A Community of Basketball Going Strong

Jesse James has never coached basketball at a local high school, but he may rank among the most influential prep hoop figures in Southern California.

For more than 30 years, James has been among a group of coaches that has produced some of the area’s top high school players through a network of youth leagues mostly made up of Asian American children.

These leagues, many affiliated with service clubs or churches, became popular in the wake of World War II, when discrimination against Japanese and Japanese Americans was widespread. They offered a refuge for Southern California’s growing Asian population, allowing them to preserve their heritage and engage in a little recreation at the same time.

But in the decades since, they have evolved into a training ground for potential standouts seeking to further their basketball careers. More than 300 teams and 3,000 players--nearly all of Asian descent, but also including a small number of players of other ethnic backgrounds--are expected to take part in the Year of the Snake Tournament Friday through Sunday, at 20 locations in eight South Bay cities.

While some lament that the clubs’ cultural emphasis has faded over the years, organizers point with pride to the impact they are having on the region’s high school basketball--particularly the girls’ game--in a sport that was once considered off-limits to Asians.

“[Our players] have better ballhandling skills and a better understanding of the court and the game itself,” said James, who is Japanese American. “[They are] trained to understand the basketball game.”

As the region’s Asian population continues to grow--U.S. Census figures show that it has increased 38% in the state since 1990--so has the influence of these programs that thrive in Asian communities throughout Orange and Los Angeles counties.

At Alhambra Keppel High, for example, the Aztecs’ varsity, junior varsity and freshman-sophomore girls’ rosters last season were composed almost entirely of players who have trained in Asian club leagues. And two of the Southern Section’s most successful girls’ teams last season, Irvine and North Torrance, relied heavily on former Asian club players.

Those players are altering the way the game is played in high school because of the leagues’ emphasis on aggressive ball handling and their “run-and-gun” style.

Asian club coaches say that while their players tend to be shorter, what they lack in height they more than make up for with speed, strategy and teamwork.

Carol Strausburg, Fountain Valley High girls’ coach, said players who come from Asian leagues are often better than those who play in other club programs.

“They bring some basketball knowledge with them that the kids who have played rec ball or National Junior Basketball don’t have,” said Strausburg, a 35-year coaching veteran whose school’s basketball programs annually include Asian club players on its boys’ and girls’ teams.

“Asian leagues are definitely good feeders for high school programs,” said Glenn Nakamura, president of a South Bay Asian basketball program, which is hosting the Year of the Snake Tournament. “The Asian leagues give our kids the advantage, particularly as point guards, to be able to handle the ball and dribble and pass in a way that the other kids aren’t ready to do when they get to high school.”

Several high school players say their experience with Asian leagues made the difference as they have gone on to be point guards or forwards with a flair for three-point shooting.

“If I didn’t play [in the Asian league] I don’t think I would have been as prepared for high school,” said Jane Yoon, a Korean American who plays guard at North Torrance High.

Admirers of Asian club leagues credit a level of coaching that is unusually dedicated. Coaches tend to stick around long after their own children have grown up. Many former players return to coach, or play in adult leagues.

In other club leagues, “often it’s just the dad who gets involved [coaching his child],” Strausburg said. Asian leagues tend to have “coaches who seem to be permanent. There’s a constant there and their program continues to build fundamentals.”

Detractors criticize the uniform style of play learned in Asian leagues, saying that it overlooks key elements such as defensive strategy for the sake of ball-handling and shooting. That style has caused problems in the past when Asian players attempt to play on the traveling team circuit.

“You have big problems because they want to play the way they grew up and that doesn’t always work when you have others involved,” said Steve Kavaloski, a longtime girls’ travel ball coach from Long Beach.

“There’s hardly any posting-up,” he said. “Their idea is, if they are open, shoot it.”

Longtime Orange County shooting guru Tom Marumoto, who provides individual training to dozens of club players, many of them Asian-American, said the most important lesson taught by the Asian club leagues is that there are several roads to success. The key is carving a niche for yourself.

“We may be smaller as Asians,” Marumoto said, “but there’s always a need for a skilled point guard.”

Membership in the leagues has increased along with the region’s burgeoning Asian-American population. The Santa Ana-based Southeast Youth Organization, which is run by James, organizes approximately 48 teams annually and runs a Sunday clinic for children as young as 5.

Many club teams date to an era when Asians walked softly amid lingering post-World War II prejudice. Anti-Japanese fervor kept many of them from playing sports in municipal leagues.

Asian-Americans turned such sentiments into something positive, fostering community activities with an emphasis on teaching youngsters about their culture and history. Athletics were tossed in for good measure. Originally, baseball was the sport of choice, but over time, basketball--a team sport that could be played indoors under parents’ watchful eyes--became popular.

The South Bay league started in the late 1950s as a service club named Friends of Richard, after an athletic Japanese American teenager who died unexpectedly. Friends honored his memory by forming a group that would perform good deeds, such as painting houses and doing yard work. In their spare time they played baseball and basketball. Weekend games were followed by picnics.

During holiday seasons, there were traditional Japanese activities, such as making rice cakes.

Those young adults eventually started their own families. Sports took on added prominence.

“These leagues provided an opportunity for teams of Japanese heritage to compete,” said Dave Yanai, the Cal State Los Angeles men’s basketball coach who played in Asian leagues while growing up in Gardena.

Although no longer as pronounced as it was once, a cultural current still runs through the leagues.

Today, “people go there and they have a lot of fun,” James said. “They play and afterward they have food and potlucks right outside the gyms.”