♪ [ball bouncing] Ashley: When I play basketball, I feel like there's nothing around me that can stop me.

[Sneakers squeak] Like, if a meteor came and flew into the gym, that won't stop me from playing basketball.

Like, it's like my safe space.

♪ ♪ ["Here" by Ruby Ibarra playing] ♪ Ruby Ibarra: ♪ Hunger in my eyes ♪ ♪ This is everything that I risk ♪ ♪ Kill it with my tongue every time I spit a free ♪ ♪ But the work is never done, and believe I'll never leave ♪ ♪ 'Cause I'm here, 'cause I'm here ♪ ♪ Get your hands in the air, in the air ♪ ♪ Now the greatest is here ♪ ♪ Is here ♪ ♪ I'ma make this my year, my year ♪ ♪ 'Cause I'm finally here, finally here ♪ ♪ Yeah, I'm finally here, finally here ♪ ♪ Yeah, I'm finally here, finally here ♪ ♪ Yeah, I'm finally here, finally here ♪ ♪ Ball is life.

[Players cheer] ♪ Girl: Happy birthday!

Hi!

You got me really, really bad.

Happy birthday!

Ashley, voice-over: Today is my birthday.

I'm turning 16 today.

I woke up with so many text messages.

I'm super excited for high school.

I'm also excited for club, but, um, I've been waiting so long to play in high school.

All the gyms were shut down with COVID happening and everything like that.

We just finished our first workout.

Back on campus!

Girl: Back on campus.

Tomorrow's my first game back playing in, I think, seven months.

I'm just really excited to be back, and I can't wait to, like, put on a show for everybody.

♪ [Players shouting excitedly] ♪ Ashley, voice-over: I thought it was just a hurt on impact, and then my athletic trainer tried to bend it, and it wouldn't bend.

[Line connecting] Woman: Garvey Medical.

How can I help you?

Hi there.

My name is Jayme.

I wanted to know if Ashley Chea's x-ray referral was completed and if I could come and pick it up now.

I'm going to go right now to pick up Ashley's x-ray.

Thank you so much for helping.

You know, like, if I don't have you, I don't know how to do it with Ashley.

I don't know.

We don't have time.

Oh, don't even worry.

My God.

Thank you.

Don't worry.

So I'm going to go to Dr. Edna's office right now.

Oh, OK. Then, after school-- a regular school day-- I'll pick up Ashley.

And then if we need to go see an orthopedic surgeon, then back to Dr. Edna's office... OK. to get the referral... and then go.

All right, guys, good-bye.

Lida: Thank you so much.

Thank you... Jayme: Thank you.

Thank you.

[MRI whirring] Jayme: Time to wake up.

A tear?

Jayme: Does that mean completely or...?

Doctor: Almost completely.

Almost completely torn.

Jayme, voice-over: Tomorrow, right away, we start her prehabilitation, every school day, five days a week.

So I told her she gets one day to be sad about it, and at the end of today, once she puts her head on her pillow, tomorrow she's gotta wake up and the sadness has to be gone.

[music] [Buzzer sounds, whistle blows] Ashley, voice-over: I'm still feeling like crap because I have some of the biggest tournaments of my life coming up, and that's when all the college coaches are gonna be there.

♪ Coach: Good, quick.

Hit that quick!

♪ Ashley, voice-over: I just need to, like, throw that thought away of, like, being afraid to get hurt again.

That's the main thing that holds you back from being great.

♪ I'm Ashley Chea, and I'm in the class of 2023, and this is my comeback.

Oh, yeah!

♪ Comeback.

Whoo-hoo!

Number one.

[Dog barking in distance] [Water running] [Water shuts off] ♪ Ashley: He can go in the car first.

GPS voice: Starting route to Flintridge Preparatory School.

Head northwest on West Hughes Avenue.

♪ [Indistinct conversation] Jayme: Ashley is a public-school kid before she came to Flintridge Prep.

Ashley: Hey.

Hey, Rowan.

Student: Hi, Rowan.

Hey, Rowan.

Jayme: We're really a school that is all about a rigorous education.

We just happen to also have a really talented basketball team.

Ashley, voice-over: Coach Jayme and Coach Kevin went to one of our games, and they talked to the team.

She told me that the coaching staff was like family.

Coach Kevin and Coach Jayme, like, they're literally cousins.

So it was like, really like family.

I just fell in love with what they told me about Prep, and I knew that I wanted to go there.

Jayme: I picked up the phone and I called my headmaster, which I had never done before in my life, and made a plea that if we invest in this family, we're going to change an entire family's educational path for generations to come with this one child.

♪ [Radio program playing, indistinct] Lida: I never played sports before, so I don't know what sport important.

Me and my mom, we say, "Wasting time!"

My family, the whole entire family, no one support Ashley play basketball.

We work hard, but I don't want Ashley to work like me.

Man: Lida, good morning.

Lida: Good morning, Frank.

Good morning, David.

To go, number eight, ready.

Hi.

Lida: I want her to get a good school, you study hard, you work hard.

♪ Education, we don't have that much, so I want her to get more education, so she can work... not--not with the power, not with the body, with the brain.

Hug!

A-yah!

Ashley, voice-over: My mom, I know that she's always there, but sometimes I don't think that she, like, is thinking about me.

♪ Jayme: Before this, I was going to school.

I was coaching already.

I started catering.

Both of my grandmothers were amazing in the kitchen.

So, Grandma Kiyomura, she lived with us for a lot of when I was growing up.

Check it out.

Her curry rice, here's the secret right here.

Where is it?

Banana.

She put one smashed banana.

Jayme: Thank you.

Take off the caterer's hat, put on the coach's hat.

Today's our first day of tryouts.

It is a three-day tryout.

For some of our sophomores, they never tried out last year.

We just had one team last year.

It was the COVID team.

And anyone who wanted to play played.

We don't really make cuts or need to make cuts.

So, I just want everybody to come out and just try their best and have fun with it.

Jayme, voice-over: We have graduated so many of our top kids in the last three years that we look nothing like we did before... Push dribbles!

I'm not going to give a whole lot of instruction today on purpose.

That's OK if you have no idea what a push dribble is.

Jayme, voice-over: with the exception of Ashley.

We still have what I think is the best player in the area.

Jayme: Let's not let the ball hit the ground when we're finishing.

That's not rebounding.

Jayme, voice-over: Our goal every season is to win League.

