{"id":16390,"date":"2013-11-29T17:11:45","date_gmt":"2013-11-29T17:11:45","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-10-15T14:16:24","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T14:16:24","slug":"espn-s-prim-siripipat-breaking-back-and-giving-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asiancemagazine.com\/?p=16390","title":{"rendered":"ESPN’s Prim Siripipat – Breaking Back and Giving Back"},"content":{"rendered":"

Break back:<\/b> (verb) 1. In tennis, when a player, having lost a game for which she served, wins the very next game as the receiver of her opponent\u2019s serves. 2. Generally, when a person, following a setback or disappointment, gets back up, tries again, and succeeds: BOUNCE BACK.<\/font><\/em><\/p>\n

Shattered Dreams<\/h2>\n

Prim Siripipat remembers the date with great clarity. \u201cMarch 17, 2010, St. Patty’s Day,\u201d she recalls. \u201cIt was a Wednesday.\u201d After two-and-a-half years living her hard-earned dream as a sports reporter and weekend anchor for CBS\u2019s Miami affiliate, she was suddenly out of a job, cut by her bosses, her dream shattered.<\/p>\n

The stunning development triggered a harshly difficult season in her life. \u201cIt was definitely one of the toughest things I’ve ever had to deal with,\u201d she reflects. The turn of events caused her to question her abilities as a sportscaster, and more: \u201cIt was a time when I was losing confidence in myself as a person<\/i>,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

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\nI knew that I was different. I was probably one of two Asian kids in our entire town – one of three if you include my brother!\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Prim Siripipat<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Her intense feelings reflected just how much proverbial – and literal – blood, toil, tears, and sweat she had expended just to get to that point in her career. She’d once been a rising young tennis phenom training beside stars Martina Hingis and Jennifer Capriati. But chronic injuries, and multiple surgeries while playing for Duke University, hastened the end of her original dream, a pro career after college. Then came the five-year, exhausting and seemingly endless grind of small market TV work in North Carolina. A one-woman band in those days, she was responsible for producing, shooting, reporting, and editing her own stories on ultra-tight deadlines, covering everything from four-hour college football games to a fatal car accident. After all that struggle, and apparent success in Miami, she had run into a wall of professional rejection.<\/p>\n

But almost one year to the day that she was dropped by the station, she strode into the Bristol, Connecticut headquarters of ESPN, the world\u2019s largest sports network, as its newest reporter and anchor. \u201cAnd ESPN was the place I had always wanted to go to!\u201d she affirms.<\/p>\n

Talking with Prim these days, one gets a clear sense that this was no mere stroke of luck. Her gutsy stick-to-itiveness and resourcefulness played huge parts in overcoming the seeming death of her sportscasting dream. Chatting with her recently over Google Voice, I asked how that inner strength and character was forged over the years. Our conversation took us back to a small city smack dab in the middle of the United States, a world away from both her parents\u2019 native Thailand as well as the television cameras of the Worldwide Leader in Sports (as ESPN calls itself). <\/p>\n

The town: Mexico, Missouri. Population: 12,000.<\/p>\n

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\"An<\/a><\/div>\n
An eight-year-old Prim in action.<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Little Girl from Mexico<\/h2>\n

Prim\u2019s father and mother, Pallop and Ampai, were newlyweds when they arrived in the United States from Thailand at the ripe young age of 25. After her father earned his M.D. from the University of Oklahoma\u2019s medical school, and her mother earned her Ph.D. from the university\u2019s College of Education, the couple moved to St. Louis. It was there that her father did his OB\/GYN residency. He later opened his own medical practice in the small town of Mexico, two hours away, after driving there and seeing that the city had no OB\/GYN specialist.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew that I was different.\u201d Prim recalls of her early years in the mostly White, mostly Catholic community. \u201cI was probably one of two Asian kids in our entire town – one of three if you include my brother!\u201d (That\u2019s Nick, who\u2019s five years her senior.) She adds, \u201cAs a kid, I felt for the most part that I fit in. But of course there were days, where if you are different from other kids, you do feel like an outsider. Asian culture has different priorities. And sometimes I wished I had blond hair, blue eyes, and freckles.\u201d<\/p>\n

The cultural differences began at home, as her parents tried to inculcate traditional Thai values. She explains, \u201cCompared to other Asian parents, they were probably quite liberal. But they were still very strict on certain things, such as academics, which were massively important in my household.\u201d Thai values also meant Prim got involved in a large variety of activities. She recounts what, amazingly, is only a partial list: \u201cI started piano when I was four, then saxophone and clarinet by the time I was 10. I did gymnastics, hip-hop, tap, ballet, swimming, tennis, basketball, and student council.\u201d She laughs, \u201cI was really doing everything!<\/p>\n

