BOSTON -- On the streets, alleyways and parking lots of Bostons Chinatown, immigrants developed a unique style of volleyball now played in Chinatowns across the country. Now, an asphalt court where the game still thrives stands in the way of development.The prime slice of real estate near the historic Chinatown is steps from busy South Station and home to a 1930s-era steam plant with towering smokestacks and a modern state government office.But its also the site of Reggie Wong Memorial Park, a modest asphalt basketball and volleyball court where Chinese immigrants and their descendants play the game known as nine-man. An annual tournament between Chinatown teams across the country started blocks away from the hardcourt in the 1940s and continues to this day.Nine-man holds a special place for those of Chinese descent, said Tunney Lee, an urban studies and planning professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, whose father was a player and organizer.The game traces its roots to a style of volleyball developed in Taishan, a southern Chinese city where many of the earliest Chinese immigrants hailed from, and became a critical social outlet for immigrants largely isolated from broader American society.Part of the image of the Chinese was that of weaklings who were passive and servile, Lee said. Volleyball was a skill sport with strategy, teamwork and aggressiveness.At its most basic, nine-man involves more players -- standard volleyball has six players per side -- as well as a larger court and modified rules that have allowed for a different style of gameplay to evolve.Todays organizers say the first intercity game happened in Boston in 1935, between locals and a team from Providence, Rhode Island.The competitions steadily grew over the years, with Chinese communities in New York, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Los Angeles fielding teams to play in Boston.The North American Chinese Invitational Volleyball Tournament carries on the intercity rivalry today, hosting an annual competition in a different Chinatown each Labor Day weekend.Republican Gov. Charlie Bakers administration began seeking proposals last month to buy and develop the 5-acre site thats home to Reggie Wong Park as a centerpiece of his pledge to generate revenue and spur development by unloading underused government land.Chinatown activists and nine-man enthusiasts have voiced their concerns at community meetings this past year, prompting the administration to require developers to propose ways to carve out a public park somewhere on the site at least as big as the current court.Patrick Marvin, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, which is overseeing the land sale, notes the state is requiring prospective developers to guarantee the park remains public. It is also calling for other open space areas on the development site.But some in Chinatown want the state to require a larger park with more amenities. They also want guarantees that a temporary space will be carved out during construction so organized games can continue uninterrupted. And they worry not enough housing built on the property will be affordable to lower-wage Chinatown residents.The park is the latest battleground in the decades-long debate over gentrification in one of the nations oldest and largest Chinatowns. The neighborhood, with narrow streets lined with independent storefronts and eateries, has withstood waves of redevelopment dating to the 1950s, when an interstate highway was cut through it.Russell Eng, who coaches teen volleyball at the park, named after his uncle, says it keeps the Chinese community connected even as more increasingly live in suburbs, some of which have sprouted their own satellite Chinatowns.Todays Chinatown is geographically wider than what it was when I growing up there, he said. Reggie Wong Memorial Park serves as the center of the universe for them.Ursula Liang, who made the 2014 documentary 9-MAN: a Streetball Battle in the Heart of Chinatown, says Bostons predicament isnt unique.In her current hometown of New York, the Boston-area native says asphalt parks where nine-man is played are being converted into fields for soccer and other sports to draw new residents.Said Liang: What concerns me is that while most of these proposals tout things like economic growth and community improvement, ultimately the ideas that win out benefit politicians and businesspeople more than anyone else.---Follow Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/journalist/philip-marcelo Mikko Rantanen Avalanche Jersey . - Connor McDavid scored 53 seconds into overtime as the Erie Otters came from behind to defeat the visiting Guelph Storm 4-3 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. Patrick Roy Jersey . After a lengthy wait, persistent rain finally forced the postponement of the Nationals game against the Miami Marlins on Saturday night. The teams, and a few thousand fans, waited nearly four hours from the 7:05 scheduled start time before an announcement was made shortly before 11 p. http://www.hockeyavalanche.com/authentic-matt-nieto-avalanche-jersey/ . LOUIS -- Valtteri Filppula assisted on three of Tampa Bays four goals, and the Lightning beat the St. Lanny McDonald Jersey . LOUIS -- Attorneys for the St. A.J. Greer Jersey . The defence is doing its part, too. Drew Brees threw a pair of touchdown passes in the first half and the guys on the other side made sure that was enough, sending the Saints to a 17-13 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night.TORONTO - The Blue Jays will be well represented at the 84th Major League Baseball All-Star Game. Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion and Brett Cecil will join manager John Gibbons, a coach on American League skipper Jim Leylands staff, in New York City. Bautista, 32, will play in his fourth consecutive Midsummer Classic and fourth overall. In 80 games this season, Bautista has a slash line of .264/.360/.511. His 20 home runs tie Bautista for seventh in the American League with the Yankees Robinson Cano. Bautistas 52 RBI rank second on the Blue Jays and 15th in the American League. Encarnacion, 30, is enjoying another stellar season in Toronto. His 23 home runs (T-3rd, American League) and 66 RBI (3rd, American League) lead the Blue Jays. SSporting a slash line of .dddddddddddd266/.351/.526, Encarnacion has walked (40) almost as many times as hes struck out (42.) This will be Encarnacions first All-Star appearance. Cecil, 27, had legitimate reason to doubt whether hed break spring training a member of the Blue Jays. After clearing that hurdle, the left-hander emerged as one of the premier setup/specialist relievers in baseball. In 44 innings (38 appearances) Cecil has a 1.43 ERA, has allowed only 23 hits and struck out 50. Earlier this season, Cecil set a Blue Jays franchise record facing 43-consecutive batters without allowing a hit. The 84th Major League Baseball All-Star Game will be played on Tuesday, July 16 at Citi Field in Queens, New York, the home of the New York Mets. ' ' '