Two years ago, our...winning League was, like, a given.

This year, Ashley could score 40 points a night and we still may not win.

Jayme: Lord have mercy.

Wow.

This entire squad is just so far behind.

Ashley, voice-over: I tell Coach J. that I want to win CIF, but she doesn't think we can because everyone is just too new to the sport.

Use the backboard.

People ask me, like, "Do you think that you can do this, like, single-handedly?"

I'm like, "Yeah, I can!"

Ashley, you need to be a little bit more vocal in getting my teams set up, so that way, we're not wasting as much time... Ashley, voice-over: Being a captain is kind of weird.

I feel like last year, I didn't play at all, so I feel like I'm still a sophomore in every aspect of life right now.

OK, Ashley, I'll let you explain to your team the principles of what we're doing.

Player: Huddle.

Jayme: Huddle your team up.

Kevin: You might want to mix it up... Jayme: You gotta learn.

Gotta learn.

Ashley: So, you see a line with two people on defense, and then the other two... Ashley, voice-over: I'm just a bit nervous because teammates that haven't seen me play won't respect me as a leader and as a captain.

Yeah, so basically there's two people on defense.

The other team's coming down three on two, so this is...the whole point of the third person running in once the other team passes half court.

[Indistinct conversations] Kevin: Yeah, Ash!

Ashley: [Bleep] [Whistle blows] Damn it!

Come on, Ash.

You gotta finish, Ash.

[Buzzer sounds] Ashley: [Bleep] [Whistle blows] Kevin: Last one, last one!

Last one!

Go.

Give it-- Jayme: Run, Kaylie!

Good, Cat.

Good, Cat!

Yes, Cat!

[Whistle blows] All right, Ash!

Way to pass the basketball!

Ashley: OK, so that girl over there in the pink just mocked me, and I cannot take that, so I'm gonna... Jayme: Going to be a captain and let it go.

No, because she mocked me.

You're gonna get mocked your entire life.

You better get used to it.

I don't like that.

I mock you on the daily.

What's the difference?

OK, but she mocked me.

It's Wolfie time.

Jayme: OK, get focused.

Go get the ball.

Get focused.

Go over there, go over there.

Go over there.

Here.

[Cheering] Kevin: Yeah, Ash!

Ashley: She does not mock me like that.

Jayme: Oh, my God.

Do you need a sub, so you can come out and think about it?

Ashley: No, I'm good.

You sure?

Yeah.

[Jayme clapping] Ashley: That girl pisses me off, the girl in the purple.

But that girl has no right to say that to me.

[Whistle blows, spectators speaking excitedly] [Buzzer sounds] [Indistinct announcements over P.A.]

Announcer: The final score, Flintridge Prep Wolves 62, Mayfield Cubs 19.

OK. Lida, voice-over: Everybody watching me, they say that I'm... maybe a bad mom maybe because missing the games, never go to the games, never go to her school.

But her school or her even school... sometimes--OK, maybe I don't have time.

And then one thing is, when I go, I don't understand.

I don't understand.

Sometimes they're speaking, I don't understand.

So I miss it, yeah.

Same thing, Baov, too.

Sometimes he go, but he don't understand either.

Parent party, casino party, or whatever--a tea party, we never went there because we feel like...

They too much like, um, What do you say, "high class"?

They're like that, they're rich.

We're not.

[Speaking Khmer] I'm very poor.

When my husband pass away, I don't have nothing.

I have three kids.

My God.

Really hard.

[Indistinct conversation nearby] Baov: This is the only picture that I have.

Everybody said he looked like me.

[Indistinct chatter] ♪ [Crowd clamoring] Baov: And... [Sue speaking Khmer] [gunshots] [Indistinct chatter] [Laughing] No, no, no!

[Indistinct chatter] Lida: Oh, OK, so there's one, two, three.

Sorry.

Sometimes at night, I just get sad, because, like, all these, like, thoughts just come into my head, good and bad.

Like, when I'm forcing myself to be still, like, right now, like, normally I would be, like, moving around a lot and, like...not just playing with this.

I'll be playing with, like, paper.

Like, I'll be rolling paper, and, like, I'll be doing something to, like, get my mind off of things.

But, like, at nighttime, when I have to force myself to, like, stay still and not be on my phone...

I don't know why.

It's just, I've always been like that.

That's probably why, like, I don't like-- I don't like being alone.

I don't like having alone time.

And, like, being around people, like, all those thoughts just go away, if that makes sense.

[Players speaking at once, sneakers squeaking] Kevin: OK, hold on, hold on, hold on.

20 got through without much communication.

OK?

We've gotta talk more.

Yeah?

Ashley: I--The words just couldn't come out of my mouth.

Kevin: OK. Jayme: They have to come out of your mouth or we're gonna be handed another L. Ashley: Yeah, she saw me say it.

I know, but it's like...

It's like, that problem that I have or whatever.

Kevin: So, it's fine.

Listen, listen.

Ashley, voice-over: I start stuttering when I, like, don't know what to say next.

Jayme: All right, here we go... Ashley, voice-over: I don't, like, say exactly what I have to say a lot of the times, like, especially in basketball, when I want to tell my teammates to do something.

[Jayme shouting instructions, indistinct] Ashley: I usually only have stutters with, like, words that start with, like, an N or an M, a T or, like, a W, or, like, a B.

Like, sometimes when I'm talking to people and then I can't say the words, like, sometimes people just think that, like, I don't have, like, a high vocabulary or whatever.

[Kevin and players speaking indistinctly] Jayme: All right, welcome to the season opener of the Flintridge Prep Wolves.

At guard, sophomore Kassidy Huie.

Kassidy, right there, gray line.

Perfect.

Junior Captain Ashley Chea.

[Cheering] Ashley, voice-over: So we play Providence.

I think that that's the game that my team and I are worried about the most, because they have, like, really experienced players.

Tomorrow's a big day.

Let's get after it, all right?

Home court.

Home court tomorrow, guys.

Let's go.

Yeah!

[Laughter, all cheer] Jayme: Wolves on three.

One, two, three!

All: Wolves!

[Music playing] Jayme: We're going in with a very long winning streak that went over the course of--since 2016, really.

Switch sides!

Jayme, voice-over: I think that there's definitely a lot of pressure because of this streak, even if we don't talk about it.

[Crowd speaking excitedly] Jayme: Way to go, Amadi!

Kevin: Yeah!

