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PODCAST

SEA4 Podcast: Southeast Asian Athlete Achievement > Adversity

Lao American Sports Hall of Fame

The SEA4 Podcast aims to bring the stories of refugees from Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam and their American-born descendants into the mainstream. By focusing on athletes and other accomplished individuals who have overcome adversity we hope to inspire others to pursue their dreams. John Messina and Ko Chandetka from the Lao American Sports Hall of Fame will be interviewing athletes and others who represent the diverse cultures of Southeast Asia including Lao, Laotian, Khmu, Khmer, Hmong, Vietnamese,

society & culture

All Episodes

00:27:35

Walter Sarnoi Oupathana: WBC Title Holder and Laos...

SEA4 Podcast: Southeast Asian Athlete Achievement... ·

2022/11/08

What would motivate someone who holds a master’s degree, is a licensed paramedic and speaks five languages to step into the ring with some of the best fighters in the world? A passion and a dream. A passion for competing and the dream of representing your ancestral homeland at the biggest athletic show on earth, the Olympics. Walter Sarnoi Oupathana has come a long way from fighting on the mean streets of East L.A. He’s earned a WBC title and even ran for city council but his greatest honor is

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00:48:31

The Lao Pickleball Guys: Noi Sourinthone & Matthew Nola

SEA4 Podcast: Southeast Asian Athlete Achievement... ·

2022/10/29

Drive by any park or visit an indoor rec center these days and you’re sure to see people, young and old, hitting a ball in what appears to be a life-size game of Ping-Pong. Pickleball has taken the US by storm and two Lao Americans are riding its wave. Noi Sourinthone, left his home in Tennessee to follow his dream to Wichita, Kansas, where he reconnected with a childhood friend and now fellow pickleball player, Matthew Nola. Both men have secured sponsorships, are founding companies and have

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00:37:06

Jackie Sayasone: Lao American Cornhole Pro

SEA4 Podcast: Southeast Asian Athlete Achievement... ·

2022/10/21

When one door closes another one opens. As refugees from Laos, Sy and Nang Sayasone were resettled in the Midwest where they quickly went to work, toiling in meat packing plants in an effort to give their children a better life. Jackie would take advantage of that opportunity and go on to be a college athlete but just as Jackie’s college soccer career was taking off, she was diagnosed with a blood disorder that abruptly ended her dream and sent her into depression. Jackie would battle back by

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00:34:10

Ohn Phommavong Scoggins: Lao Disc Golf Pro

SEA4 Podcast: Southeast Asian Athlete Achievement... ·

2022/10/08

Sometimes, our life’s calling finds us in the most unexpected ways. Ohn Phommavong grew up in a rice farming village in rural Laos before heading to the city in search of work. Through a chance encounter, she would fall in love with a backpacker from America, Justin Scoggins. After traveling across Asia together they would settle down to a new life in America where Justin introduced her to an obscure hobby, disc golf. Ohn was natural and it wasn’t long before she was beating her husband and other

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00:57:58

Ben Nguyen: Vietnamese American MMA Fighter

SEA4 Podcast: Southeast Asian Athlete Achievement... ·

2022/09/27

They may say that “nice guys finish last” but Ben Nguyen proves that sometimes it’s the good guy who comes out on top. After the war in Vietnam Ben’s family settled in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where they rebuilt their lives from scratch as refugees. Ben was bullied as a child so his mother signed him up for taekwondo. From his early days practicing in a church basement to stepping into the UFC cage, Ben has been fighting his way through adversity. In 2014 a video of Ben knocking out an opponent in

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00:53:26

David Phrathep: Lao American baseball player and...

