Ching’s status growing
Brian Ching is a number of firsts. He’s the first Hawaiian to play for the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team. He’s the first Gonzaga graduate to play for the national team. He’s the first GU grad to make it to Major League Soccer, where he is a striker for the Houston Dynamo. Barring anything drastic, he’ll likely be the first player from Hawaii or Gonzaga to play in the World Cup.
He’s also the first walking recruiting tool for Gonzaga soccer.
Well, that last one may have been a bit of a stretch, but it isn’t something Ching would mind.
“I hope (my success) does help Gonzaga,” Ching said recently, a day before the national team played Morocco in a World Cup tuneup. “Gonzaga was great for the development of both my career and as a person off the field. I had a great time there. Hopefully the more publicity we get for GU, the better.”
Gonzaga won’t be the focus of any World Cup previews, and will likely get only a passing reference in TV and print outlets, if any mention at all. And though any allusion, however brief, to the school would surely help recruiting, don’t expect Bulldogs head coach Einar Thorarinsson to tell prospective players how Gonzaga helped put Ching on the map.
“We don’t say those things,” said Thorarinsson, who will enter into his 12th year with Gonzaga this fall. “But it certainly doesn’t hurt. Most of the players we contacted are already aware Brian played here and where he is at this time. Of course we bring it up, but I don’t do any more than that.
“Hopefully it will help us in our recruiting, but I like to throw it all on Brian where he’s gotten and leave it at that.”
To throw it all on the 6-foot-1, 195-pound Ching may be oversimplifying things a touch. While it doesn’t have the pedigree of a UCLA or Virginia, or even that of West Coast Conference rivals Portland or Santa Clara, Gonzaga has seen team and individual success. The Bulldogs won back-to-back co-WCC titles in 1998 and 1999 and played in the NCAA tournament in 2001.
Former GU star Jeff McAllister, who is the school’s career leader in goals (45) and points (102), was fifth in the nation in scoring in 1997 (players get two points for a goal and one for an assist) when he registered 46 points. Former Bulldogs Arni Ingi Pjetursson and Kari Arnason, both from Iceland, are playing professionally in Europe. Defenders Danny Huet and Zach Scott also spent time with Ching in the A-League (roughly soccer’s equivalent to baseball’s Triple-A) with the Seattle Sounders.
But none have had the success of Ching. The Hawaiian Superman – as some have called him – was a two-time member of the All-WCC first team and finished his Gonzaga career tied for second on the career goals list with 34 and points with 91. He is the school’s all-time leader in assists with 23.
After being waived by the Los Angeles Galaxy and a successful stint with the Sounders, Ching joined the San Jose Earthquakes in 2003. By 2004, the Haleiwa, Hawaii, native was the MLS’ co-leader in goals (12), was tied for third in the league in scoring (28 points) and was named to the MLS’ Best XI. In 2005 when he wasn’t hurt, Ching continued to produce, registering seven goals and five assists in 16 games.
Before the 2006 season, San Jose moved to Houston and became the Dynamo, and Ching hasn’t stopped scoring. Heading into the weekend, Ching led the MLS with seven goals, despite playing in only six games due to his time spent with the national team, and was named the April player of the month.
When he was named to head coach Bruce Arena’s 23-man World Cup team, Ching was in the airport in Denver, following a 1-0 victory in Colorado in which he scored the game’s only goal. The team’s owner has a ranch outside Denver that doesn’t get cell phone reception, so Ching didn’t find out he had been named to the squad until seeing it on SportsCenter – at which point his teammates began yelling and piling on him.
“It was a great feeling,” said Ching, who turned 28 on May 24. “There wasn’t a lot going on, and we definitely got some weird looks, but it doesn’t matter much to be honest. It’s a big accomplishment for me. I am extremely excited.”
According to most pundits, Ching was expected to be an alternate on the U.S. World Cup squad, but Arena surprised many by selecting Ching over New England Revolution striker Taylor Twellman. Count Thorarinsson among those not the least bit shocked by the selection.
“I was expecting him to make the team,” Thorarinsson said. “I felt the way he had played the last few months warranted being selected. … Having watched both, obviously I’m biased, but I feel he’s a better player (than Twellman). I was hoping, but was half-expecting it, as well.”
Barring an injury to starting forward Brian McBride, Ching – called recently by ESPN commentator and the national team’s all time leading scorer Eric Wynalda, “Brian McBride with a tan” – is likely penciled into a substitute role when the U.S. opens World Cup play June 12 against the Czech Republic in Gelsenkirchen. But whatever part he plays, you can be sure he will be giving 100 percent.
“From now until the first game, anything can happen,” he said. “I’m competing hard for a spot. I want to play. As it stands I’m probably coming off the bench, but like I said, anything can happen. I’m training hard and fighting for a spot in the field. That’s my focus going to the World Cup.”
“He has an incredible work ethic,” added Mike Thompson, who came to Gonzaga with Ching in 1996 and is now the team’s assistant coach. “He’s one of those guys who always knew what he wanted to do and was not going to let anything stop him from reaching his goals. … You always knew he was going to achieve great things.”
Even if he did take the road less traveled to get there.
“I thought about it briefly over the past week or so,” Ching said of his trek from Hawaii to Germany. “I didn’t take the ordinary path the majority of guys on this team took to get where we are at. I am proud to be from Hawaii and from Gonzaga and to be the first from both places to succeed at this high of a level.”
Which, in turn, has made Thompson’s job of selling Gonzaga to recruits easier.
“His success has definitely helped with publicity and notoriety,” Thompson said. “When kids come in and say their ambition is to be a professional player and play in the World Cup, we have proof you can do that at Gonzaga.”
That proof was almost little more than pudding – as in the shape of Ching’s right knee before he had arthroscopic surgery on it, which caused him to miss the 1998 season at Gonzaga. Or his broken eye socket and jaw that required surgery after he was kicked in the face while playing for the Spokane Shadow in the summer of 1999. Or his right Achilles tendon after he shredded it while with San Jose in 2003. Or his right hamstring after he tore it in 2005.
“He’s had some pretty devastating injuries,” Thompson said. “A lot of people would have said enough of it. Last year he tore his hamstring and had surgery, but he knew this was a Cup year, and he put his head down and wouldn’t be denied. I’m sure that is why he’s so well liked on Houston and on the national team as well.”
If it seems like everyone at Gonzaga loves Ching – and good luck finding anyone to say a discouraging word – the feeling is mutual.
“I’ve talked to recruits from Hawaii, and I’ll continue to do that if they want me to, to share my experience there,” Ching said. “It’s great for me to see (Gonzaga) behind me 100 percent. I definitely think there’s a family atmosphere at GU, and I felt wanted and liked there.”