”

Ching's mom, Stephanie Whalen, recalls how Ching – her second of three sons, resisted soccer as a child. “He just refused. He watched for a year and then he announced he would play,” said Whalen, who was Ching's first soccer coach, when he was 7. Nowadays when Whalen visits Houston, she takes a little aloha with her, packing manapua for Ching and Charisse and handing out kukui nut lei to Dynamo fans at games.

Asked if she's surprised at the level of success her son has achieved, Whalen said: “I don't really give it a lot of thought. This is Brian. This is his life. And when he sets his mind to something he's going to give his best, and his best is as good as it gets.”