The squad
Game against the eventual champs
Bringing the heat!
The Sportscenter postgame report
Bed of nails at the science museum
Trophies attract ladies!
Finally home!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Baseball photos!
The squadGame against the eventual champsBringing the heat!The Sportscenter postgame reportBed of nails at the science museumTrophies attract ladies!Finally home!
Friday, June 20, 2008
Baseball
We didn't win the championship but the baseball tournament was definitely a success (and an adventure). I would like to start by saying thank you to all of you that have helped us with support and donations, without which we wouldn't have been able to afford the trip.
We left our town at 6:30, by 7:30, one kid was already throwing up on the bus and we almost left the assistant coach at the first rest stop. Luckily we had plenty of adults because we just piled on to the public bus and off we went. I think we had more parent support than any team, with 10 of 11 kids bringing a parent and we had to travel the farthest. Our parental support could be due to one of two reasons- 1: they're just really supportive. 2: you think I'm going to send my kid to the capital with Kyler!
After traveling all day we arrived around 4pm and had the fun experience of getting our 22 people into taxis in the middle of the most dangerous neighborhood in the country! We arrived at the stadium (all events were held at the olympic training center- not going to dominate in bejing) just in time to jump in line for the opening ceremony and make our entrance. The ceremony was mostly important people talking and news cameras taking pictures of them. They took a picture of all the coaches too and it was in the paper, which was great except for yours truly staring at something off to the left. When we finally checked into our hotel it was 10pm and everyone was tired. Wait, did I say everyone? Well, everyone except all the kids, who were running around screaming in the hallway (kids are kids everywhere huh?).
The next day the games started. We started out in group play by crushing Santa Maria de La Paz 15-2, and then lost to the powerhouse that is Morolica by a score of 5-2. The Morolica kids were quite large, apparently their cornflakes (no wheaties here) are better than ours. I thought we had a chance for a comeback until they brought in a flamethrower to finish us off. Still, we perservered, and advanced to the semi-finals on account of most runs scored.
The dealer dealt us a tough match as we faced off against last years champions, Cerro Azul, and we couldn't get anything going offensively on our way to a 5-0 loss. The kids were bummed, for about 20 minutes, and then someone brought some pizza and all was well in the world again.
Highlights
-one of my girls (who never hits the ball) hitting one deep into the outfield against a really good pitcher. She was as surprised as the rest and almost forgot to run. When later asked what her secret was, she replied "I just closed my eyes..."
-during the awards ceremony, one of our players won two individual awards, one for most homeruns and the other for most runs scored.
-the above player consoling two girls on the Morolica team after they lost in the championship, he is quite smooth.
-a different, but equally smooth player, going to the hotel room of a fellow female volunteer in the middle of the night for medicine (she was the "pharmacist") only to tell me the next day that he just thought she was really beautiful.
-we went as a team to an interactive museum of science, where the kids were able to learn and have fun at the same time- not a normal thing here.
-thanks to our donations, we were able to go as a team to the mall and watch a movie (this is a big mall, bigger and nicer than all I've visited in the states). Imagine the faces of the kids as they saw all the stores and the size of the place. But most exciting of all were the escalators. I would've needed an elephant strength tranquilizer gun to stop them from going up and down and up and down... The escalators weren't as exciting for a few of the parents, who were quite scared. Problem was to get to the movie theater on the top floor one has to take the escalators. After waiting and encouraging from above, I made made way back down and after a short inspirational speech, arm in arm the mother and went up the escalator, which she jumped from at the top to keep from being eaten alive.
-seeing the kids see themselves on the television in the hotel. surreal.
-yours truly playing in the coaches softball game and going 4-5 with 3HRs and a triple. Even funnier was afterwards receiving an invite to play with a pro team down here. Who knew they had a pro league?
-being up for 4 days straight from 5am to 11pm with kids the entire day, including two days of 10 hour bus rides. So yeah, that's why this blog is a little late, I just woke up.
