Chang Mai Tournament

Today's song is: Winds of Change  ..Scorpions

Bangkok is changing, get there before it is too late  ..

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2018/feb/03/bangkok-thailand-street-food-ban-lawrence-osbourne-blade-runner

I have not posted recently because I was in Chaing Mai coaching my senior boy's in the Chiang Main International Basketball Tournament which had teams from Thailand, Myanmar, Taiwan, and Japan. It was a great tournament with many very good teams. Where did we finish  .. 5th out of 10 teams and I have a suspicion we were actually the 3rd best team there, but we did not play our A game on the second night of the tournament and lost by 4 points which put us in 3rd place in our pool.

Unfortunately the tournament champions were also in our pool and they looked more like a university team than a high school team. They were tall, most with beard stubble, and they played awesome basketball. We were the only team to score 35 points against them which made me happy. We were also the only team to play man to man defense the whole game against them and earned their respect. We lost by 17.  Here is a pic of them  ..

They also brought a full squad and we had only 9 players and 3 of them (including our point guard and best player) left on Friday night to write an entrance exam for a prestigious Thai University the next morning.  That left us with only 6 players for our last game which was for 5th place. Our point guard, who is the brother of the point guard who left, came up big, despite being a grade 10 student and we won 45-32 against 12 players on the other team. Our big man, Hank also came up big .. what the heck, they were all awesome!!!!

Here are some pics, before and afterwards  ..

We stayed at the Eco resort in Chiang and it was great with dorm rooms of 4 bunks so the players bonded quickly.  Some more random pics of the resort and the games  ..

farang girls sun tanning  .. something Thai girls avoid  ..

A bucket of cocktails disappearing in yours truly by the pool  ..

Missing 2 players  .. getting a team photo is like herding cats  ..

Boys and girls team

Playing the eventual winners

Grade 10 point guard on the left

Outdoor court

The Athletic Director and the women's' coaches

Thavorn and Jaidan were in the village because her uncle and Aunt died on the same day. There was a double funeral with cremations on separate days. All told, they were in the village for 15 days, including my 5 days in Chiang Mai. Jaidan's command of the Thai language impressed the villagers. His English is also coming along nicely.  He will be 3 and a half years old at the end of February.

Jaidan with half sister Tai

There is pizza in the village now!

Thavorn getting her hair trimmed and streaked  .. 400  bahts .. about $16  .. 

way less than the tip in Ottawa  :-)

The winner of the boys tournament was Grace International School, a christian school, and what impressed me most was the deportment of the players and coaches  .. that school is doing a wonderful job in all aspects  ..  Located in Chian Mai  ..

The highlight of the trip for me is the thank you the departing grade 12 point guard gave me  .. He said he really enjoyed my coaching and playing for me  .. and then he stepped forward and gave me a big hug  .. the other coaches were very impressed because he has never hugged anyone before and has always had a bit of an attitude  :-)

In case you are wondering, the bar scene is nowhere what it is in BKK, the weather is better, and Chiang Mai has some unique food dishes which are yummy. Chiang Mai seems to be stop number 2 for backpackers after Khao San Road in Bangkok. I still can't understand why you want to carry all that stuff around with you when a carry on bag will do.

I am now back in Bangkok and I am enjoying family time with Jaidan and Thavorn.  Does not get any better  .. pleasant memories of the tournament  and hugs all around  ..

TTYL