SEA4 Podcast: Southeast Asian Athlete Achievement... ·

2022/09/08

Arnold Schwarzenegger's six rules for success are, trust yourself, break some rules, don’t be afraid to fail, work like hell and give something back. The first time David Phrathep stepped onto the baseball field he was the underdog. From being told that he wasn’t cut out for little league to taking a shot as a college walk-on, David used that negative energy as fuel and became the first know Lao-American to play at the NCAA Division 1 level. Behind his success was a supportive family that did

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00:56:15

Christa Camvongcau Atwood: Lao-American Airline pilot

SEA4 Podcast: Southeast Asian Athlete Achievement... ·

2022/08/24

When it comes to chasing your dream, they say, “it’s not the destination but the journey”. Pilot Christa Camvongcau Atwood is on the journey of a lifetime, chasing her dream from destination to destination through the skies. From her humble beginnings as a refugee to taking the controls of an A320 Christa is breaking down barriers in a male-dominated industry. Her story shows us that when it comes to dreams, not even the sky is the limit. She now dreams of passing her passion on to the next

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00:43:08

Linda Sayavongchanh: Basketball Player & NCAA D1 Coach

SEA4 Podcast: Southeast Asian Athlete Achievement... ·

2022/08/15

Linda Sayavongchanh was introduced to basketball in elementary school, a sport that was foreign to her parents who had recently resettled in America as refugees from Laos. At Des Moines-Lincoln High School she would score a staggering 1,630 points, be crowned Miss Iowa Basketball and was named Gatorade player of the year before signing with Drake University. After an amazing college career with the Drake Bulldogs she would continue pursuing her passion, this time through coaching. Linda recently

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00:59:04

Nara Sihavong: Wrestler, coach, entrepreneur &...

SEA4 Podcast: Southeast Asian Athlete Achievement... ·

2022/07/23

When we featured Folkstyle national champion and Stanford University wrestler Dawson Sihavong as a rising star in the Lao American Sports Hall of Fame it quickly became apparent that Dawson’s journey to the top began a generation earlier in war-torn Laos. Nara Sihavong came to the United States as a refugee in 1978. A mere seven years later he made history when in 1985 he joined the wrestling team at George Mason University and became the first known Lao American to compete at the NCAA Division I

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00:45:22

Maria Balang: 1st Lao-Lahu IFBB Bikini Pro

SEA4 Podcast: Southeast Asian Athlete Achievement... ·

2022/07/10

Arnold Schwarzenegger once said, “in our society, the women who break down barriers are those who ignore limits. That’s exactly what Maria Balang did. Maria started working out to get in shape but soon found herself on the stage competing against women half her age. This mother of four would go on to capture one of bodybuilding top honors, earning her IFBB pro card in the ultra-completive bikini division. Maria’s accomplishments are not just a source of pride for her family but for her people, the

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00:58:21

Davy Phrathep: Baseball player and clinical...

SEA4 Podcast: Southeast Asian Athlete Achievement... ·

2022/06/23

Davy Phrathep and his brother David took up baseball during their childhood in Florida. The brothers, whose parents were refugees from Laos, would go on to be the first known Lao Americans to compete at the NCAA Division I level. While Davy may have hung up his glove after graduating from Florida International University, he would merge his athletic experience with his academic pursuits and delve into the world of sports psychology. While pursuing a PHD in clinical psychology at the University of

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00:55:24

Lo Phong La Kiatoukaysy, aka Lil' Buddah: Hmong...

SEA4 Podcast: Southeast Asian Athlete Achievement... ·

2022/06/04

After the secret war in Laos Lo Phong La Kiatoukaysy and his family fled their Hmong village in the mountains and were resettled on the great plains of America. The family adapted to life in Kansas but would try and reconnect with their highland roots by vacationing in the Rocky Mountains. Lo Phong eventually headed to New York City exploring American counter-culture, finishing college, and working his way up the corporate ladder. On September 11th, 2001 he narrowly escaped the attack on the World

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00:48:39

Justin Phongsavanh: Lao-American Paralympic Athlete

SEA4 Podcast: Southeast Asian Athlete Achievement... ·

2022/06/02

Justin Phongsavanh was only two years old when he entered the Iowa foster care system after his biological parents were incarcerated. He was raised by his adoptive mother in Ankeny, Iowa, and excelled at a variety of sports until at the age of 18 his life changed forever. Justin was shot in a Mcdonald's parking lot after an encounter with a mentally disturbed military veteran. The attack left Justin paralyzed and feeling hopeless until he was introduced to the world of adaptive sports. Leading up to

