The past few years I’ve counted myself extremely fortunate to be part of Team Australia at international sepak takraw events as a player. But this year I went over with a new role; in addition to providing consistent if rather pedestrian serves in our third regu, I also took on the hat of Team Manager.

It sounds terribly grand until you realise it’s just a way of saying I was responsible for making sure we all turned up to the right court at the right time, which isn’t so easy with the rest of the team scattered all over a five storey shopping complex. I also went along to the managers’ meeting at the start of the tournament to get the latest information on what was going on, especially with the tragic passing of the King of Thailand only a few days before the tournament. As with all administrational meetings, it was a lot of talking, but if nothing else I got to get this cool photo:

There were some big changes in the tournament structure this year: The entire pool was reduced from three divisions to two: Premier Division and Division 1. This gave teams like Australia a great opportunity to play against some stronger opponents, though it did take some of the sheen off our achievement of qualifying for the  Division 1 men’s’ team event after winning the division two event last year.

And strangely enough, it also provided an opportunity for our doubles team to play in the premier division, but there’ll be more on the team’s results later on. For now just enjoy the enjoy the image of me wandering around with a tracksuit and a clip board trying to pretend that I know what I’m doing.

After all if you’re going to fool anyone, you’ve got to look the part, right?

Garry with 2 Rs

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