Kenneth Mitchell Stern (born 21 May 1988) is a Filipino-American

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player for the

Philippines national rugby union team The Philippines national rugby union team, nicknamed the "Volcanoes", represents the Philippines in international rugby union. The Philippines have been playing in the Asia Rugby Championship since 2006 when the team was first created. In 2012 t ...

, nicknamed the "Volcanoes". He had represented the Philippines in both rugby fifteens and sevens. His primary position is wing.

Collegiate career

Originally from

Quezon Quezon, officially the Province of Quezon ( tl, Lalawigan ng Quezon), is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region on Luzon. Kalilayan was the first known name of the province. It was later renamed Tayabas. In honor of the ...

, Stern's family emigrated to Stamford, Connecticut, where he attended

Fairfield College Preparatory School Fairfield College Preparatory School (Fairfield Prep) is a Jesuit preparatory school located on the campus of Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut. It is an all-male school of about 700 students, founded by the Society of Jesus in 1 ...

in nearby Fairfield, Connecticut. He graduated from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

in 2010, where he was a member of the rugby team. His collegiate rugby honors included New England Rugby Football Union All-Stars, the Northeast Collegiate All-Stars and the All-American 7s Team. Stern was also a member of the New England Immortals rugby league select side that beat

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in 2010.

National team career

Stern made his International debut for the Philippines in the

2009 Asian Five Nations ''For divisional competitions, see: 2009 Asian Five Nations division tournaments'' The 2009 Asian Five Nations, known as the 2009 HSBC Asian 5 Nations due to its sponsorship by HSBC, was the second series of the rugby union Asian Five Nations, t ...

tournament, where the Philippines earned a promotion to Division 2 by beating

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

. In 2010, he was a member of the Volcano squad who took home the shield, scoring two tries in a 34–12 win over

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

helping the Philippines to their second promotion in as many years. Stern would continue to play at wing with the Volcanoes in 2011, including a test match against

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

, and again in 2012, helping the Philippines get yet another promotion to the A5N

Top 5 ''Top Five'' is a 2014 American comedy film written and directed by Chris Rock. Produced by Scott Rudin and Eli Bush, the film stars Rock, Rosario Dawson, and Gabrielle Union, and follows New York City comedian and film star Andre Allen (Rock), ...

. Stern also represented the Philippines in rugby sevens, including the Volcanoes first ever World Cup appearance in the

2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens The 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens was the sixth edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens. The tournament was held at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia. New Zealand won the tournament, defeating England 33–0 in the final. Attendance for the tourname ...

held in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. He also was a member of the 2014 Asian Games squad in Incheon,

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

Personal life

Aside from rugby, Stern has also had a successful modeling career, appearing in such publications as ''Cosmopolitan'' in both the United States and the Philippines, receiving "Hunk of the Month" honors in the December 2011 issue and was named a finalist in the 2011 "''Cosmo'' Bachelor of the Year" poll. His sister Elizabeth Mae Stern was the former Philippine figure skating national champion and an Olympic hopeful.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stern, Kenneth Filipino rugby union players Filipino rugby league players Living people American expatriates in the Philippines American sportspeople of Filipino descent 1988 births Sportspeople from Stamford, Connecticut Rugby union players at the 2014 Asian Games Philippines international rugby union players Asian Games competitors for the Philippines Gordon RFC players Rugby union wings