Caprice Dydasco Brings Hawaii’s Unique Diversity to Gotham FC

MIXED ASIAN MEDIA - May 20, 2022

By Sam Tanabe

Guamanian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Hawaiian. It’s not so uncommon to find this rich mix of heritages in Hawaii. Almost 5,000 miles away (on the east coast of the mainland), this combo certainly draws more intrigue for Caprice Dydasco, defender for Gotham FC — New Jersey/New York’s professional women’s soccer team. Caprice represents the talent and diversity of her home state well and will be celebrated this Sunday, May 22 at Gotham’s AAPI Celebration Match.

As a NYC-based writer, it’s my obligation to highlight the “MAM fam” star of our pro women’s team. Joyful, yet confident and cool, it was a pleasure speaking with Caprice about her heritage, soccer career, and changes she wants to see in the league. This month, we emphasize and honor the achievements of mixed Asian, Pacific Islander, and Native Hawaiian players everywhere. If you’re in the NY/NJ area, come out to Red Bull Arena Sunday night for Gotham’s match against Racing Louisville FC. Click here for MAM Fam discounted tickets, and read the exclusive interview with Caprice below!

How do you like to introduce yourself? How do you identify?

I go by Caprice Dydasco, she/her.

I know from your MAM Fest panel last year that both your parents played soccer. Are your parents also from Hawaii, and did they influence you to play? 

Yeah, my dad is full Guamanian. His parents were born in Guam, and then he was born in Hawaii. My mom was born in Hawaii, but she's Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Hawaiian. My mom's dad is full Japanese, and then my mom's mom is the rest of that. So they call in Hawaii “mixed plate.”

Both my parents were born in Hawaii, and they met playing soccer in high school. They went to different high schools, but their high school coaches were married to each other, and they met during practices at the same field.

They never forced me to play soccer at all. They made me try different sports, I fell in love with soccer, and they supported me through that. I think it was a good idea for them to have me try different sports, dancing, hula, jazz, and I also did horseback riding. Letting me fall in love with my own passion was really important.

Can you share with us why it's important for society to differentiate between Asian, Pacific Islander, and Hawaiian Americans?

Yeah, absolutely. I think it's easy to categorize groups of people. And I think different cultures — Hawaiians, for example — we take a lot of pride in our customs, culture, history, traditions, and family things that we do, passed down from our ancestors. People take pride in the certain holidays we celebrate. I'm Chinese as well, so we do Chinese New Year. That's a big start of a new year, rather than the normal January 1st. I think it's really important to take time to appreciate different cultures and customs, because they are so different.

It's easy just to be like, “Oh, you're AAPI.” But what specifically are you? Some people may be okay with it, but some people can be very hurt by categorizing people this way. I'm a very unique person because I am Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Hawaiian. I do kind of fall in most of those categories, but if someone was full Hawaiian, I think they would appreciate people asking what they are specifically.

There's movement right now to differentiate between the different AAPI groups because they are so different. Culturally they're different, and it's important to recognize those things. Thanks for sharing that.

Tell me your journey from Hawaii to the mainland, and finally all the way here to the east coast.

I played club soccer — I played with the boys team all the way until I was 12 years old, because there weren’t enough girl soccer players then on our island. And then finally we had enough for a girls team. We went to tournaments in the mainland, and I joined an ODP, which is Olympic Development Program. They take the 20 best players from each state. We go to a camp, and they pick a region team, and they pick 18 best players from the west coast region to go to a tournament. I was lucky enough to make the U-14 national team camp, and ever since then I was within the national team program.

I think I was seen by colleges throughout tournaments in the mainland, and I was very fortunate to go on official visits to different schools. My parents always told me I can go anywhere, I just have to go away from Hawaii for a little bit, just to experience something new, ‘cause you can always come back. As soon as I stepped on UCLA’s campus, I just felt home. I knew it would challenge me on the field and in the classroom, so I thought it was a perfect fit. I never went to any other visits after that.

