Green Bay Packers win Super Bowl
Feb
6
Written by:
2/6/2011 10:52 PM
Congratulations to the Green Bay Packers on winning the Super Bowl XLV! The Packers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers to the NFL champ. Both team played well with the exception of the Steelers turn overs that ended their hopes of winning the Super Bowl.
Anyway, what does football has to do with the Hmong? Football has slowly becoming the sport choice of Hmong youth in the past few years. In the early 80s and 90s, most Hmong youth would be racing to the soccer fields to play soccer. Many would play until it was so dark, you couldn't even see the ball anymore. Lately, that has changed, I have seen many Hmong youth playing football and passing on soccer as the sport of choice. For example, take the annual July 4th soccer tournament in St. Paul, Minnesota.
When the event started, soccer was the main sport and volleyball was the secondary sport. All the fields were reserved for soccer teams. There were times when the teams would almost reach 60 or 70 teams. Now, about two fields are reserved for flag football. It may be labeled flag football, but sometime it feels more like real football. The Hmong youth are now bigger, taller and stronger than the first generation of youth.
So where does this leads? Well for one, would soccer be the secondary sport for the next generation of youth? Would many of our soccer tournaments be football instead? If football becomes a top choice for our players, what safety measures should many of the parents take?
What's your take on Hmong sports? Do you prefer to watch a soccer, volleyball or football game?