About USA Sepak Takraw (USAST) and the Sport of Sepak Takraw in the United States

Sepak Takraw is a unique traditional game which originated from Southeast Asia and has been played for over 500 years in the present day countries of Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar and India.   It began as a cooperative circle game where players would try to keep a small woven ball in the air as long as possible, passing it around to players in a circle form without using their hands or arms.  Similar to the American game Hacky Sack, the game is still enjoyed in this traditional form throughout Southeast Asia.  In 1965, the circle game adopted a more competitive format by various Southeast Asian countries and caught on as fast-paced action sport into what is officially known today as Sepak Takraw.  Sepak is a term used in Malaysia meaning “kick” and Takraw is a Thai word for a “woven ball.”  With the combining of the two words, the official name of the net game became Sepak Takraw. 


 Takraw, for short, is now a widely popular sport in Southeast Asia and is spreading all over the world.  Strategy of playing Takraw is similar to volleyball with players using their feet and heads to kick or head the ball instead of hands.  Using the same dimensions as a badminton court to play, Takraw is played with 3 on each side with a plastic woven ball little bit bigger than the size of softball.  Watching Takraw creates an excitement and enjoyment to spectators who have never seen the game before when they are treated to thrilling rallies with acrobatic spikes where players flip in the air to spike the ball at speeds nearing 80 miles per hour. 


Since 1990, here in the United States, the sport has been featured on MTV, Sports Illustrated, CNN, ESPN, and ABC’s Good Morning America among other national media. 


Our mission is to promote and administer the sport of Sepak Takraw in the United States including grass roots development, organization and sanction of competitions, and the selection of national teams to represent the United States in international competition.  We are dedicated to the creation of progressive synergies between the sport of Sepak Takraw, youth athletics and corporate sponsors.


The USA TAKRAW ASSOCIATION (USAST), formed in 1996, was established by the Takraw players from California to support and buy equipment to train those who were serious in Takraw.  We only have about 15-20 members who are dedicated and serious about Takraw but we know there are far more Takraw players than that in the US.  Most of our members are members of the US National Team who have been to international tournaments in countries such as in Thailand, Malaysia, Colombia, and Puerto Rico. Our mission is to push the sport even further to reach our youth and schools in throughout in the United State.  In the meantime, we are working hard to reach our goals. 


The King’s Cup World Championship was historically the most prestigious event in the sport of Sepak Takraw.  The first King’s Cup was held in 1984 in Bangkok, Thailand.  Since then the King’s Cup has been held consecutively in different major cities in Thailand for the last 30 years without a break.  It was originally thought that this sport was only for the men, but in 1997, a major breakthrough in the sport history with added women’s competition to the international King’s Cup event for the first time.  All countries such as the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Germany, New Zealand, Australia, France, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Japan, Korea, and China were among those were invited to participate. 


The United States' history of entering the King’s Cup dates back to the late 80’s when a young all American team from California was the first to go and compete in the new country division for the first time.  In 1997, when the women’s competition was added, the United States sent in a group of three world’s best women's footbag players to represent the U.S. at the 13th King’s Cup.   Since then the interest of women has not shown any signs of increased interest.  Then in 1998, Hmong Takraw players from Minnesota known as the Minnesota High Fly team mixed with players from California from the Fresno USA team, made their first debut to the 14th King’s Cup after winning the U.S. National Takraw title and were selected to represent the U.S. at international Takraw event.  The U.S. National Team going to the 14th King’s Cup in 1998 and surprisingly winning the Gold Medal in Division III demonstrated that the United States had moved up to a new level of playing Takraw.  In 1999 again the Minnesota High Fly team was the U.S. National champ and was given the right to represent the U.S. at the 15th King’s Cup, moving to a new higher-level from Division III to Division II.  At the 15th King’s Cup and for the first time in U.S. Takraw History, the United States was able to send in three full complete teams to compete in the Team Event.  The Team Event is the main event in the King’s Cup if one country wants to win the King’s Cup prestigious trophy. The USA Takraw Association (USAST) also sent players to compete in the King's Cup in 2000, 2002, 2004-2013, 2015-2018.The awards of USA team at the King’s cup were:


17th King’s Cup Sepak Takraw World Championship 2002

Gold medal in Men's Regu event division 2

19th King's Cup Sepak Takraw World Championship 2004

Gold medal in Men's Doubles event division 2

22nd King's Cup Sepak Takraw World Championship 2007

Gold medal in Men's Doubles event division 2

24th King's Cup Sepak Takraw World Championship 2009

Silver medal in Men's Regu event division 2

27th King's Cup Sepak Takraw World Championship 2012

Silver medal in Men's Regu event division 2

28th King's Cup Sepak Takraw World Championship 2013

Gold medal in Men's Doubles event division 2

30th King's Cup Sepak Takraw World Championship 2015

Gold medal in Men's Regu event division 2
Gold medal in Men's Doubles event division 2

33rd King's Cup Sepak Takraw World Championship 2018

Gold medal in Men's Doubles event division 1

34th King's Cup Sepak Takraw World Championship 2019

Bronze medal in Men's Regu event division 1

In July 2011, the new phase of Sepak Takraw was established. International Sepak Takraw Federation (ISTAF)

 partnered with UFA Sports Asia (now Asia Sports Ventures) to host an inaugural ISTAF World Cup in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The tournament was broadcast on TV to 67 countries around the globe including the United States. Twenty four men’s teams and twelve women’s teams participated in The ISTAF World Cup. The top 12 men’s teams and top 8 women’s teams qualified to compete in ISTAF SuperSeries (ISS) season 2011-2012. The USA National Sepak Takraw Team made history in American Sepak Takraw by finishing 11th place and qualifying to compete for ISS in 2011-2012. The USA team also competed in ISTAF SuperSeries season 2013-2014. In 2015, ISTAF changed the rule to only allow the top 8 men’s teams and top 6 women’s teams to participate in ISTAF SuperSeries Season 2014-2015; therefore USA team didn’t participate in ISS 2014-2015. The rankings of the USA team at ISTAF Super Series were:


 Ranked 11th at  ISTAF World Cup Malaysia 2011


 Ranked 12th at ISTAF SuperSeries Thailand 2011


 Ranked 9th at ISTAF SuperSeries Indonesia 2012


 Ranked 9th at ISTAF SuperSeries Singapore 2012


 Ranked 11th   at ISTAF SuperSeries Thailand 2012


 Ranked 12th at ISTAF SuperSeries India, New Delhi 2013


 Ranked 3rd at ISTAF SuperSeries Thailand, Bangkok 2013


 Ranked 10th at ISTAF SuperSeries Finals, Malaysia 2014


After the success of USA Sepak Takraw team in ISTAF World Cup and ISTAF SuperSeries, the popularity of Sepak Takraw in the United States has increased.


Sepak Takraw is a new sport for American people but we would like to further promote the sport to those who are not familiar with the sport to make it grow here in the United States.  We dream of success in sport, but the dream of being on the national team and representing the United States at the King’s Cup and other international events already is one of the greatest achievement of all for any Sepak Takraw player.  ISTAF, the International Sepak Takraw Federation, also is aware of the value and attention that the USA teams bring to the sport and works hard to promote USA Takraw’s involvement.


Thank you to Pheng Vang and Tsung Wung for providing this historical information about Sepak Takraw in the United States of America.