Announcer: Ashley Chea.

Kevin: Where are you, Amadi?

Crowd: Defense!

Defense!

[Crowd cheers] Ashley: Pass Kass, pass!

[Bleep] [Players yelling indistinctly] Kevin: Come on, Kass.

[Cheering] [Whistle blows] Kevin: Come on, girls.

Communicate!

That's our rebound.

Come on, Ash!

[Crowd members chanting "Defense!"]

Jayme: Give Maddie the ball.

Can we give Maddie the ball?

[Applause] Ashley: If I pass the ball, I won't--I won't... Trust your teammates.

You'll get it back.

Trust your teammates.

You'll get it back.

Jayme: If Ashley ends up taking 99% of the shots, we're gonna be in trouble.

Player: Pass.

[Whistle blows] Listen to me.

You have two fouls.

No foul in the next minute and a half.

I don't care.

I don't care if she gets two points, I don't care if she gets four points.

It's not worth another foul for you.

You understand me?

[Buzzer sounds] Kevin: We set out to have a goal, and the goal is to win League.

Doesn't happen without tonight.

So everything else gets thrown out the window, and that's the only thing that we're thinking about, is taking care of business.

And this half of the basketball game is really all that matters.

Jayme: Your word...for the second half is composure.

Composure.

OK. We're going to be totally in control of our emotions, OK?

Composure.

All right?

Let's go, babies.

We got this.

[Players chanting "D up, D up, D up!

D up..."] [Crowd cheers] Kevin: That's all right.

That's all right.

[Whistle blows] Kevin and Jayme: Ashley!

Jayme: He just tech'd you.

He just tech'd you.

Come on.

A technical foul is a personal foul.

You have four fouls now.

Kevin: Teaching moment.

Jayme: That's great, but you got a technical foul.

That gave you your third foul.

And now this is your fourth foul, and we have a whole quarter to play.

I'm glad you had something important to say.

You're gonna have to find moments to communicate that.

Do you hear me, Ash?

You've gotta stop blaming Coach Kev and everybody else for not listening when you wanted to say something.

You've gotta let that go.

They scored seven points after.

I had to say something... And when you said something, is that gonna stop the run?

Ashley: They put 11 in the middle...

They did.

And they put 20 over there, so every time I go up, they always...

Right.

They scored seven points because of that.

Right.

And Coach Kevin was addressing that.

See, your team is all over the place, trying to do this for you.

♪ Ashley: Can I go back in?

Jayme: You didn't tell me.

You can do it without fouling?

[Crying] I'll try, OK?

Ashley, you don't understand.

The W doesn't matter anymore.

What matters is that we don't lose this team.

What matters is that they don't lose their faith in you and they don't lose their faith in each other.

What matters is that you learn something from this moment.

That's what matters.

[Whistle blows] Jayme: She's getting herself ready.

Getting herself ready.

Kevin: Compose, compose, compose.

Players, chanting: Defense!

Defense!

Defense!

Defense... Jayme: No offensive fouls.

[Crowd cheers] Kevin: That's the one we want!

That's the one we want.

Brick!

Brick!

Yeah!

We ain't going nowhere!

Sit down.

I'm proud of you girls.

Your leader needed to go take some time to catch herself, and then you guys held it down.

Players, chanting: Defense!

Defense... ♪ Kevin: You're a shooter.

Let's go!

Kevin: Come on, Maddie.

This is you.

Oh!

Yeah!

Yeah!

[Triumphant music] Jayme: Defense!

Kevin: Legal!

[Crowd cheers] It's about being disciplined right now for a minute, 30.

OK?

And then we'll live with-- We'll live with whatever happens, right?

♪ ♪ Kevin: Shot!

Shot!

[Buzzer] [Whistle blows, crowd cheering] Kevin: Right here.

Hold your composure.

You go up.

Hold your composure.

You go up.

Let's go.

Ashley: Wolves on three.

One, two, three.

All: Wolves!

♪ I was gonna call and check on you last night, but I felt it was better to give you space.

I figured you would reach out to me if you needed me.

Ashley: Yeah, I was just... That's OK. That's why I didn't call.

Because you know, right, you can just always call me.

Come on, ladies.

Clean it up.

Jayme: All right, captains, you have anything for us?

I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for not being the captain that you guys wanted me to be since the-- since the beginning, and, um, I'm working really hard to try and get to that point, but I just want to say that you guys all did-- did r-really good, um, like, collectively, and you guys all helped the team in one way or another.

Good job.

Jayme: It is a new day.

Absolutely.

It is a new day, all right?

OK, here we go.

Let's get after it.

Thanks, Ash.

That was awesome.

Ashley: Wolves on three.

One, two, three.

All: Wolves!

[Indistinct chatter, cheering] Ashley: When I think of basketball, I think of my dad first, because he's the one that taught me how to play basketball.

He had a basketball game at a local park, and during halftime, I shot the ball there.

And I made my second attempt, and then I told myself that, like, "This sport's so easy.

I don't even know why people think it's so hard."

♪ TV announcer: The Bulls open, scoring first.

Baov: 1994-95, I think Orlando Magic and Chicago Bulls I was watching on the semifinal.

Me and my brother, after they finished, we get a basket, but there's no board.

And we make one.

That's how I started.

Baov: One of my wife's friends, her friend said, "Oh, the girls cannot play basketball.

Why do you let your daughter play basketball?"

And I think, "Why?

Anybody can play basketball here, you know?"

All I do is just training with her... from 5:00 to 8:00 every day Monday through Friday.

Doesn't matter if the gym's closed.

We come home, raining day, she's dribbling in the garage.

Make sure you've got a good handle, and maybe one day that you're going to college.

She never complained.

Never want to go to, like, Disneyland.

Never asked that.

Ashley: My dad played in this league called Mofufus.

And then the ref came up to him while I was shooting during halftime and was like, "Hey, do you want your daughter to play on, like, a small club team?"

And it was for Asian Ball.

I didn't know that, like, there was a league just for Asians.

So I was, like, super confused at first.

Yas Oda: Asian American Ball is fantastic for fundamentals and teamwork.

The Asians teach, and that's a big, big difference.

You have the Parks and Rec, and it's a joke because they really don't teach.

This is Parks and Rec.

This is J Ball.

This is Club Ball.

So if you can play well up here, this is where all the colleges are going.

When I first met Ashley, you knew right away.

