The squeaking sounds of sneakers on pavement and children laughing is familiar, but the sport is not. In North America, lacrosse is usually associated with elite schools and rich people – a high society game that is just one notch short of polo, which requires horses and a country club membership.
The exact opposite is happening in Bangkok as Thai kids, most from the slums of Klong Toei, are running around and playing lacrosse on a random Thursday afternoon – and playing it well.
“One day, I brought in a stick, said ‘throw the ball’ and some of them were hooked,” said Wansit “Peem” Chatikavanij, one of the founders of Thai Community Lacrosse. “You have to realize that they don’t really have a lot here. They don’t have teams to play on, they don’t have an activity to do. If we can let them be kids for two hours, it’s a win.”
The TCL is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping teach kids lacrosse and improve their academics. According to Peem, lacrosse is simply a tool to get the kids off the streets and into something more productive.
Klong Toei is home to about 100,000 people crammed together in a pile of ramshackle constructions near the city’s main port. A group of volunteers meet with about 45 kids every Tuesday and Thursday at Wat Klong Toei school for lacrosse practice.
But there is a catch: attend school and keep your grade point average high. Last year, the group graduated about 15 student-athletes, 13 of whom were granted scholarships in various schools around Bangkok.
“We tell them to help around the school, help their teachers, become active in community service, and keep their grades up” Peem says, “It’s very important that the school supports the program too and help monitor their grades.”
Peem, a 25-year-old who has played lacrosse since attending boarding school in the United States 16 years ago, founded TCL three years ago along with his cousin Tanika Panyarachun, and friends Ryan Rabidou and Jarupat Buranastidporn. Both of Peem’s parents played lacrosse when they were younger, and Tanika played the sport while attending Brown University, an Ivy League school in the US.
The sport has slowly grown in Thailand, with a national team side holding regular practices as well.
“The sport has given us quite a bit, so a bunch of us decided it was about time to give back to the community,” he says.
Though there are not enough kids to set up a proper league just yet, the group has attracted an extra 10 kids each year. They also work with a group of disabled athletes from Chulalongkorn University and a lacrosse event has been planned for August 24 at National Stadium, Jantana Yingyong Gym from 8 AM to 2 PM.
“We try to teach the kids to understand the paraplegic community a bit more. We want to show them that, yes they are physically disabled, but they are also athletes that can do the same things,” Peem said.
The group has collected equipment and donations from several high profile sponsors in the lacrosse world, including Inside Lacrosse Magazine, STX, Brine, Warrior, De Beer, Dick’s Sports Goods, and others.
“The support keeps coming all the time. Our biggest problem is finding more volunteers who want to work with kids,” Peem said, adding that he would like to add to their core group of volunteers.
Several alums of the program continue to practice with the kids, becoming de facto mentors of the younger ones.
“It’s going to be a slow process, we knew that coming in, but our view is if we can get a couple of them to break out of this lifestyle in the slums then it’s great. Most of us who volunteer, we all have day jobs, and the kids keep coming back to play.”