Her parents also insisted on traditional Asian manners. She recalls, \u201cIf I went over to a friend\u2019s house, they would always ask that I call my friend\u2019s parents \u2018Mr.\u2019 and \u2018Mrs.\u2019 In American culture, you can call your friend\u2019s parents by their first name, but I would always call them \u2018Mr.\u2019 and \u2018Mrs.\u2019\u201d Even body positioning could reflect manners and respect. She explains, \u201cIn Thailand, because the feet are the lowest part of the body, you would never put your feet in somebody else’s face. You’d move your feet away as a sign of respect. It was really just being very respectful to everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

But as is common for Asian American children and their immigrant parents, culture became a significant point of tension in the Siripipat household. \u201cIt was hard for me as a kid to understand why my friends could do things, and I couldn’t,\u201d she remembers. \u201cThe Mr. and Mrs., the curfews, what’s appropriate when going to a dance – like what I could wear, what I couldn\u2019t, whether I could dance with a boy – which early on, I wasn\u2019t allowed to. There were a lot of clashes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the cultural conflicts within the family, Prim\u2019s parents still went to great lengths to help her develop her abilities. \u201cI excelled at tennis pretty quickly,\u201d she says. \u201cBy the time I was nine, I beat my first coach 6-0, 6-0. By the time I was 10, I was beating all the high school girls by 6-0, 6-0 or 6-1, 6-1.\u201d Her parents recognized their daughter\u2019s prodigious talent. To help take her skills to the next level, Prim and her mother began a daily two-hour round trip drive to Columbia, Missouri, to train with one particular coach. She continues, \u201cWhen I was a sixth grader, I would be in school for seven or eight hours a day. Then my mom would immediately pick me up after school; we would drive for an hour; I would train for three or four hours; we\u2019d drive back an hour; I would do my homework and practice the saxophone in the back of the car; and we’d get home at 11. It was really tough. Looking back, my parents did such a good job working as a team to give their kid a good opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Go East, Young Woman<\/h2>\n

The routine took so much of a toll on the family physically and emotionally that Prim\u2019s parents made a drastic decision when she was 12: her father would stay in the town of Mexico with her brother, a graduating senior, and her mother would move with her to Tampa, Florida. There, Prim would attend the famed Saddlebrook Tennis Academy until she finished high school. It gave her the chance to train with elite coaches and athletes like Hingis, Capriati, Andy Roddick, and Mardy Fish. But the tense cultural divide between her and her parents become a huge chasm.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t exactly World War III,\u201d she remembers, laughing. \u201cBut Tampa was completely different and exacerbated the cultural issues. It had Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, Middle Easterners, and Asians. There was gang activity and drugs all over, a ton of nightclubs, rich and poor people. There were a lot of positive influences, but a lot of negative ones, too. It was a major change.\u201d<\/p>\n

She continues, \u201cAt the time, it felt as if my parents didn’t have a good understanding of American teenagers, like why kids are hanging out late at night, or why girls are more worried about friends, boys, clothes, and looking pretty. And also about dating – like when it starts, how it starts, what’s acceptable. In retrospect, I’m so thankful for the way my parents handled it. But at the time, as a teenager you don\u2019t have a sense of the bigger picture; you don’t understand why your parents are doing things. The only thing you can understand is that they don’t understand you!\u201d <\/p>\n

Prim\u2019s relationship with her parents began to improve late in high school. She says, \u201cIt was probably not until I was 17 or 18 that I finally realized what my parents\u2019 intentions were. My parents were very smart with certain things. They did their job keeping me on track.\u201d A deep gratitude for her parents\u2019 efforts to support her also took root. \u201cWhat a crazy sacrifice for my parents to separate physically for seven years, flying back and forth so I could pursue tennis,\u201d she continues. \u201cI don’t remind myself enough to this day what an amazing sacrifice my parents made.\u201d<\/p>\n

Being part of a world-renowned tennis academy also helped to bridge the gap between parents and daughter. \u201cYou had people from Japan, China, Canada, Argentina, Chile, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, and Guam – from everywhere,” she recounts. \u201cSeeing how they embraced their cultures really encouraged me to hone in on my culture and my past.\u201d<\/p>\n

The relationship with her parents matured even further in her mid-twenties. \u201cI made a big effort, whether they liked it or not, to be honest with them about what I was doing and about my past,\u201d she reveals. \u201cI think that full honesty and disclosure gives you a really true, authentic relationship. So they knew exactly who I was. And even if we didn’t agree on something, we could at least come to an understanding of why we did things the way we did.\u201d<\/p>\n

