Timmy Chang
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Timmy Chang
Since appearing on MidWeek’s cover in September of 2003, Timmy Chang has left his UH football days behind him and has been lending his quarterback talents to an NFL Europe team, the Rhein Fire. He is also hoping he’ll get to pursue his passion in the United States on the roster of the Philadelphia Eagles. And if that’s not enough, later this summer, Chang returns home to Oahu to help out at a youth football camp.
“One thing that sticks out (in Europe) is the environment. In late April we were playing (and it was) 10 degrees celsius. It was pretty cold,” says the 25-year-old Waipahu native.“The experience was just great. The biggest thing I learned was how we hold ourselves in Hawaii. You always bring aloha.”
In the past six months, Chang has lived his life on the road. Leaving Hawaii in January, it was onward to Arizona to work with his trainer, Chad Ikei. Then in February, Chang went to Tampa, Fla., for practice with Rhein Fire teammates. He also caught up with former Saint Louis classmate Sam Taulaulea, who played this season in NFL Europe for the Berlin Thunder (pictured above with Chang). Since March, Chang’s girlfriend Kristen Drapesa has been enjoying this road trip with him. The two experienced Berlin and Frankfurt, Germany, and Amsterdam together.
“I’ve been living in a hotel. Kristin is cooking the usual dinners we had in Hawaii, like shoyu chicken or garlic chicken,” Chang says, adding that he really misses a good homestyle barbecue.
Also during the past six months, Chang hasn’t been able to see his son Dillon, who is here in Hawaii and turns 2 in August. “I’m anxious to see him,” he says.
In Philadelphia, he’s now working out with other Eagle hopefuls at a rookie passing camp and constantly studying the “notso-small” NFL playbook. “I’m just waiting on the confirmation in August (on) whether I made the team. It’s football - you never know where you’re going to end up.”
While he doesn’t know where he’ll end up in the long run, Chang will find himself back on Oahu in July for the 2006 Inaugural Power 4 Sports Football Camp, of which he and Ikei are both a part.
From July 7 to 9, youths age 8 to 18 are invited to this three-day camp at Kaiser High School. Day one is for ages 8 to 13, and days two and three for ages 14 to 18. Participants learn techniques, training methods and the secrets of preparing to be a professional athlete. Ikei teaches fundamentals like education, leadership, integrity and performance, as well as the benefits of proper nutrition.
Anyone interested in attending the camp can call 1-480-657-6937 or register online at www.ikeiperformance.com
No matter where he ends up, Chang says, for him, “the game of football will always stay the same.”
- Kerry Miller
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