Taekwondo Tournament

Last weekend the Poipet Taekwondo Club made their debut in a National Competition. It was great to see the team step up to the challenge!

In 2012, we have had the use of a large, well-ventilated building, rent-free. Unfortunately in June the owner decided to end the agreement. A few weeks later we heard about a competition in Battambang scheduled for August 18-19. I called an emergency iced-latte meeting with coach Savuth and asked, "Do you know anywhere we could use to train a team? It doesn't have to be perfect.... just something that could be used for a month to get ready for the competition?"

Savuth replied, "Yes, I know somewhere. Your place!" 

So we agreed that the roof on our house/ office could be used. For four weeks I've got up before 6am every day to unlock the doors. I've also taken the guys out to run as part of their conditioning training. Some days the guys trained for 1 hour a day, sometimes they trained twice a day. I didn't compete in the Taekwondo tournament, but I felt I was a part of it. 

Our team did well. Two made it through to the afternoon rounds and one Poipet club competitor picked up a medal & prizes for third place. (Not bad for a yellow belt competing against mostly black & brown belts in the 55-62kg division!) The guys are excited and already looking forward to the next competition in Phnom Penh on October 1. 

Now to find somewhere for them to train that doesn't involve me getting up at 5:30am each morning?! :)   

Unreasonable People

George Bernard Shaw once said, "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man."

A friend lent me a book a few weeks ago by John Elkinton & Pamela Hartingan called, "The Power Of Unreasonable People; How Social Entrepreneurs Create Markets That Change The World." It's a great read.

It made me think that people of faith are generally unreasonable people too. We practice forgiveness and reconciliation.  We hope when there seems no reason for it. We celebrate life now and firmly believe in life after death. We love people who don't respond in love... hmm...perhaps this is just another way of saying we have some weird friends?! Anyway, maybe you are an unreasonable person? If so, awesome!

Futsal Week 1

Mr Phally stepping onto the court to ref an Under 14s game.

Youth learn football skills and lessons about safe migration & trafficking awareness.

 Coach Vendta giving his team instruction at half-time. 

 Coach Joshua with KEC White Wings Under 14s team members.

White Eagle Kids team in a semi-final match. 

Victory and OV finished as the top two Under 11s teams this year.

KEC White Wings girls match their uniforms with the ball :)

Coach Makara with the winning Girls 15+ team, Myura.

Futsal Plus

Futsal & education are coming together this week. We're doing this massive youth fustal thing with about 170 kids. (Next week there's a further 20 teams or 200 players involved.) As part of the program, another NGO is teaching about safe migration and anti-trafficking.  We're doing it together- meshing the message with a fast, fun sport... and it's a good partnership! 

I've been organising the schedule for the games and I included 6 skills stations with different warm-ups and technical drills. The players all spend a half-day doing these exercises. When our staff & volunteers have exhausted the players with stuff like sit-ups, squats, lunges, punches, kicks, jumps, passing, shooting, dribbling and running... we leave it up to our partner NGO to teach them. Here's some stuff that I've learned:

- Think about what you're doing before making big life decisions.
- Talk to people you can trust about life decisions.
- Tell people where you're going when you go out.
- Don't believe people who promise 'the perfect job'... especially if it's in another country.
- Carry proper documentation if you cross the border to Thailand.
- Memorise a phone number of a parent or a neighbour so you know who to call if you have a problem.

I'm praying these lessons will come back to the futsal players when they need them.