-the 10 hour bus ride home, with two kids holding the giant regional champions trophy on their lap the entire way.
till next time,
Kyler
Here are some links to articles about the tournament from an online newspaper (they're not in english but there are some photos)
http://www.hondudiario.com/deportes=0908.php
http://www.hondudiario.com/deportes=0902.php
http://www.hondudiario.com/deportes=0894.php
http://www.hondudiario.com/deportes=0918.php
We left our town at 6:30, by 7:30, one kid was already throwing up on the bus and we almost left the assistant coach at the first rest stop. Luckily we had plenty of adults because we just piled on to the public bus and off we went. I think we had more parent support than any team, with 10 of 11 kids bringing a parent and we had to travel the farthest. Our parental support could be due to one of two reasons- 1: they're just really supportive. 2: you think I'm going to send my kid to the capital with Kyler!
After traveling all day we arrived around 4pm and had the fun experience of getting our 22 people into taxis in the middle of the most dangerous neighborhood in the country! We arrived at the stadium (all events were held at the olympic training center- not going to dominate in bejing) just in time to jump in line for the opening ceremony and make our entrance. The ceremony was mostly important people talking and news cameras taking pictures of them. They took a picture of all the coaches too and it was in the paper, which was great except for yours truly staring at something off to the left. When we finally checked into our hotel it was 10pm and everyone was tired. Wait, did I say everyone? Well, everyone except all the kids, who were running around screaming in the hallway (kids are kids everywhere huh?).
The next day the games started. We started out in group play by crushing Santa Maria de La Paz 15-2, and then lost to the powerhouse that is Morolica by a score of 5-2. The Morolica kids were quite large, apparently their cornflakes (no wheaties here) are better than ours. I thought we had a chance for a comeback until they brought in a flamethrower to finish us off. Still, we perservered, and advanced to the semi-finals on account of most runs scored.
The dealer dealt us a tough match as we faced off against last years champions, Cerro Azul, and we couldn't get anything going offensively on our way to a 5-0 loss. The kids were bummed, for about 20 minutes, and then someone brought some pizza and all was well in the world again.
Highlights
-one of my girls (who never hits the ball) hitting one deep into the outfield against a really good pitcher. She was as surprised as the rest and almost forgot to run. When later asked what her secret was, she replied "I just closed my eyes..."
-during the awards ceremony, one of our players won two individual awards, one for most homeruns and the other for most runs scored.
-the above player consoling two girls on the Morolica team after they lost in the championship, he is quite smooth.
-a different, but equally smooth player, going to the hotel room of a fellow female volunteer in the middle of the night for medicine (she was the "pharmacist") only to tell me the next day that he just thought she was really beautiful.
-we went as a team to an interactive museum of science, where the kids were able to learn and have fun at the same time- not a normal thing here.
-thanks to our donations, we were able to go as a team to the mall and watch a movie (this is a big mall, bigger and nicer than all I've visited in the states). Imagine the faces of the kids as they saw all the stores and the size of the place. But most exciting of all were the escalators. I would've needed an elephant strength tranquilizer gun to stop them from going up and down and up and down... The escalators weren't as exciting for a few of the parents, who were quite scared. Problem was to get to the movie theater on the top floor one has to take the escalators. After waiting and encouraging from above, I made made way back down and after a short inspirational speech, arm in arm the mother and went up the escalator, which she jumped from at the top to keep from being eaten alive.
-seeing the kids see themselves on the television in the hotel. surreal.
-yours truly playing in the coaches softball game and going 4-5 with 3HRs and a triple. Even funnier was afterwards receiving an invite to play with a pro team down here. Who knew they had a pro league?
-being up for 4 days straight from 5am to 11pm with kids the entire day, including two days of 10 hour bus rides. So yeah, that's why this blog is a little late, I just woke up.
-the 10 hour bus ride home, with two kids holding the giant regional champions trophy on their lap the entire way.
till next time,
Kyler
Here are some links to articles about the tournament from an online newspaper (they're not in english but there are some photos)
http://www.hondudiario.com/deportes=0908.php
http://www.hondudiario.com/deportes=0902.php
http://www.hondudiario.com/deportes=0894.php
http://www.hondudiario.com/deportes=0918.php
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