It wasn’t until the end of my third year in college, I decided to go pro. It was never really an idea my first and second year in college, because the league wasn't really around. The original league folded my second year, so I wasn't sure if I wanted to go overseas and play soccer or just get a regular job. But the league came back my senior year, so I thought I would finish school early (in three and a half years) and enter the draft. I didn't go to the draft because I was scared I wasn't gonna be picked up. I was like, I'm not going to go all the way to Philly, be embarrassed, and then go home. So I just watched it online with my family and yeah, I was so shocked to be drafted. I was originally drafted to the Washington Spirit in D.C. That's where I played my first four years, then I was traded to New Jersey my fifth year. So I've been in the league for eight years already.

It's been a long soccer journey. A lot of soccer games. 

I bet! Congratulations. Even though it's been a while since you were drafted, it's still a huge feat. So, how long have you been with Gotham FC? 

I've been with Gotham for four years.

And what's your favorite thing about playing for them?

My favorite thing about playing for Gotham? I just love our team. I love how close we are, and we genuinely like our friends. The comradery is great, on and off the field, and it feels just like a college team. A pro team could feel like a job. You come in. Practice. Do your work. Then leave. But we actually like hanging out with each other off the field. I love being close to New York city as well. I love exploring, going to eat food, and I just love the city a lot.

We're all huge foodies here at the mag. What's your favorite food?

Oh, that's so hard. I love every kind of food, but I think being here, you don't really get authentic Italian a lot. So I do like Italian… but then I love Asian food and everything else.

Do you have any good Hawaiian spots in New York, New Jersey?

No, I try to stay away from places that are like, “Hawaiian food.” I'm like, “Is it though?” So I'd rather go to Italian, a Korean barbecue place, or a sushi place. I stay away from Hawaiian or even poke places here. I'm sure it’s good for here, but I can't compare it to Hawaii. It’s so different. My boyfriend came to Hawaii for the first time this Christmas break, and now he's like a poke snob. He's like, “This is not that good.” I’m like, “I know.”

Now he knows! 

Yes. 

What are some barriers and inequalities you've experienced in your career or that you see in the soccer world?

It was kind of taboo to talk about before, but I think a lot of athletes are speaking out about all these barriers that we face as female athletes right now. The biggest one recently has been equal pay. The national team has received equal pay with the men's national team, but it's still not equal at the club level. So our league level is still not being paid the same as the MLS. Everyone's like, “Congratulations, equal pay!” And I'm like, “No, that's not for our league. It's only for the national team players.” That only separates the national team players and the league by a bigger range. So we're still fighting for it every day. And also television spots. We're still playing on Twitch and Paramount+, when every MLS game is on ESPN or some other worldwide network. So it's really hard for our people to support us. When we go to a bar, it's like, “Hi, do you have Twitch? Or do you have Paramount+?” It's hard to support our team if you don't give us an opportunity.

As athletes, we only can speak out so much, and we need two parties who reciprocate. I think we need to come together to speak about it. At the end of the day we're all humans, not just athletes, and we do have feelings too. So I think that's an ongoing thing that we're going to have to continue to work through.

Sometimes people do forget that you're humans too. They have their teams, their favorite players… 

I understand fans are passionate about their team, but there's like a fine line where it's too much.

Definitely. Well, MAM is excited to come out and support you and Gotham for your AAPI night on May 22nd. Are there specific social platforms you use where our readers can follow your career?

I need to create my brand and post more on my page, but it's hard as an athlete. You don't want to promote yourself too much because it seems like, you know… you’re conceited. But I'm only a pro athlete for so long! I do have Twitter and Instagram right now.

What's your handle?

Twitter: @capricedydasco

IG: @capricedydasco

Sweet. Well, thank you so much, Caprice. 

Of course. I hope to see everyone out at our game!

In celebration of APPI month, Gotham FC is excited to offer discounted tickets for the match on May 22 against Racing Louisville FC. Purchase seats with this personal MAM Fam link to be seated next to your family and friends!