Prabhasson Football

I went to a Prabhassorn soccer game Saturday afternoon. They have a reputation for being one of the best teams in Chonburi (with the expection of a 12-0 ass kicking they received two weeks ago in Bangkok) and since most of the players have said the total of 3 words to me all semester, I was curious to see if life had truly bestowed them with any other talents.

Soccer is a little bit different here. Its played on a short field with smaller goals. Not quite as small as LaX goals, but comparable. The field, as you can see, is dry and dusty. This lead to several eyewashings for poor Pong, our goalie. It makes sense that the kids wouldnt be playing on a full length field, considering how hot it gets in the afternoon. I think every kid would suffer from heat stroke if they were expected to run the length of a field in the blazing afternoon sun. The short field makes it so that the goalies can throw the ball to eachother, but it also means that the kids have impeccible ball control. They have a finesse with their ball handling that my sister's soccer team (a team of the same age) lacks. Their sense of direction and location is quite refined considering how young they are. Its a different style of soccer and I found it much more exciting to watch than just seeing people kick the ball as hard as they can until someone gets a breakaway.

Of course, our team won. Turns out that my students are amazing. I like to think that I had something to do with that...
After the game is all over they go and wai the opposing teams coach. This is the team from Chonburi, the losers if you will, showing some respect to Aajaan.


I can safely say that no kid was excited to see me at the game, at least not outwardly. Aajaan and I spent the time from 830 until 910 shuttling around Chonburi, picking up kids that were late for one reason or another. They would get into the backseat of the car and be listing off excuses or apologies. I would turn around and say "GOOD MORNING STUDENT!" They would start with disbelief. Then their eyes grew wide in fear and they were immediately silent. Aajaan would be like "Say good morning to the English teacher!" wait a moment and then shrug before driving again. Im sure every one of them was cursing me for bringing the pressure of spoken English to an otherwise blissful Saturday morning.