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Ching Bridges Distances

Oct. 6, 1999

by Tim Welsh

The state of Hawaii is a long way from Indiana.

Over 5,000 miles lay between Honolulu and South Bend. The climate and culture differences between the two cities are just about as big as the distance between them. Notre Dame senior defensive lineman Jason Ching, a Honolulu native, has a pretty good reason to make the trip – the chance for a great education and to play football for the Irish.

With any mention of his home state, Ching’s face lights up. He is full of stories about life on the island.

“When I go back now I am like a tourist,” Ching says. “I do things like jet-ski and kayaking and I’ll go surfing once in a while.”

Ching misses the water and the beaches of Hawaii a great deal. During two-a-day practices at Punahou High School, he would go to the beach and body-surf in between the two practices. At his Notre Dame physical, the doctors initially thought Ching might have an ear problem because his ears were full of sand.

“The doctors still joke about it,” says Ching.

As anyone from Hawaii would, Ching misses the weather.

“I remember, my freshman year at Notre Dame,” says Ching. “I got sick when it started getting cold because I was not used to it being so cold. If it is 60 or 65 degrees in Hawaii, people think that’s freezing.”

Most of all, Ching misses the culture from Hawaii.

“It is so laid back,” says Ching. “It is just not as uptight. It is always sunny and everyone is happy – happy about life. It is just laid back and you can just hang out.”

Laid back would be the one phrase to describe Ching in his sandals and his flowered backpack. This laid-back attitude helped Ching accept life at Notre Dame.

At home in Hawaii, Ching built quite a resume at Punahou High School. He received nine All-America selections, was named male prep athlete of the year and defensive player of the year in Hawaii, and was ranked nationally in the top five among defensive linemen. Ching also earned three letters in basketball and track.

Ching left his mark in an another event called the Football/Power Relay, a race for athletes who weigh over 200 pounds. The Punahou team, which weighed close to a ton, won first place in the 400-meter race with a record time of 46.5 seconds.

“It was just a fat man relay,” says Ching with a smile.

Besides having a long list of athletic achievements, Ching also achieved in the classroom with a grade-point average better than 3.5. Needless to say, Ching came to Notre Dame as one of the most highly recruited players in the nation, having a combination of excellent athletic ability and a strong academic background.

Ching’s football career at Notre Dame has been a challenging one. He has a list of injuries that spans his 6-4, 260 pound frame. Since he arrived at Notre Dame, Ching has had back, abdominal, and knee surgery. All this, plus a dislocated finger that gave him problems last year and a sore ankle, which he shattered in high school.

As a result of his injuries, Ching did not play at all his freshman season and very little during his sophomore one. Ching accepted his injuries with that laid-back attitude he gained from his home state as a part of football.

“When I get hurt, it was just part of the sport,” says Ching. “I just try to come back because it is fun to play and get out in the games. When I get hurt, I do what I can to get back. It is an uphill battle, all the way through. When I get injured, I just have to accept it. That is how life is. The breaks are not always going to go your way.”

Ching says his teammates are a main source of motivation.

“What keeps me motivated is the guys – my teammates. I love being around them – especially the defensive linemen, we get along so well.”

His injuries also have given Ching a focus on academics even more.

“I realize more than anyone that football is not always going to be there. I have been hurt so much and football has been taken away from me so many times, I have to study because that is where everything is going to come. They can’t take my education away from me.”

Ching will graduate from Notre Dame in May with a degree in accounting.

Healthy so far this season, Ching looks forward to contributing as much as he can at defensive end. He used to wear the screw, which was used to hold together the ankle he broke in high school, around his neck.

Ching no longer wears the screw and by leaving it behind he hopes to leave behind his injuries as well. “The screw was a part of my old life. It was motivation in high school, but I am moving on. It was part of a chapter in my life that is closed already.”