She was the best ball handler in Southern California.

Ashley, voice-over: In fourth or fifth grade, I was playing with my all-Asian team, SGV.

We were about to play this team, and we walked past them, and this one girl was like, "Look, it's the ching-chong team.

They should go back to wherever they came from."

And surprisingly, all of us were born in California.

We ended up playing them.

And in the first five minutes, we were up by 15.

And then after that, every other team that we played in that tournament respected us.

I just know that, like, Asian Americans get, like, looked down upon off any sport but especially basketball.

All the coaches I've ever had in my life has told me that.

Every college coach, every high school coach will never choose me first.

I mean, that broke me down for a while.

I had months where I didn't even want to play basketball anymore, but that was the only thing that would keep me happy.

Jayme: Right?

So yesterday we covered shooting and today, passing.

Jayme, voice-over: I started playing basketball at a very young age.

So I was probably about seven.

Jayme: We come from a big family of Kiyomura kids, 12 first cousins, and every single one of them played in Japanese American basketball.

♪ Japanese Americans have been playing basketball for a really long time here, like, over 100 years.

They continued to play during World War II inside of the incarceration camps.

♪ Post-World War II, where Japanese people weren't allowed to play publicly with everybody else, and so they formed these leagues.

♪ When I watch the little girls play today with their, like, shiny, brand-new uniforms and their brand-new Nike backpacks, and they're wearing Jordans on their feet...

I see, like, all of the little girls before them, like, the ones that, like, probably played in zoris, had a ball that was probably half-deflated.

We've touched so many people.

We touched a little Cambodian girl.

I think that's the beauty of our league.

Like, in a place where they were discriminated against because they couldn't play, they were like, "Oh, OK. Not Japanese?

That's OK." They wanted all Asians to play.

Jayme: Three!

Children: Four!

Five!

Six!

Seven Eight... Nine!

This is my first time driving alone, Kendall.

Kendall on phone: Is it really?

Yeah.

Call me later, OK?

OK. Bye.

Oh, I'm so excited!

So I want to live on a farm where there's, like, no one around me, like, no other houses around me.

And I want two horses, because if, like, my friend comes over, they can just ride the horse with me.

But, yeah.

Like, stocks is really catching my eye, but that's either hit or miss, you know?

But I don't know.

We'll see.

I still don't know what I want to do with my life.

Jayme: Are coaches calling you guys directly yet?

OK.

So if they're not yet, they will be soon.

Now, when Ashley goes and visits her top schools, like, she finally decides, OK, after all these home visits, after building relationships over the phone, "These are the schools I like," she can only go to maximum five official visits.

Those are gonna probably happen just as soon as this club season is over.

Steven: It's a pleasure to meet you.

It's a pleasure to meet your family.

Thank you for hopping on the call.

I know you're in between naps and work again, so I really do appreciate your time.

Carrie: You know, I know this process is, like, ever-changing and ongoing, um, but--And I know Ash is still trying to navigate kind of what she wants, what she likes.

You know, I don't know how much you guys know about Harvard, but it's Harvard.

It is an opportunity that will change her life, you know, forever.

She's not, like, super, super smart.

It's just OK.

I don't think that-- I don't know if she is able to get the good grades in school.

I think that I have a lot better relationship with my dad than I do with my mom.

Like, one time I got, like, an F on a quiz, and then I told her, and then she was like, "I'm glad you told me, but, like, now you're grounded."

So it's like, if I tell her, there's always going to be a punishment.

And so, like, I don't feel like-- I don't feel comfortable enough to, like, tell her anything that's going on in my life.

I don't know.

It's just like, "A lot of things happened in the past," and it's like-- I don't know why.

Like, I just can't get myself to, like, forgive that.

And I don't know if that's just me being really petty.

Lida: My mom raised me in Cambodia, and I raised Ashley in here, so everything is different.

Pull it--pull it back just a little bit.

There we go.

Lida, voice-over: My mom, my dad, they never tell, "Oh, I love you," or, "Mom loves you," or something, no.

We give Ashley a lot of love, but we just don't show.

Jayme: Coming from the cultures that we come from as Asian Americans, like, We don't hug or show, really, that kind of affection.

We show affection by getting on our children to excel at everything that they do.

That's our way of telling them that we love them.

It's hard because we're not in Asia.

Like, everything that we see around us is American.

It's different.

And so when your parents aren't the way that you see other parents, it's difficult.

If she remained in a school that there were more like her, it would be less obvious that she's different, but she's at Prep, she's on a club team that costs thousands of dollars to participate on, so there are not a lot of people like her.

So I think that's where the frustration, the animosity, the anger, the resentment comes from, is, "Why aren't we like everybody else?

Why can't we be 'normal'?"

You're an absolutely normal first-generation American.

This is what we go through.

It's just the process that she has to go through.

I can't speed it up for her.

I couldn't speed it up for me.

♪ You have coffee, honey, for me?

Jayme: Sure.

Oh, let me see what else I'm going to do here.

Jayme: Do you want to watch the video?

Of the quinceañera?

Yeah.

[Music plays on TV] Oh, that's a cute picture.

Oh, there I am.

Jayme, voice-over: My mom and I have been through, like, so, so much, and I think on so many levels, that's why I can relate with Ashley.

[Laughter] Jayme, voice-over: She just had a moment, she was just like, "I'm sorry."

Like, "I wasn't a good mom."

She's like, "I only went to see, like, two of your games.

You go to all of your kids' games."

I said, "I go to all of my kids' games because of the sacrifice you made for me."

I can only understand now as a mother the internal conflict that she must've had every day and the guilt to, like, be sitting here, helping me fold my laundry and apologizing to me that she didn't come to my basketball games.

♪ She literally poured every ounce of what she had into my brother and I.

And growing up, I was still just so resentful.

Like, I was just so pissed off all the time.

Why, like, she couldn't just go on field trips like the rest of the moms.

Why my friends couldn't come over after school.

And my mom was like, "You can't come over "because there's nobody watching you guys, and I can't be responsible."

I should've been more grateful, but just gratitude is a hard thing.

Ok, mijos, ya pasen a la mesa todos.

Mamasita, vamos a comer ya.

Jayme, voice-over: My mom being Latina, she didn't do silence.

Jayme on video: I'm joking.

Geez!

Mom on video: You didn't sound like you were joking.

Jayme, voice-over: In the shouting, we were still communicating.

