MOPs harness the power of hoops
Marshall Cho, right with his eighth-grade team in Harlem, N.Y., helped bring the joy of basketball to the youth of Mozambique.
ESPN | By Kevin Carroll | April 23, 2008, 5:24 PM
In the 2008 men's and women's NCAA tournaments, there were memorable team performances and individual players who distinguished themselves on the court with their courage, creativity and ability to deliver game-changing moments. We are familiar with the names: Derrick Rose, Stephen Curry, Psycho-T, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Brandon Rush, Candice Wiggins and Candace Parker (aka "Ice" and "Ace"), Maya Moore and Sylvia Fowles, just to name a few. Memorable, magical and definitely worthy of being called Most Outstanding Players, these young athletes provided incredible moments that left us awed by their gifts.
March Madness captured our imagination for more than three weeks and took its annual place as a true global sporting spectacle. It's ubiquitous presence was welcome. The games were talked about tirelessly. Coaching decisions were critiqued, debated and overanalyzed. It even provided me with an unusual yet highly appropriate way to start a business meeting when I led a group of librarians in Wichita, Kan., in a rousing chant of "Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk, KU!" That's right, librarians! March is one of the rare times when fervent fans welcome the casual into the exclusive and hallowed hoops club normally reserved for the true fanatic. All are welcome to watch, enjoy and celebrate the game.
As I watched the tourney finals and truly enjoyed the play in both games, my thoughts occasionally wandered from the on-court action, to the masses of humanity crammed into the arenas in San Antonio and Tampa, to the millions of eyes peering at some version of a screen to view the contests, to how a game can be a powerful tool, capturing our imagination and attention in a profound way. And those thoughts led me to the work of individuals around the world who are using basketball to change the lives of others. I thought about how I'm equally awed by the commitment of several social-change organizations around the globe to improve the lives of others. So, I figured it was time to hand out some post-tourney honors to a few deserving individuals who are harnessing the power of hoops.
We all know sport and play are global common denominators and planetary equalizers. No matter where you look in the world -- regardless of political climate, religious system or socioeconomic situation -- we all play. Therefore, stories of triumph over illness, conflict, strife, poverty or handicap through sports resonate throughout our world and help inspire change. The power in these stories is like an alarm clock, rudely waking people from a heavy slumber. A great example of how sports can make us pause and take notice occurred this season at IUPUI when a coach chose -- on game day -- to go barefoot to draw attention to the plight of those who have no footwear options. These moments grab our attention in a loud and profound way.
The "players" I have selected for my Power of Sport MOP awards realized quite early in their lives that their love of basketball was undeniable. The game had a profound role in shaping each of them. Each felt a sense of duty to honor the game for all they received from hoops -- communication skills, teamwork, resolve, discipline and all of the game's other lifelong lessons. My MOPs took unusual paths to arrive at their work of sharing the game of basketball and using it as a tool for social good. Each of them now acts as a zealot for the game and serves as a human catalyst, professing and demonstrating how a ball can be a tool to foster social development and change on a daily basis.
"Mozambique" Marshall Cho: Mom always knew
For more than 10 years, I have frequented the same dry cleaner in Portland's Multnomah Village section. Shortly after the Cho family took over the shop in 2002, Marshall's mother, Myung, asked a simple question: "What do you do?" I told her I traveled a lot as a speaker for businesses and schools around the world, and I had recently written a book. She asked what the title was, and I told her a little bit about my first book, "Rules of the Red Rubber Ball." I offered to bring a copy for her and her husband to read. A short time later, Myung told me, simply, "You need to meet my son Marshall. He is just like you." I know I looked back at her quizzically, and then she handed me two spiral-bound documents and asked me to read printouts of Marshall's blog, which he had kept for friends and family since 2000. Myung said, "You will understand after you read this."
I learned Marshall is the eldest of three children born to his Korean immigrant family. The family moved from Seoul to Springfield, Ore., (yep, there really is a Springfield in almost every state in the union) in 1986. He didn't care that he was a vertically challenged, newly transitioned immigrant kid -- he had a basketball jones! His effort to improve his game was undeniable, and he became the captain of his varsity hoops team for his senior year. He had no delusions of playing college ball, and he flung himself into his studies as an accounting major at the University of Oregon. In 1999, serendipity smiled on Marshall when he saw a Teach For America brochure on a table in the school's career center. His first assignment for TFA was a stint as a middle-school math teacher in the Bronx, N.Y., for three years, and then he taught in Harlem for three more years. He played pickup games in an Asian-American league in New York and occasionally played ball at some of the famed parks in the city, which allowed him to satisfy his obsession with the game.
An unexpected opportunity arose for him to coach the eighth-grade boys' team at the Bronx school, and he found himself running the drills and schemes he gleaned from his high school coach. He also realized he had begun to know his students on a much more personal level; basketball was a bridge for other conversations that never would have taken place in the classroom or school cafeteria. Cho then married and moved to Mozambique -- which spurred him to thinking about getting involved with the game abroad. There's gotta be some ballers in the Moz, he thought. He fashioned a makeshift hoop and court in his backyard, and it it quickly became the place to gather and hang out. He couldn't resist the urge to teach the game to the young kids who knew soccer but not hoops.
Cho also got a chance to work with Basketball without Borders at a camp in Johannesburg, South Africa. In addition, he met with basketball officials from Mozambique and was given the opportunity to become a part of the national team coaching staff. While coaching, Cho met a young man named Issufo Gulamo Amigua. He quickly realized that Issufo had a basketball jones as well. The two formed a deep bond because of a ball. Eventually, Marshall asked his wife to prepare a room for Issufo in their home in Maputo, Mozambique, where they are helping put Issufo through the American International School. Marshall now is basketball coach, father figure, teacher, mentor and disciplinarian for Issufo, who might endeavor to come to the United States someday to study agriculture. Maybe a ball will be his ticket.
March Madness 2008 provided us with a chance to marvel at how human potential is boundless and endless. The stories about the Power of Sport MOPs allow us a moment to recognize our capacity to uplift the human spirit. In both, we realize yet again that anything is possible -- all you need is a ball.