ST. PAUL, Minn. -- A trio from Minnesota is winning big representing Team USA in a sport not many Americans have heard of.
The team's most recent win was at the 2013 King's Cup Sepak Takraw World Championship in Thailand. They defeated a team from Malaysia 3-0 and took home gold in the "C" division. What is sepak takraw?
It's part martial arts, part volleyball and all body, according to True Cha, a member of the winning team. A ball can be kicked with any part of the body, except hands. The first to get to 15 or 21 points wins.
Cha, along with his brother Ker Chao and teammate John Thao have been playing together for ten years. The young men, sons of Hmong refugees in the Twin Cities, picked up the game watching others play it growing up. The game is also called Kato in Hmong.
"Three Minnesotans playing overseas representing USA…that's pretty surprising," Thao admitted.
Winning abroad is only part of their playbook.
"We are trying to get this sport back to the community," Gao Chang, a former takraw player and uncle to the Cha brothers said.
Chang doesn't play the sport any more. Instead he is starting a non-profit to promote the sport and advocate for takraw courts to be built in St. Paul. While the team's work off the field is just starting they hope their winning streak follows them to their next tournament in December in Las Vegas.