It would've been much more difficult if it was just silence.

[Indistinct conversation on video] [Dog barks] [Knock knock] Ashley?

It's 7:35.

Go kill that test now.

I will.

I will, yeah.

OK, good.

Jayme: How'd it go?

It was fine.

I finished chem in, like, 30 minutes.

Oh, yeah, that's good.

Just go wherever you think you'll be the happiest.

Jayme: Aw.

Good advice.

Like, when you pick, and then, like, go somewhere where you can actually, like, see yourself getting along with, like, the people there, and especially your teammates, 'cause you spend, like, so much time with them.

OK, what about, Where do you want to be?

Like... Ashley: Not in California.

Not in California?

I don't want to send you to an area that's, like, there aren't that many Asians.

Like, that just so-- like you're the unicorn.

Ashley: I'll be fine with that.

I know you will be, and I think the people around you will be.

I just don't know, like, the climate.

Like, the area, the surrounding area.

Sometimes, like, you can go and you can see something and be, like, "Oh, yeah, that seems normal."

And then you're living there and you end up at a Denny's, and it's not normal.

Ashley: I was really stressed about coming back and playing basketball with club because I haven't played in so long.

Like, the last game I played with club was literally two years ago.

I feel like my worthiness as a player has gone down.

Like, my value has gone down.

I'm like-- like, I want to prove a point.

A major setback, like, won't hold me back.

♪ Man: You're one of the best players in the world.

The United States has the best players.

You're on the EYBL.

There's 32 teams that are EYBL.

You're on one of the teams.

You're on the top level.

You're one of the best players in the world.

You have to act like it.

♪ Ashley: Everybody wants to play in, like, the Nike EYBL, and every single college coach knows about it.

Man: As an injured athlete, it's very simple for college coaches to disregard you or even forget that you exist.

She could be forgotten very easily.

Enjoy this moment.

Not many kids get to experience this.

You do.

Ashley: The competitive level is just ten times better and harder.

George: You're playing Indiana Gym Rats.

The players are super smart.

Their tradition of basketball is real.

It's Indiana basketball.

The kids can shoot, they're smart, they know how to set screens, they focus.

You have to put it all together against a team like that.

Ashley: I love basketball.

I love basketball.

Whoo!

[Juicer whirring] That's a good court.

I've never been there.

That's a big one.

Come on, ball.

Grace, Grace.

Out, out!

♪ Ethan: Yeah!

Good job.

♪ Good screen.

Good roll.

Oh!

Good.

George: All right!

♪ [Whistle blows] George: Ashley... Ashley: No.

Jayme: Her job as a point guard is to ensure that they keep the possession.

Baov: She's not patient enough.

Sometimes it's just too rushed.

George: Go hard.

See if you can score.

Hit it.

♪ Player: Nice job!

Lida: Whoo-hoo!

Good job.

♪ George: How much time is left in the game?

Players: Ten seconds.

Ten seconds.

One more stop.

[Suspenseful music] Ashley: The game's over!

[Whistle blows] Done.

Over.

Yes.

George: Good job.

Good work... [Players cheer] ♪ What size does Coach J. wear?

♪ Ashley, voice-over: I'm proud of where I--like, where I came from when I was, like, little, just because, like, I was just a little Asian girl, and now I'm like, playing at, like, literally the highest level anybody could ever play at in high school.

Coming out of this, I'm really hoping to get ranked, because you don't see that many people that are Asian that are ranked on ESPN, and I wanted to show people that I could do that.

I want people to see that even if I don't play well, it's not just because I'm Asian.

It's because I'm just having a bad day.

♪ Jayme: We're just going to make a spreadsheet.

Name of the school, the coach, the location.

I bet you don't even know where some of these places are.

I don't.

You little poo.

OK, so let's start.

Let's just start in the Ivy because it's easy to categorize them.

Also, I don't want to stay in California.

I don't want to stay in L.A. Like...

Your dad's not going to go knocking on your dorm door.

Neither is your mom.

I know.

And you're gonna have all of the autonomy that you want.

They're not probably, unfortunately, even going to be able to make it to a lot of the games 'cause that's too far for them.

[Laughs] We're so happy you're here!

Ashley: Anybody that visits colleges, unofficial or official, they take you around on campus.

I wanted to, like, talk to you kind of about all the different Asian, Pacific Islander orgs that we have.

Like, how many people do you see that are like us?

If you wanted to play professionally, I think you could.

That's our job, is to help you achieve those goals.

♪ That's amazing.

Ashley: They put you in a jersey to, like, take a photo shoot.

And, like, I don't know.

It just feels like you're, like, a celebrity, which is pretty cool.

You're special.

You can pass, you can score, you can defend.

You're solid, you're gonna be a leader.

You lead by example.

Ashley, voice-over: And I feel like, for me, it's still, like, so hard to know what I want or what I don't want.

♪ Man: Right here, this is Bear territory!

[Man laughs, group cheers] Coach: Your work ethic and your quickness and your physicality, like, we look at you, and we're like, "Hey, you're a guard that could hang in the Pac."

We also talked a lot about playing fast.

And you were like, "That's something I want to do."

You do it with the Storm.

In Chicago, you just get downhill, get tough, and you finish that.

I didn't think that I would like this place as much as I do.

Coach: Ooh!

It just feels like a family...

It feels like home for you?

Yeah, a little.

Good, good.

Jayme: Like, why not Cal?

Ashley: Well, I was just wondering why, like, you guys just came a little late.

Coaches: Yeah.

Yeah, fair question.

You didn't play last year.

We did see you young.

I actually saw you last year on the bench, cheering your team on, being an amazing teammate, but you weren't playing.

When we just started watching you more and more, we were just like, "Yeah, I think Ashley, like, fits that piece."

Jayme: Oh, no, no.

I feel like you wouldn't let me.

Not that I wouldn't let you.

You owe it to yourself 'cause you've earned the other visits to go and see, not that I wouldn't let you.

And that's--If this is the place for you, you'll feel it even more strongly afterwards.

Mine!

♪ They got all the things that I liked, 'cause they asked me.

Like this one?

[Indistinct] ♪ Ashley: I like how Princeton is in a college town and it's like a college town and everybody who is around Princeton loves Princeton and everybody who has been to Princeton loves Princeton.

[Indistinct conversation] Woman: They want you to not survive here, they want you to thrive here.

