Finding Identity and Community: The Hybrid, Heterogenous, and Multiple Experiences of Vietnamese Americans in Sport and Physical Activity

2026/01/01 by Michael Dao, Michael S. Dao
Social Sciences · #Asian American and Pacific Histories #Sports, Gender, and Society #Vietnamese History and Culture Studies

paper · doi:10.1123/ssj.2024-0186

openalex publication_date 2026/01/01 · openalex created_date 2026/01/21 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21

Abstract

This study explores the Vietnamese American experience in sport and physical activity. Framed through Lisa Lowe’s conceptions of hybridity, heterogeneity, and multiplicity, results from 18 semi-structured interviews generated three themes: connection to Vietnamese community and culture, desire for Vietnamese representation, and Vietnamese American sport and physical activity identities. Findings illustrate how sports and physical activity participation conjured mixed feelings regarding how participants see themselves in relation to the makeup of their identities while also underpinning their connection to Vietnamese culture and community. By focusing on a specific ethnic group, this study disaggregates Asian Americans in studies of sport and physical activity to address empirical gaps related to particular ethnocultural populations.

Citations

• A New Voice
• ‘Who are ya?’ The national identities and belongings of British Asian football fans
• Race and resistance: A typology of African American sport activism
• Can I use TA? Should I use TA? Should I not use TA? Comparing reflexive thematic analysis and other pattern‐based qualitative analytic approaches
• Sport, social inclusion and the logic of assimilation in Prato (Italy)

Related

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