Animation Technologist Carol Choy Experiencing a Whole New World as Tennis Official

ANIMATION TECHNOLOGIST CAROL CHOY EXPERIENCING A
WHOLE NEW WORLD AS TENNIS OFFICIAL
USTA SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

MAY 22, 2024 | STEVE PRATT

ANIMATION TECHNOLOGIST CAROL CHOY EXPERIENCING A WHOLE NEW WORLD AS TENNIS OFFICIAL
USTA SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

MAY 22, 2024
STEVE PRATT

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A love of engineering steered Carol Choy to a dream job working for DreamWorks Animation which she has held for the past 25 years. It was a similar love affair with tennis that led Choy to not only enjoying playing the game as a league player, but also over the past few years becoming certified as a USTA Official.

And, just like the famous song from the Disney movie “Aladdin” Choy worked on early on in her career, she says becoming an official has led her into a “whole new world” in tennis.

“It’s a lot of fun,” said Choy of Los Angeles who became a certified USTA Official in 2021 and has been a rover and chair for NCAA Division I, II, III, community college and adult and junior tournaments. “Just to be around tennis and to make sure it’s fair for everybody.”

Before becoming an official, being around tennis for Choy meant playing for a USTA League team, or teams. Currently, Choy is playing on two USTA League teams – a women’s 4.0 18-plus team in San Gabriel, and another in Ventura.

Choy is half-Japanese, half-Chinese and was born and raised in Hawaii. She said one of the things she loves most about league tennis is that her entire family gets involved. Choy recently shared the court as a doubles partner with her daughter Kristen in a league match. In fact, Choy said one of her greatest tennis memories was serving as an assistant coach when Kristen’s Glendale High team won a CIF title back in 2017.

Choy’s first officiating assignment upon becoming certified actually took place in Hawaii. “It was nice to be able to pay it back and officiate in Hawaii,” she said. “There is such a local community aspect where you don’t do bad things. You barely ever code someone over there. It’s a much smaller community because there’s not as many junior competitors. It would almost be kind of embarrassing if a player was to misbehave because then everybody in the local tennis community would know it.”

Choy has even competed on a league team in Hawaii while still residing in Southern California. With numerous family members living in the central part of Oahu, whenever she goes back to visit her tennis-loving family it’s all about the tennis.

“We set up our tennis before we plan our meals together,” Choy said. “I have six first cousins that competed together on a Nationals USTA League team.”

Tennis gets an assist for Choy ever being born as her father and mother met on a tennis court. “My dad was a tennis player and was on a court and saw my mom and her friend hitting,” Choy said. “He went over to talk to them and said, ‘It looks like you ladies can use some lessons.’ And my mom said, ‘OK, then teach me!’ That was his pickup line back in the day.”

Choy moved to Southern California in the 1980s to attend Cal Tech in Pasadena and studied engineering. She got a job at Disney Animation and worked on animated classics such as “Lion King”, “The Nightmare Before Christmas”, “Hercules” and “Mulan”.

Currently a Senior Principal Engineer at DreamWorks Animation, Choy recently finished working on “Kung Fu Panda 4” and is now working on “The Wild Robot”.

“I do nothing artistic,” Choy said. “It is all technical. I work on systems infrastructure and administration. When I first started in animation doing a 2-D movie like ‘Aladdin’ all digitally was ground-breaking. And now look how far the animation industry has come with CGI (computer-generated imagery).”

Choy’s grandmother was born in 1902 in Okinawa, Japan, and was sent to Hawaii in 1920 as a “picture bride” to marry Choy’s grandfather in an arranged marriage. “The women moved to Hawaii to marry the men who were working in the cane and pineapple fields,” Choy said.

Choy’s mother, Harriet, was born on the tiny island of Molokai where they had no electricity. Choy calls her mother her hero as she completed high school, went on to college and became a teacher. She was only 8 years old when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.

Choy said that it was actually fortunate that because her grandparents were illiterate, they were not considered a threat and avoided being sent to internment camps like other Japanese Americans. “They were looking for the educated Japanese who the government thought could potentially be the spies,” she said. “But since my grandparents were farmers, they left them alone.”

Choy has asked her mother about her family’s remarkable history that led them from Japan to Hawaii and for Choy to ultimately end up in Southern California. “It’s a very Asian thing for the older generation not to discuss bad things from the past,” Choy said. “They felt like they made it to America and just needed to keep their heads down and work hard. And just move forward.”

The month of May is a special one for Choy and her family as they join others in celebrating AAPI month. “I have so much appreciation for the sacrifices that my grandparents and great grandparents made to courageously leave their home country of Japan and China and immigrate to Hawaii, all for the hope for a better life for their children and future generations,” Choy said. “AAPI month helps to remind us of our own personal roots, as well as appreciating the vastly varied stories of the Asian community.