By Bec Oakley, SF Thailand
Sports Friends’ core training component – the Basic Training – is designed to encourage participants to facilitate sports ministry with a range of kids using a range of sports.
However, most of the participants in Thailand come to the training with a desire to coach a football team for boys. Because of this, a lot of effort has gone into developing the coaching component of the Basic Training in order to give these guys the skills they are looking for. This has meant that, over time, the training has gradually put more emphasis on boys and more emphasis on football.
This was great for those pastors and sports ministers who specifically wanted to coach boys’ football, but it did leave a gap, particularly for girls’ and women’s ministry.
There were rare exceptions, like one woman who came to a Basic Training last year. She joined in as much as she was able, then went back to her community and started a boys’ football team. A few months later she attended a three-day football coaching course and went away more confident in her ability to coach and minister in that context. But for the rest, particularly those who were interested in the idea of using sport to connect with girls in their communities, it was hard to know how to meet their needs.
The regional coordinators spent time talking to people in their networks and last month, 23 women turned up for our first Women’s Basic Training! The team shared a vision for sports ministry with them, taught them some ministry basics, shared devotional and worship time, and gave them skills in coaching volleyball and chair ball (like netball but less rules and instead of a pole someone stands on a chair holding a basket).
It was great to watch their enthusiasm. In many ways they were a bit easier to teach than the men, so excited just to be away with other Christian women and thinking about issues other than looking after their families, homes, and farms.
Even more encouraging was their excitement about being able to use sport to connect with girls in their communities – ultimately hoping to transform lives with the gospel and to make disciples of Christ among young women.
For more pictures of the Women’s Basic Training on the Sports Friends Thailand Facebook Page, click here.