They want you to be successful from, like, a nutritionist to a sports psychologist to the writing center to a tutor for every class you could possibly want.

So Ashley would have a tutor for any class... Yeah, we are graduating three guards right now.

I would love for her to come in, because she could make a great impact and play alongside her old teammate from Flintridge, Kaitlyn Chen.

[Indistinct conversations] ♪ I really want her to go to Berkeley.

Close home.

I can go watch her, my brother--take my brother maybe, my son or my wife.

It's kind of far for me to come here unless--Have to sell my donut shop.

[Chuckles] It's hard because she just can't possibly understand the sacrifices that everybody's made.

The way I see it, I don't-- She's not ready yet to commit.

Ashley: Like, I'm trying not to say the words, like, when I'm next to him.

You better talk to your pops first.

I already did.

And he said?

He didn't say anything.

I said, "I'm not going to Cal."

But be patient a little bit.

Jayme: Do you hear me?

Did you hear me?

Say, "Yes, coach, I hear you."

"Yeah, Coach, I hear you."

Thank you.

But, like, now, now.

I want to now.

[Shoes squeaking] ♪ Jayme: Keep shooting, baby.

Keep shooting.

Ashley: I told Coach Berube, I was like, "I can't say the words in front of my dad "because I feel like he just needs more time to process this."

And then 15 minutes later, I was just like, "Coach Berube, like, I want to commit to Princeton."

And she was like, "Yeah, like, let's make it happen."

♪ [Students speaking excitedly nearby] [Berube exclaiming] [Jayme laughs] I committed.

So I think that it was a pretty successful trip.

I think that I never had, like, a time where I wasn't happy.

My mom texted me, like, three days later after I committed.

But, like, I, like-- We, like, didn't talk in person.

[Water running] Lida: I want more time with her.

I want close to her, more.

Sometimes I just want to talk to her... more, like--like-- I want her to tell me what's inside, what her feelings inside.

[Music] I don't think, though, she's going to tell me.

And sometimes I want it, but I can't talk it.

I feel, like, frustrated.

I need time 'cause I lost some time with Ashley.

That's a big--big mistake.

The time that you miss it, you can't get it back.

♪ [Line connects] Hi, Ethan!

Hi, Mommy.

What you doing?

Play toys.

"Play toys"?

Ethan: Bye, Mommy.

OK, I love you.

And then now we have Ethan, so we have to show him that we love him a lot.

♪ [Puts vehicle in park] [Ball swishes through net] [Players speaking excitedly] Jayme: You never feel fully prepared, even though you've been doing this forever and ever and ever.

Still, the first day is super exciting.

We're following Ashley and Izzie's lead.

Ashley's our only senior, and Izzie's our junior captain.

Part of the excitement is we have three new freshmen who are actually basketball players.

All three players probably have been playing since they were five years old.

They all grew up as J.A.

players.

[Player cheers] So that instantly raises what we can teach, our basketball I.Q.

Good.

Hustle up!

Ashley: Good job, guys!

[Indistinct conversations] Hmm?

Ashley: Do you get it?

Uh, do I get what?

Like, do you understand this?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

OK. What's your name again?

Audrey.

Audrey?

OK, that's easy to remember.

Good job, Claire.

Jayme: I know we haven't set team goals yet, but I think it's important for the captains to have not just an idea, but they need to be like-minded and on the same page.

Ashley: Like, this is different from when I said this last year and when I said this my sophomore year, where I was like...

I think that we have a chance to make CIF, 'cause, like, I feel like that was really unrealistic.

That was a goal that I wanted for myself, not the whole team.

And I feel like now I think that we actually have the talent to, like, win CIF this year.

Wolves on three, family on six.

One, two, three!

All: Wolves!

Four, five, six.

Family!

Ay!

[All drum] ♪ [Indistinct chatter] OK, what's the toast?

Wait.

What was the toast?

Uh, to a...2022-2023 ring.

So true.

[All exclaim, glasses clink] Jayme: All right.

Hear, hear!

["Hummingbird" by Dengue Fever playing] Hello...

Happy New Year!

[Indistinct conversations] Baov: Anything else today?

Man: That's it.

Thank you.

Dengue Fever: ♪ Hummingbird... ♪ Lida: Anything else?

♪ Cased inside my chest... ♪ Happy New Year.

♪ Endlessly beating its wings ♪ ♪ It never gets a rest ♪ ♪ [Dengue Fever singing in Khmer] ♪ [Group exclaiming] Where is she?

Happy New Year.

♪ Oh, my gosh.

Happy New Year!

Man: Happy New Year.

I have two more to come-- Chinese New Year and Cambodian New Year.

Man: Oh, that's right.

Jayme: The way we do this is we let the grandparents go first.

[Grandparent cheers] Or if you're a senior.

You have to eat at least one black bean if you want to have good luck.

Hiya.

Hi!

What do you want in it?

Um, I want all of it in there.

All of it?

Oh, yeah!

That's my half-Japanese, half-Mexican nephew.

♪ Thank you!

[Electronic doorbell rings] [Geese honking] [Indistinct conversations] Jayme: In a few minutes, we're gonna play Providence.

The last time we played them last year, we actually lost two games to them.

Ashley being a senior, I really hope that we can show that maturity and show that, like, kind of that page turning from where we were last year.

[Bleep] come!

Player: Go!

[Whistle blows] Yeah, Prep!

Go, Prep!

Ashley: Oh, my [bleep] God.

[Spectators clapping] Jayme: Ash.

Ash?

I am kind.

I got it, I got it.

I'm kind.

I've got it.

[Indistinctly announcements over P.A.]

Ashley: Maddie, Maddie!

Maddie!

[Cheering] Ibarra: ♪ Island woman rise, walang makakatigil ♪ ♪ Brown, brown woman rise alamin ang yung ugat ♪ ♪ They got nothing on us ♪ ♪ Ay!

♪ ♪ Nothing on us ♪ ♪ Ay!

♪ ♪ Ay!

♪ ♪ Nothing on us ♪ ♪ Nothing on us ♪ ♪ Island woman rise, walang makakatigil ♪ ♪ Brown, brown woman rise, alamin ang yung ugat ♪ ♪ They got nothing on us ♪ ♪ Ay!

♪ ♪ Nothing on us ♪ ♪ Ay!

♪ ♪ Ay!

♪ ♪ Nothing on us ♪ ♪ Isang bagsak ♪ ♪ I take that shot, I'm a savage... ♪ [Cheering] ♪ You see what I mean?

