By Jason Cruz
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Sepak Takraw demonstration on the lawn at Denny Field on the UW campus on July 24, 2025 (Photo by Jason Cruz)
On a sunny Thursday afternoon on the outdoor artificial turf of Denny Field, on the campus of the University of Washington, a group of Sepak Takraw (Takraw) players exhibited the sport that originated in Southeast Asia. The interactive demonstration allowed anyone to join and take part. The event was hosted by the Global Sport Lab at the Jackson School of International Studies.
Sepak Takraw is played with a ball made of rattan or plastic (Photo by Jason Cruz)
The sport looks like part tennis, part pickleball, part badminton, and part soccer. It’s played on a court similar to pickleball with a net just 5-foot-1 inch high. There are teams of three players that usually play on a hardcourt, although this day, the players took advantage of the softer turf. The court is similar to a double badminton court which is 44 by 20 feet in length. You cannot use your hands, only your feet, knees, chest, and head like in soccer. Similar to volleyball, each side is allowed three touches with the ball before it reaches the opposite team. If the ball touches the ground, it is out of play. The rules provide for an exciting back and forth with players attempting roundhouse-type kicks jumping parallel to the ground to send the ball over the net.
The game is very popular in Malaysia and Singapore. Similar to a public park where you might find people playing basketball or soccer in the U.S., one might find people playing Takraw in city parks in Malaysia or Singapore.
The demonstration was led by the Blaine Takraw Academy. The Academy, based in Blaine, just outside of St. Paul, Minnesota, teaches the sport to youth and all those wanting to play.
Sepak Takraw has been growing in popularity globally. It has been included in the Asian Games since 1990. The International Sepak Takraw Federation is the international governing body of the sport, and recently held the Sepak Takraw World Cup in Patna, India.
Ker Cha (mid-air) executes a roll spike with a kick over the 5 foot 1 net (Photo by Jason Cruz)
Blaine Takraw Academy is the first Takraw academy in the U.S. It is led by Ker Cha, the United States’ premier Takraw player. He is the captain of the U.S. team.
“It’s culture to us.” Ker, an ethnic Hmong, notes that the sport is popular within many Southeast Asian populations. Ker opened the Blaine Takraw Academy a year ago and said that people of all ethnicities and races come out with different athletic backgrounds. “We have had soccer players come out and try to learn our bicycle kicks.”
“During the summer, there are tournaments in the U.S. all over the midwest,” said Ker. “If you are involved in the communities, you can find where the events are, but if you are not involved, you can drive right past them.”
“We basically learned how to play the sport together from my dad and older brother at the park,” recalled Ker. At first, Ker did not take to the sport.
“It basically came down to my dad,” Ker said. “My dad said, ‘take advantage of the sport.’” Ker wondered why. “Why, because the net is only 5 foot 1,” said his father. At 5-foot-6, Ker had the ability to take advantage of the lower nets to spike the ball over it. Unlike sports like basketball where height is an advantage, Takraw allows for shorter players to have the same abilities as taller ones. Ker can use his vertical to jump and kick the ball over the net like a volleyball spike.
Cha’s brother, Tru Anthony Cha, also plays Takraw and its highest level. He recalls starting the sport at age 12, encouraged by his father.
“Go out there and ‘you are going to get it eventually,’” he recalled his father’s motivational words. He recalls that when he first started, he literally would play seven days a week. Even when his interest went to other sports, Tru always came back to Takraw.
“This is all I know,” Tru joked. “Sometimes in life, you just gotta know what you are good at.”
Cha remembers his first international tournament.
“I’m not going to lie, I was scared.” Cha recalled, being just a 17-year-old playing with grown men.
Elango Badmanabha works at an IT company in the Washington, D.C. area and came to Seattle with the Academy for the demonstration.
“I started playing at the age of 14,” Badmanabha said. “They were training on the school campus and I was so curious.”
“I was curious to know if they played this (Takraw) in the United States.” He met a group that played the sport and made contact with the Blaine Takraw Academy to play in tournaments.
In order to play the game, Tru and Badmanabha stated that the “lower half”—quads, calves, hamstring, and hips—are very important. Also, the sense of balance on the court is important.
A demonstration of the sport, Sepak Takraw took place on the campus of UW Volleyball on July 24, 2025 (Photo by Jason Cruz)
The Takraw demonstration was the first performed in conjunction with the Global Sport Lab through the Jackson School of International Studies. Built with the eye toward the 2026 Soccer World Cup coming to the United States, the Jackson School established the lab. The sport lab has four areas of focus: curriculum development focusing on critical perspectives on sports, research projects, civic engagement (engaging with local grassroots sports communities), and public engagement.
The research will be based on the needs of local communities and sports groups in terms of thinking of sport in a global context.
“We want to take an analytical meaning of sport, how sport travels from place to place, and how people travel because of sport and how people find community through sport,” said Ron Kravill, Director of the Global Sport Lab in the Jackson School of International Studies.
“We are trying to get students to understand world events, relationships, global relationships, rethinking about them through diverse histories, languages, culturals, political systems, and economics,” said Daniel Hoffman, Director of the Jackson School of International Studies.
“For us, given the importance that sport plays in the global economy, the ways in which governments intersect with sport industries, personalities, the ways in which sport is well recognized in cultures around the world. This is one of those areas that impacts everything we do as people.”
Jason can be reached at newstips@nwasianweekly.com.