There are many Thais making a big impact in the world of sport. Badminton is a prime example, for the World Ladies Champion is an 18-year-old Thai and a number of young players are making their way up the world rankings.
Many golfers are doing well on the Asian tour; who can forget the exploits of Thongchai Jaidee, and the international volleyball community is becoming aware of the ability of the Thai teams. If children are not given the opportunity to play sports, they will never be able to fulfill their ambitions or realise their potential.
The sports area before the recent addition.
Pattaya Sports Club recently installed an all-weather, all-purpose sports area for ATCC, a centre for children at risk. Many local people were present at the opening, particularly representatives from Jesters and TFI. They all agreed that it was a great addition to the facilities at ATCC but, of course, the children need the necessary equipment to play their games which they did not have at this time.
Khun Ja shows off some of the equipment.
So, as a consequence, PSC, Jesters and TFI agreed that we would combine our efforts to provide the items that were needed, which included basketball posts, football goals, badminton rackets and balls to enable them to play every sport imaginable. The equipment was christened on the opening day with two teams having a game with players showing some great individual skills.
Girls practising to be cheerleaders?
But we had not planned all the mornings events, for it is often the unexpected that puts the icing on the cake. A member of the Thai Ducati Motorbike Club had a birthday that day and kindly donated funds to provide all 32 children with lunch, fruit, cakes and drinks, and 20 or so members roared into the centre on their very expensive machines to see the children.
The smiles on the children’s faces said it all, ‘what a great morning’.
The motorbikes roar into the centre.
The teams and sponsors.