♪ ♪ Feet on the concrete ♪ ♪ Nothing can stop me, it's easy to me ♪ ♪ Island woman rise, walang makakatigil ♪ ♪ Brown, brown woman rise, alamin ang yung ugat ♪ ♪ They got nothing on us ♪ ♪ Ay!

♪ ♪ Nothing on us ♪ ♪ Ay!

♪ ♪ Ay... ♪ ♪ Nothing on us... ♪ Jayme: Good job.

Celebrate this with your families.

Make sure everyone hugs their mom and dad... Kevin: League champions once again.

[Players cheer] Jayme: It feels good.

Jayme: All right, so if everybody wants to stand up as we go ahead and introduce the Chea family.

Father Baov, mother Lida... Ashley: Go.

Go, go.

...brother Ethan and Ashley.

[crowd cheering] [indistinct chatter] I know.

Sorry, guys.

I'm so sorry.

[Cheering] Jayme: All right.

So thank you guys so much for coming in.

We think it's really important to celebrate our senior.

Ashley, voice-over: Well, I just feel like now that it's senior year, like, I feel like I'm, like, appreciating a lot of things I didn't appreciate before.

Like, I don't know.

I'm just trying to, like, make the best out of every day before I have to go.

"To my parents and family, thank you for pouring "all of your time and energy into me "and providing me with the best opportunities.

"None of the things you do for me goes unnoticed.

"Your commitment to me and my life is "the best possible gift.

"Coach J. and Coach Kev, you guys have taught me "how to be a leader, teammate, "and friend all in one.

"That is the biggest thing I could ever leave this place with."

I love you guys.

[Applause] Jayme: I can say that, of course we're gonna miss Ashley, but we're going to miss just having Lida and Baov.

It's just been a tremendous honor to coach your daughter, whom I love very much.

Izzie, I believe you are doing the first reading.

So this is from her parents.

"Dear Ashley, from the first day that we knew you "were coming to our family, we were nervous, excited, worried, and had a lot of things running in our minds..." ♪ [Voice of Lida] ♪ [Lida choking up] Lida: I will always be there.

♪ I know it's like, a hard thing to, like, say, but I don't want to, like... like, especially, like, before college, like, I don't want to be, like... thinking about having to, like, be OK with my mom.

'Cause that would add just more pressure into, like, my life, and, like, if we're not, like, at that stage by, like, before I go to college, then it's just, like, "OK, so I did that, "and she's, like, on the other side of the country.

Like, I can't do anything about it now."

Jayme: One, two, three... ♪ Jayme: You are more than prepared, OK?

We have it in the tank, OK?

You guys have premium gasoline in your tanks.

We didn't even go to ARCO.

We went straight to Chevron.

We filled you up with the best gas we could.

Man: Who'll win?

Students: Us!

I believe that we will win!

I believe that we will win!

I believe that we will win!

[Buzzer sounds] [Crowd cheering during player introductions] Ashley, voice-over: Before CIF, like, we were all pretty confident, but, like, we didn't know what to expect because our league is nothing like CIF.

Like, I think we all didn't understand what was, like... like, coming to us.

[Suspenseful music] Kevin: Go!

You got it, Gabbie!

Jayme: There it is.

Make a layup.

[Whistle blows] ♪ Coach: Let's go, let's go!

♪ Kevin: Let's move the basketball.

If we start running our stuff, you'll get the basketball.

Everybody's scared to pass it.

Get us in the flow!

Come on, Ash!

Jayme: Go, Ashley!

♪ Izzie, Pressley, let's go!

My two guards... [Whistle blows] ♪ Jayme: Those were just the beginning jitters.

Now they're out.

Now they're out.

Crowd: Defense!

Defense!

Defense... [Crowd cheers] Defense!

Defense!

Defense!

[Crowd cheers] Kevin: Why are we not stopping the layup?

We're not guarding the house, we're giving them the key!

[Crowd cheers] Jayme: Izzie, not too early.

Clock management.

♪ [Crowd cheering] [Buzzer sounds, crowd cheering] ♪ Kevin: That's right!

Look, this is uphill.

This is uphill.

This is not like League: "Who's our next opponent?

Could be bad, could be good."

No, we're going uphill now.

They only get better.

♪ I just get nervous in general.

What if something happens?

Jayme: Like what?

I don't know.

What if...?

Anything.

Jayme: What if the worst thing happens?

We'll still be a team.

[Whistle blows] ♪ [Whistle blows] ♪ [Cheering] [Buzzer sounds] ♪ Kevin: Nice pass!

♪ We're a team!

We're more than just Ashley, OK?

We're not decoration!

Player: That's it.

Kevin: Boom!

♪ Jayme: Free throw!

Free throw!

Kevin: Don't expect a foul!

Free throw!

[Players speaking excitedly] ♪ Kevin: Yeah!

♪ [Buzzer sounds] ♪ Wolves on three, family on six!

One, two, three!

All: Wolves!

Four, five, six!

Family!

Ay!

[Indistinct conversations] ♪ ♪ They're the number-one seed.

Well, now we're here.

Do we want to stand on the top?

Jayme: Have we played our best basketball yet?

Players: No.

Kevin: That's the crazy thing.

That's the crazy part.

I know that to be true, and I know that we're peaking at the right time.

Ashley, voice-over: Coach Jayme and Coach Kevin have prepared us so much for this moment, and I just know that it will pay off.

No matter the outcome, I just know that my team will pull it out one way or another.

Jayme, voice-over: We don't look badass.

[Laughing] We look like a bunch of misfits out there.

Like, we look like I went on campus, I went, "Hey, you, can you catch?"

Like, "Hey, you, can you jump?

Come and play basketball."

Like, nobody fears us.

We walk into the gym and people laugh.

They're like, "This is the Flintridge Prep?"

I'm like, "Yep, this is us."

[Chuckles] [Crowd cheering] Announcer: The Flintridge Prep Wolves.

[Cheerleaders chanting] Go, Prep!

Go!

[Indistinct announcements over P.A.]

Crowd: Defense!

Defense!

Defense... [Crowd cheers] Jayme: Back up... Kevin: Pick her up!

Hands!

[Indistinct announcements over P.A.]

Jayme: Rebound!

Rebound!

Spectators: Let's go, Wolves!

Let's go, Wolves!

Kevin: Hands!

