Galaxy envision star potential in Kamehameha grad soccer rookie

By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

When the Los Angeles Galaxy drafted Brian Ching in February, head coach Cigi Schmid said he had the potential to become "the John Stockton of the MLS."

Los Angeles Galaxy rookie forward Brian Ching, a Kamehameha Schools graduate, says professional soccer is much more physical than college ball. Allsport photography • Getty Images

The Galaxy signed Ching, 22, to a one-year, $24,000 contract with a three-year pick-up option.

Like Stockton, Ching had a distinguished but largely overlooked career at tiny Gonzaga University in Washington. And like the Utah Jazz point guard, Ching set a school career record in assists. The two even share a similar build. At 6 feet and 180 pounds, Ching is just an inch shorter and five pounds heavier than his fellow Zag.

"I was kind of excited to have been considered in that kind of light," said Ching, who says he often ran into Stockton at Gonzaga's training facilities. "I saw his work ethic in the way he trained and I like his mental toughness. I see some of that in myself, but I don't think I have his level of mental toughness ... yet."

After earning Player of the Year honors in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu, Ching went on to earn All-West Coast Conference and All-Far West Region honors at Gonzaga. In addition to his record 23 career assists, he is also in the Zags' record books with 34 goals (third all-time) and total points (second).

Ching also played with the Spokane Shadow of the United Soccer League and earned Premier League Rookie of the Year honors in 1997.

While he may lack Stockton's mental toughness for now, Ching's physical toughness has never been questioned. He has played the last two years with 12 screws and four plates permanently implanted in the left side of his face, the result of a blind collision with a goalie two years ago.

Neither that nor the knee injury that forced Ching to sit out the 1998 season deterred the Galaxy from grabbing Ching with the 16th overall pick in the MLS SuperDraft. Ching had worked out with the Galaxy last year and again before the draft, and was assured of the team's interest.

Ching started at forward in the Galaxy's season opener, but both he and the club struggled early. The team dropped its first two games, and Ching lost the starting job to first-round pick Brian Mullan, who began the season recuperating from knee surgery.

"I had a rocky start," Ching said. "My confidence wasn't the greatest, but I've been clawing my way back in it."

Ching, who was accustomed to overpowering collegiate defenders, said he has struggled to get used to the speed and physicality of the professional game.

"It was something I realized from Day One practicing with the team," he said. "The defenders are bigger and stronger than the ones I faced in college, and I got pushed off the ball the first couple of times."

Still, Ching's work ethic over the past few weeks has paid dividends. Before and after the team's six two-hour practices per week, Ching also works with coaches and trainers on ways to be more effective on the field.

"I'm basically learning how to use my body better," he said.

Both Ching and his team are enjoying the fruits of those labors. Ching scored the winning goal in a non-league game against Mexican First Division champion Chivas de Guadalajara in Mexico City on Tuesday. A reported crowd of 30,000 watched as Ching headed a crossing pass past goalie Alfredo Toxqui with two minutes left to play.

The game ended with a near-brawl when Chivas defender Edoardo Isela was ejected for a "violent action" against Ching, whose earlier collision with defender Eduardo Medina resulted in Medina leaving the game with a broken nose.

It was that type of physical play that regularly attracted Galaxy scouts to Gonzaga games last year, the type of play that may herald not the John Stockton but the Karl Malone of the MLS.