It becomes clear, as Prim talks about her parents now, that her stick-to-itiveness and resourcefulness owe a lot to her parents. She declares, \u201cRegardless of what has happened, my parents have been my greatest teachers. They’ve helped me every single step of the way. They were very strict but also very supportive and realistic and smart, able to provide me advice and give me a better sense of the greater picture. Now, my parents and I have an amazing, open relationship; we’re closer than ever.\u201d <\/p>\n

Sources of Strength<\/h2>\n

Prim\u2019s inner strength and resolve, which would especially become her lifeline after leaving CBS Miami, found its source not only in the people who had loved her the most – her parents – but also in the game that she loved the most, tennis. \u201cSports expedites the learning process,\u201d she maintains. \u201cI think that I, and some of the people I’ve trained with, learned some of the greatest lessons of life by the time we were 20 years old. I’m looking at some people in their thirties who still haven’t learned those lessons – time management, discipline, setting and achieving goals, handling failure and mistakes, being a team player. My parents, and tennis, really helped me to deal with challenges and obstacles, to get back on my feet and keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dealing with an increasing number of tennis injuries was part of that fortitude-building process. \u201cI had dealt with a number of injuries – sprained my ankle several times, had tendinitis in my wrist and elbow,\u201d she recalls. \u201cThen by the time I was 17, I had two stress fractures in my back from merely overtraining. By the time I was a junior at Duke, I had to have surgery – arthroscopic on my shoulder, my right knee the next month, and my left knee the month after.\u201d <\/p>\n

It became clear that her dream of playing professional tennis would never come to fruition. \u201cI was really upset,\u201d Prim remembers. Not only did her parents encourage her through that time, but friends and mentors did, too, acting as yet another source of her strength. She adds, \u201cMy parents have been my biggest supporters, but there have also been a lot of other people along the way.”<\/p>\n

One mentor that especially touched her life was longtime ESPN sportscaster Linda Cohn, one of the first women to anchor the network\u2019s signature program, SportsCenter<\/i>. It\u2019s a story Prim especially enjoys recounting: \u201cWhen I went through those surgeries and wasn’t playing any tennis, a professor of mine suggested that I look into getting into TV. I knew if I couldn’t play sports, I wanted to be around it, to cover it, to be around athletes. I thought of ESPN, so I flew myself up to Bristol because I was recovering from surgery and didn’t have anything else to do. So while everybody else was drinking and partying on Spring Break, I was sitting in 20-degree Bristol, Connecticut in a Clarion Hotel! A former Duke alum at ESPN, Craig Lazarus, really helped me, and said I could shadow him. He also hooked me up with Linda Cohn, and I shadowed her and a number of people at ESPN for a day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Linda gave Prim some advice that would become her roadmap for the years that followed. Prim remembers, \u201cShe said, \u2018If you want to be on air, don’t come here; it’s too big of a company. Start in a small market like I did. Get your mistakes and experience out there, and then come join us.\u2019 So that’s what I did. That moment was in March 2002. Almost to the day, nine years later, I was at ESPN.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prim had the chance to thank Linda in person several months into her job with ESPN. She says, \u201cIt was pretty cool, I was sitting next to Linda in the makeup room. It was so surreal sitting next to this awesome sportscaster that had given me all that advice and had really paved the way for people like me, females in sports. She looked over at me and asked, \u2018Hey, how are you doing?\u2019 I said, \u2018I don’t know if you remember me, but I shadowed you nine years ago. You told me to do this and that, don’t come here and go to a small market, and here I am.\u2019 Linda said, \u2018That’s so cool, welcome!\u2019” <\/p>\n

Other mentors for Prim included Tom Suiter, a veteran sportscaster of over 40 years in the Raleigh-Durham media market. It was in Raleigh where Prim reported (and produced, shot, and edited) any story that the station needed someone to cover. Of Tom, she says, “He’s been a big supporter and also a second father figure.” Later, when she worked in Miami, one of the station’s main anchors, Antonio Mora, also reached out and gave Prim a lot of support. “He’s now an anchor with Al Jazeera America in New York City,” she adds.<\/p>\n

As St. Patrick\u2019s Day of 2010 approached, along with the layoff notice that would blindside her that day, Prim had become stronger than she herself realized. Her parents, the sport of tennis, and her friends and mentors had all been key sources of her growth into an extraordinary, determined young woman. But the news that she was being forced out would still be devastating.<\/p>\n

How could it not be?<\/p>\n

Breaking Back<\/h2>\n

For two-and-a-half years, Prim thrived as a reporter and weekend anchor for WFOR Channel 4 in the Miami market. She covered pro football\u2019s Miami Dolphins, college football\u2019s University of Miami Hurricanes, ice hockey\u2019s Florida Panthers, baseball\u2019s Florida (now-Miami) Marlins, and basketball\u2019s Miami Heat. One of her pieces especially shows the energy and joy she derived from the job; here, she auditions to become a Miami Heat dancer:<\/p>\n