I had my first day's work today...
My first day as "Coach Oliver"...
..."coaching" one of the under 13 (U13) basketball recreation league teams - the "Hornets" in particular (I am told that the "Hornets" are some basketball team in an ex-colony).
Yes, you did read that correctly. I am "coaching" basketball.
Problem - I know absolutely nothing about basketball. I had to ask someone what sort of bat you have to use. Where are the goals? Sometimes you get 1 point for each goal, other times 2, and for strange reasons, you may even get 3 points...I though cricket was complicated (which I still do not understand all the rules).
Grace International School (GIS) wanted to provide basketball for any child interested. However it turned out that there were over 100 children wanting to take part. The only way they would support such interested was by running a recreation basketball league, where parents "volunteered" to coach an individual team each week, and each Saturday each of the 10 teams plays against another team.
I say "volunteer"...Matt Coe (the GIS sports teacher organising this) was absolutely desperate - really really desperate. It was a case of "volunteer", or no basketball. His British smile and charm worked.
Fortunately, "coach" Oliver is actually an assistant to the real brains behind the "Hornets" basketball team, Coach Garrision, who knows everything there needs to be known about basketball!
So today was our first match against the "Suns", which we won very easily. The score was at least 28 to 8 (scoring is stopped when one team leads by more than 20 points).
The "Hornets" played as the yellow team today. Within our team is David and Jessica, along with 9 other children ranging from 9 years old to 13, both boys and girls (all teams are mixed age and gender).
Well done Hornets!
For your information, Matt Coe (from Cirencester - that's in England) who organises the basketball also does a wonderful job running sports camps for under-privileged Thai schools and children in the area, as well as taking sports teams (students from GIS who are studying sports leadership) to refugee camps on the border regions.
They provide sports team shirts and two meals a day for each of the Thai children, all of which requires finances. These camps provide the children with the opportunity to be coached and to play good quality sporting games.
If you would like to support the costs of running these camps, see their website, or contact us and we can put you in contact with them directly.
