PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia’s Unity Cup has entered its second week of play, providing a unique passport to the world via soccer fields in Philly.
When Unity Cup started in 2016, Tommy Hotruomg laced up his cleats for his home country of Vietnam. Over the years, he’s been a journeyman, practicing with and playing for a number of other countries that all represent different immigrant groups living in the Philly region.
“To understand more about the cultures, I played for Italy, Argentina. I played for Brazil,” he said.
His time away from his home club taught him some best practices, which he can now implement back with Team Vietnam.
“There were different types of cultures, different types of playing styles. There’s so many types of talking, how it translates to their teammates, and their field playing styles are just so different,” Hotruomg said. “I’m hoping to bring back teamwork because we’ve been missing that for many years now.”
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Building relationships off the field is something Hotruomg has seen with other clubs, and he said it’s helping his guys immensely on the field.
“Ball control, more talking, being us, being who we are,” he added.
One way Hotruomg and his team have bonded off the field is by traveling to tournaments across the country.
“We’ve been to Florida and Dallas, Maryland, Virginia, Ohio. I think that’s what I love the most.”
Hotruomg hopes that bonding translates to wins on the field.
Find a complete schedule of Unity Cup games here.
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