Reggie Wong Memorial Park

Reggie Wong Park is named after the much loved entrepreneur, community leader, and Chinese 9-man volleyball tournament organizer Reggie Wong.

Originally called Pagoda Park, this gritty urban court space at the corner of Lincoln and Kneeland Streets, between highway on and off ramps, has for decades been Chinatown’s only public, outdoor recreational park. The park was born as Chinatown kids went looking for places to play sports, eventually turning an empty field into the park you see today. Now the park is entering a new era of community governance and care by local neighbors, volleyball teams, and skateboarders committed to protecting this shared resource.

Reggie Wong Park is the New England home of Chinese 9-Man Volleyball, a sport brought over by immigrants from Taishan, China and rooted in Chinatown’s history as a bachelor society due to the impact of the Chinese Exclusion Act. Separated from their families and isolated by exclusion and racial violence, laundrymen and restaurant workers found community together with 9-man volleyball as their only healthy social outlet. The rules of 9-man were consciously designed to preserve Chinese cultural traditions.

Teams from Boston and Providence organized the first inter-city 9-man tournament in 1938. Since then, it has grown into a popular tournament that travels between North American cities and brings together thousands of players and spectators every Labor Day weekend.