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00:26:13

Jennifer Chanthavong: Lao-American Muay Thai Fighter

SEA4 Podcast: Southeast Asian Athlete Achievement... ·

2022/05/25

Five feet tall, 184 lbs, and out of shape. That was Jennifer Chanthavong when in 2017, determined to take her life back, she walked into V-Fit martial arts of Arlington Texas. Jennifer started taking kickboxing classes to get in shape but soon found herself in the ring fighting against some of the best up-and-coming martial artists that Texas had to offer. Throughout her journey, Jennifer has experienced the thrill of victory as well as the agony of defeat. Along the way, she has built herself into

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00:36:37

Channing Cash: Team USA Para-rower from Laos

SEA4 Podcast: Southeast Asian Athlete Achievement... ·

2022/05/18

Channing Cash was born in a small village in Laos where at three years old she was attacked by a bull that had escaped from its pasture. The attack left Channing unable to walk and was the catalyst behind her parent’s immigration to America as they sought better medical care and quality of life for their daughter. Upon graduation from high school in Rockford, Illinois, Channing built a career as a mortgage professional and became known as the go to person for achieving the American dream of home

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00:50:22

Sam Leam: 1989 Stockton schoolyard massacre survivor

SEA4 Podcast: Southeast Asian Athlete Achievement... ·

2022/04/20

On January 17, 1989, a man walked onto the campus of Cleveland elementary school in Stockton California and unleashed a rain of terror that would leave five children dead and more than 30 others wounded. The mentally disturbed perpetrator, Patrick Purdy, spent his childhood in and out of the foster care system and had a long criminal record and history of drug use and mental illness. Most of the students at Cleveland elementary were refugees that had sought safety in America after fleeing the Khmer

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00:45:21

Andre Soukhamthath: Lao MMA fighter

SEA4 Podcast: Southeast Asian Athlete Achievement... ·

2022/04/14

The call that every MMA fighter dreams of finally came in. The man they call the “Asian Sensation” had nine days to drop 25 lbs and get to Las Vegas for his UFC debut. Adversity was nothing new to Andre Soukhamthath and on March 04, 2017, he stepped into the cage securing his place in history as the first Lao American to fight in the UFC. Andre’s journey to the top wasn’t easy and but by his side and managing his career through the ups and downs is his wife, Jamie. Andre recently decided to hang up

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00:29:57

Bobby Syvanthong: Lao / Khmu basketball player

SEA4 Podcast: Southeast Asian Athlete Achievement... ·

2022/04/07

Bobby Syvanthong started playing basketball at the age of four in the blue-collar town of Richmond California. He would be crowned MVP at El Cerrito High School before heading to the east coast to play for the University of Maine at Fort Kent where he revolutionized their game. His talents would capture the eyes of scouts in Thailand and Bobby’s greatest honor would come when in 2018 he stepped on the court and represented a team from his ancestral homeland of Laos in the Thai Basketball Supper

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00:53:40

Vanna In: Executive director of Hope Now for youth

SEA4 Podcast: Southeast Asian Athlete Achievement... ·

2022/03/24

In 1975 the Khmer Rouge launched a rain of terror that would result in the death and displacement of millions of people. Vanna In and his family would escape the killing fields only to face a new war on, this time on the streets of America. Caught between the emotional scars that the genocide left on his family and the gang violence of the 1990’s Vanna would head down a dark path as a teenager and into the criminal justice system after being convicted of second-degree murder. This episode isn’t

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01:07:53

David Boutsomsy: Lao-American powerlifter

SEA4 Podcast: Southeast Asian Athlete Achievement... ·

2022/03/16

Growing up in poverty and in an abusive home David Boutsomsy poured his energy into athletics. While running track and playing football in high school he was introduced to Powerlifting by a teacher. David would join the Delaware State University Football team and unsuccessfully try out for the NFL and Arena league before going all-in on bench press. The pain of David’s childhood would fade away when in 2016 he broke a world record and accepted a gold medal while representing the United States at the

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67 results

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