Let's go, Wolves!

[Indistinct announcements over P.A.]

Here it comes, here it comes!

[Whistle blows] Hey... Jayme: Key up, key up!

Kevin: No, Gigi.

Back up!

[Crowd cheering] Kevin: Get out!

Jayme: Olivia's, um... [Whistle blows] Kevin: Hey, what did she do?

Moving screen!

Kevin: Ref, hold on.

The girl ran into her.

Can you explain it to me?

Then she ran into her.

She was just dribbling this way.

She got there first... Kevin: Are you kidding me?

[Crowd cheers] Horrible call, Ash.

♪ ♪ Good pass!

Yes!

Let's go!

♪ Kevin: Time-out!

Want a time-out!

[Whistle blows] Communicate!

It's defense first.

Pick it up right now!

Wolves on three.

One, two, three.

Kevin: Game of runs!

Wolves!

Go in!

Jayme: Call the foul!

Reaching.

Call the reach, please!

Kevin: Yeah!

♪ Kevin: They gave Ashley a foul.

Now she has four.

Jayme: Go get Ashley.

They gave the wrong foul to my number 5.

What number does she have?

It was on number 21.

You called offensive foul on 21.

You have to go back.

She gave 'em number 5.

OK, so we're going to keep it that way?

OK, that was her fourth foul on that recorded mistake.

I can't-- I know.

I just want to let you know.

Kevin: Can you ask your partner... She wasn't in the play.

She wasn't even there.

Jayme: No, they gave Maddie's foul to you.

There's nothing I can do.

OK?

You're gonna play.

But you know you cannot foul at all!

Jayme: Good job!

Kevin: Knock it down.

[Cheering] D up!

D up!

Jayme: Pass the ball.

[Dramatic music] ♪ ♪ Kevin: Finish the play.

♪ ♪ [Cheering] ♪ Champions!

Let's go!

We want to go to State, don't we?

All: Yes!

Like, all the way, right?

Yes!

Family on six!

One, two, three!

All: Wolves!

Four, five, six!

Family!

[Cheering] ♪ Ashley, the jet is-- Go.

Whoa!

Player: Oh, my God.

Don't do that, please.

Please, please.

Please, please, please.

We're freshmen.

We're young people.

["Better Than Revenge" playing over phone] Playing Taylor Swift.

[Indistinct chatter] Players: ♪ She had to know the pain was beating on me ♪ ♪ Like a drum ♪ ♪ She underestimated just who she was stealing from ♪ ♪ But--but--but--but she's not a saint ♪ ♪ And she's not what you think ♪ ♪ She's an actress, whoa!

♪ [Laughter] Announcer: And a senior, number 5, Ashley Chea!

[Cheering] Crowd: Ooh.

Jayme: Eight, seven, six... Kevin: Cut, cut!

Cut!

["Tip My Canoe" by Dengue Fever playing] [Dengue Fever singing in Khmer] ♪ ♪ Who feels like going on a little road trip to almost Mexico?

Nachos!

[Cheering] ♪ ♪ Kevin: Takedown number one, takedown number one.

Let's go.

♪ Players: Defense!

Defense!

[Announcer speaks indistinctly over PA] [Chanting] Pick me up!

That's it!

You go!

Ashley, voice-over: This game means a lot to me because I've come so far in high school, and only getting to play two seasons of it... and to be able to get to where I am today is just incredible.

♪ [Cheering] ♪ [Chanting indistinctly] ♪ ♪ Ashley, voice-over: I think I was just thinking if this was my last game, like, I can't end it on a bad note.

Player: One quarter.

Kevin: OK, let's get ourselves back.

Come on.

Let's get ourselves back.

♪ Jayme: Pass it!

[Crowd cheers] Jayme: Go rebound!

Kevin: Come on.

Let's not set each other up for failure.

Come on.

Let's go.

We're not going out like this.

Come on.

Hold it together.

♪ Let's go, let's go.

♪ Kevin: You all got a feel for what it's like to be a champion, but now we have to feel what it's like to go home.

♪ [Ashley sobbing] Wolves on three, family on six.

One, two, three.

All: Wolves!

Four, five, six.

Family!

[Clap clap] Ay!

♪ ♪ [Indistinct chatter, music playing] Man: The CIF Division 3 Player of the Year, nominated to McDonald's All-American, is one of the John Wooden High School Basketball Players of the Year, Ashley Chea.

[Students cheer] ♪ Ashley, voice-over: I think I've grown the most this year as a leader, and just showing my teammates that I could be somebody that they can trust and be comfortable around on and off the court.

Both: We love you.

Ashley, voice-over: Just being a role model and, like, I hope that somebody, like, follows in my footsteps and, like, takes the place that I had this year, and maybe, like, they'll do more than I did this year.

I just hope that I, like, created this, like, persona of, like, Ashley, and, like, I hope my teammates see it.

And it's like, "Oh, my gosh, like, we are going to miss her," not because of, like, basketball-wise, but, like, "Oh, my God.

Like, we are going to miss Ashley, like, the person."

♪ This is, like, my maybe.

And those are, like, my maybe, too.

♪ This is too many jackets, huh?

[Sighs] OK.

I'm leaving for college in two days, on Saturday.

And, you know, it's hitting a lot more than I thought it was going to.

♪ But my family's coming with me, so I don't have to say bye, like, till then.

♪ It's broken.

♪ Baov: Let's go.

We're late.

OK. ♪ ♪ ["Unbreakable" by Ruby Ibarra playing] ♪ Ibarra: ♪ Every time I feel ♪ ♪ That I'm about to lose my purpose ♪ ♪ Moments where I deal with being tested ♪ ♪ At the surface ♪ ♪ Got me climbing hills until my confidence resurfaced... ♪ Go, Ash!

That's it!

♪ Put in the work, so I deserve this ♪ ♪ Everything I am, I lay it out, this is the moment ♪ ♪ Everything I can, I play it out on my opponent ♪ ♪ Me versus me, a better me, that's what I'm hoping ♪ ♪ See, that's the key, I'm confident they taking notice ♪ ♪ 'Cause this is my time, flight time, prime time ♪ ♪ Fighter in my bloodline, forever in my lifetime ♪ ♪ Practicing from daytime to nighttime ♪ ♪ Till do time ♪ ♪ The champion just woke up ♪ [Echoing] ♪ In my mind, it's showtime ♪ ♪