Ding Hui was born on 24 June 1989 to a Chinese single mother in
Hangzhou. He only spoke Mandarin Chinese and did not know his father beyond phone calls. As a young child, Ding's mother says he was shy and reluctant to leave the house due to his mixed race appearance. At age 10, he gained confidence after starting volleyball and gathered success in local leagues before joining the State Youth Volleyball Team in 2004. Ding Hui was selected for China's national team in 2009, and attracted significant attention in China as the first Black player on any national team. Media emphasized his "thick lips and big white teeth" and nicknamed him "Little Black" (Xiao Hei), writing that "because he's a 'black kid', one might mistake him for a foreigner". Ding previously stated that he was not a foreign player. The national volleyball coach
Zhou Jianan was inundated with calls and inquiries about Ding's heritage, which the coach dismissed with irritation. Meanwhile, the Zhejiang men's volleyball team played disastrously without him, and dropped from top in the league to risking relegation. Hours after his final exam in California, Ding was flying to China to help his team. With him playing they successfully avoided getting relegated, but Ding nonetheless felt devastated to have left his teammates to struggle and suffer injuries. "I can't describe the feeling, I feel really sad" he said in Mandarin He began to play volleyball at
Warner University in Florida in 2014, and won an All-American award all years he was on the team. When asked how he felt in 2015, when won a National Defense Award as well, Ding simply responded, "I'm just thankful". ==References==