As students and as athletes, River Hawks strive to make a difference. In the classroom, during competition and beyond, UMass Lowell produces professionals that seek to change the lives of people around them. They blend their passions with purpose, which creates meaningful opportunities for them following their time in college.
 
For Athletic Academic Coordinator Sima Suon, that blend combines her adorations for athletics as well as pride in her Cambodian American culture. A native to Lowell, she remained in her hometown to attend college from 2013-17 and was an accomplished javelin thrower on the River Hawks' track and field team.
 
In May of 2022, her dedication led her to Hanoi, Vietnam, for the rare opportunity to represent Cambodia in the Southeast Asia Games. Alongside other Cambodian Americans, she helped to organize and play for the nation in women's basketball for the first time since 1974.
 
"A big reason I wanted to get into athletics was to be a representative as an Asian female in sports, which is hard to come by," Suon said. "I spent a lot of time figuring out that in my career path I wanted to make sure people like me are represented in the world of athletics. I've fought really hard to get my seat in athletics. To take on a huge role developing Cambodian basketball, it's the icing on the cake."
 
Suon has always enjoyed being around the world of sports, participating in a variety, including soccer, basketball and softball, before ultimately joining the women's track and field team at UMass Lowell. Being around athletics became part of her identity and she pursued a career that would enable her to remain involved even after her time competing.
 
After earning her undergraduate degree in psychology as a River Hawk, Suon continued her education at the University of Miami where she finished with her master's in education and sports administration. When the opportunity to return to work at her alma mater presented itself, she did not hesitate to take it. In her role, she encourages student-athletes to remain engaged in the community and become model citizens. Furthermore, she sees the culture of working in sports as something unique to the industry.
 
"Athletics are something to look forward to," she said. "I work as an academic coordinator, but if there's a game, I know that our athletic department is going to be out there cheering the players on. I think that's really cool. We bring the community together, and that's exciting and has become part of me as a person."
 
In addition to her position at UMass Lowell, Suon became actively involved with the USA Cambodian Basketball Association (UCBA). By networking with the Cambodian community, she was put into contact with board members who valued her sports administration experience. In time, Suon earned herself a spot on the UCBA board, and helped contribute initially on the construction of the men's basketball team. Helping to send off the program to compete at the Southeast Asia Games in 2019, attention then turned to organizing a women's team. As the only woman in the association, she was grateful for the chance to take this challenge head-on.
 
"I think visibility was my biggest obstacle," Suon said. "I knew that finding elite female Cambodian athletes would be a big challenge. It was going to take a lot of effort, between networking, and making our association and mission visible to the rest of the country."
 
Using the influence of the men's team and their participation in the 2019 Games, Suon organized a social media campaign to educate, inform and attract Cambodian athletes on the UCBA's objective. The efforts encouraged anyone who was interested, or knew someone who may be, to try out for the program and spread the word.
 
Ensuring commitment to the team was another hurdle Suon and the other board members encountered. Asking potential participants to sacrifice finances, time and other expenses for the opportunity to compete is not a small request. Even Suon herself knew that being committed to organizing the program would require her to spend time away from UMass Lowell. The support and encouragement she received from her colleagues, however, was something she is incredibly grateful for.
 
"It's awesome," she said. "The Games were supposed to take place last November, but were postponed due to COVID. To ask your coworkers to take on the burden of your work to spend that much time away and then for them to say that it's a no-brainer, was a super good feeling to have. Everyone who found out before I left was so excited for me to have the opportunity. They were asking for links to watch games. I love that about our office. It made me even more excited because I realized it meant a lot, not just to me, but to others I work with too."
 
Narrowing down talent in Suon's search for players was not an easy task. The new Olympic competition of three-on-three basketball meant that the roster she needed to compose was much smaller than a traditional team. Eventually selecting the best players to travel to Vietnam for the tournament, Suon and the team began to work on building their chemistry.
 
"The other three players were all on the west coast," Suon said. "When you're 3,000 miles away traveling and practicing is not at the forefront. Moving forward we hope to be able to do so, but we still stayed connected. We met on Zoom frequently, checking in every two weeks to see how everyone was doing. There was a lot of autonomy and trust in making sure that, although we were apart, we each were putting in the work and doing what needed to be done to get ready."
 
Before Suon and her teammates set out for competition, they finally had the opportunity to meet in person on the west coast and have some final practice sessions ahead of their trip to Asia. It had been 12 years since she had previously visited Cambodia, and Suon looked forward to experiencing the country and southeast region for the first time as an adult. The sudden realization of the mission and hard work paying off came together on a charter flight bound for Hanoi out of Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital.
 
"We were on a flight with other athletes. That was the point we realized it was all real. We were all going to compete for our country. I was standing next to a 6-foot 7-inch-tall volleyball player and I thought, 'This is insane!'"
 
Similar to the Olympics, the Southeast Asia Games celebrate the athletes with a grand opening ceremony and a tremendous parade that welcomes the participants in front of spectators. That experience cemented what Suon says is the most memorable part of her experience at the Games.
 
"It's just unreal," she said. "You see it when you watch the Olympics, but being there and absorbing all of that energy is hard to explain. Each team was only delegated 30 seats for athletes marching in the ceremony. You sit in a kind of bullpen, waiting to walk out with the other athletes and one of them could become a gold medalist. The women's soccer team for Cambodia hadn't played since 1974 either, so being in the same company as them is truly unexplainable. You're in absolute shock."
 
Three-on-three basketball is a new addition to the Games, making its debut in 2019. As a result of less players being on the court, space opens up and the game becomes much more fast paced. Games consist of non-stop action for a 10-minute period with the teams racing to reach the 21 points needed for victory. While the strategy is quite different than traditional basketball with five players to a side, both teams have one goal in mind – win. With that said, Suon notes the importance of having fun as she was competing.
 
"I was excited for Vietnam being the host country because they were able to be very successful," she said. "Both their men's and women's teams medaled. Also, seeing the people come out and support, packing the basketball stadium and flooding the streets outside in excitement to see their teams play was so cool. The games are being hosted by Cambodia in 2023 so it was like a forecast of what we can expect for us and our team next year."
 
Following competition at the Games, Suon now looks toward the next steps needed to move the team in the right direction for the future. She now feels that the team's involvement at the Games will incentivize Cambodia to hire a full-time coach to prepare players for competition. The hope is that the nation and its athletics representatives will attract more interest in women's basketball to improve the development of the team. For the UCBA, they will maintain their efforts to recruit, leaving no stone unturned in search for Cambodian Americans with the skills to compete for a national team.
 
Suon says that she is incredibly grateful for the opportunity and learned plenty through the experience that she intends to apply toward her work at UMass Lowell and beyond.
 
"This experience ignited a new fire in me to find ways to make an impact both here in Lowell but also beyond. Taking on my role and gaining the trust and confidence of people both older and younger than me also helped me honed my leadership skills. I'm able to develop something from nothing and hopefully see that progress skyrocket in the future."
 
River Hawks are strong-willed individuals who strive to achieve greatness in all aspects of life. For Suon, her roots are both at home in Lowell, but also halfway around the globe in Cambodia.
Athletics has become part of her identity, which fused with her culture to present her with the incredible experience at the Southeast Asia Games and with the UCBA.
 
"It means a lot to me to be a face for other Cambodian female athletes," she reflected. "Hopefully this team has encouraged any reluctant athletes to participate and get them excited for any sport. They might now have the opportunity to represent their country, their culture and their motherland in an event and not feel like they're the only person in their respective area."