Team Camp

We are now under a week from Savannakhet and the games.  On Saturday we had a test day which was them running races.  Only the distance team ran the events they were supposed to and all the sprinters ran a 4x400.  This went very well.  The weather has cleared but it is still nice and cool in the morning while getting warm in the afternoon.  After the races No, Tom and I had talked about showing the team a movie.  I had been spending some off time downloading videos from YouTube of world record breaking performances so they could see some top notch track performances.  No decided that after the races around 2pm we would watch the movie.  This ment I had to go home and actually finish making it.  I got it done under the wire and had a 33minute film which opened with part of the opening ceremonies from the South East Asia (SEA) games held in Vientiane last year.  We eventually headed over to the camp around 3:30  remember we are on Lao time.  We arrived at the team camp which we had heard about but never seen.  This complex was in a great location and much nice than I had imagined.  Each team separated by sex shared a room in a multi-story building and there were about 6 teams there.  The coaches from the districts live at the complex to oversee things.  In all honesty I thought it might be a blast to get to live with 80 other athletes for a month train and hang out.  Just like summer camp.  The shock on the teams faces was great when we showed up to camp.  Their sanctum away from the falang was gone.  We watched the movie with the team which most seemed to enjoy.  Then we hung out for a while playing petanque.

 Here is coach no in his bedroom/movie theater.

 This a view out his door at some girls playing Takraw its like volleyball but with a tiny plastic ball and no hands allowed.

A view at the main building with Sumlat and Tom playing petanque.

I think they are having a great time and a life changing experience.  In the middle of this week we are trekking down to Savannakhet.  I will try my best to keep the updates coming.