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Talent Search road show opens in Chiang Mai
Stefan Effenberg Asian Football Academy 999
Marion Vogt
Photos Michael Vogt
The Future of World Football is in Thailand. This is one
of the slogans of Stefan Effenberg, former captain of Bayern Munich FC, one
time Champions League winner and three times German Championship winner. And
he strongly believes in it! That’s why he has decided to establish the
first Asian Football Academy in Thailand.
 Under
Stefan’s close supervision, those two completed the 50 meter dash.
Despite being a very busy man himself, Stefan came from
Doha, to supervise the start of the 31-city road show, searching for future
football talents. It was not how you would expect the opening of a major
project like this to be. There were no officials from the city, no officials
from the government; there was only one VIP (other than Stefan) that being
Hagen Dirksen, the honorary consul for Germany in Chiang Mai, a person
believing in charity as much as in sports. Time was too precious to be
wasted with speeches and photo shootings. Time was used to be with the
children, to oversee, to supervise and to look for the ones who will be the
future of Asian Football.
Medical
check-ups were required, and every applicant was weighed, measured, and had
their blood pressure taken.
On the long awaited Saturday, children from all over the
north were lining up outside the 700 Year Anniversary complex. Stefan
Effenberg counseled, saying, “Successes are not achieved easily. They have
to be earned through hard work, sprinting endurance, bounce and throwing
power. A good throw-in is almost as good as a corner cross! But on top of
all is health, and that’s the reason why we have nurses here today to do a
first check, which will later be continued by in-depth medicals. For us it
is an integral part of being accepted in the Stefan Effenberg AFA 999.”
 Looks
like he has done this before...
Only one official photo was taken with the first kids
through the registration process, marking the opening of the road show that
will go to seven cities in the north and will end May 1st next year in
Chiang Rai. But for Stefan Effenberg, it was only the children who mattered.
He walked around, explained, checked, gave personal comments and was
surprised with the positive behavior and attitude the young footballers
showed.
 This
young man, Timothy, a 4th grader from Grace International School, was eager
to match Stefan!
At the end of the test, everybody received his personally signed Stefan
Effenberg ‘AFA 999’ certificate and as we could see, there will be
hundreds of hopefuls waiting for results which will come from Bangkok if
their performance was good enough to take them one step further. These
‘Best of the Best’, will be personally trained by Stefan Effenberg and
renowned international coaches.
2 out of
3 headers towards the goal went in - a great achievement from this little
sportsman.
One of
the required tests was football juggling; this little chap, Pasakorn from
Lamphun, made 68 kicks, a number which even impressed Stefan.
Chiang Mai Pool league
The search is on for future gymnasts
Jiraphat Warasin
The search is on for fresh young talent in gymnastics to
replace older members of the current national team who are close to retiring
from the sport.
 The
young girl gymnasts aged under 7 years from Chachoengsao province.
With this in mind, the Chiang Mai Physical Education
College hosted a national primary gymnastic competition for children on
April 24.
The competition took place in the gymnasium at Chiang Mai
Physical Education College. Its acting director, Chaiyasith Suriyachan,
presided over events.
 Floor
exercises for Ek-kong Charassuthikamol, 10, from Chor Chaba team.
The competition was divided into four classes: girls
under 7, boys under 7, girls under 12 and boys under 13. There were four
different styles of gymnastics: floor exercises, balancing bar, jumping
bench, and pommel horse. Every child received a certificate and a shield was
presented to the team which accumulated the highest score in each class of
the competition.
Nine teams participated, from the provinces of Roi-et,
Chachoengsao and Phatthalung; Suphanburi Sport School, the Gymnasium
Training Center of the Suphanburi Physical Education College, the team from
the Gymnastics Training Center of Chiang Mai Physical Education College, the
Gymnastics Training Center of Sukhothai Physical Education College, the
Gymnastics Training Center of Samut Sakhon Physical Education College and
the Chor Chaba Team from Bangkok.
Winning teams in the different classes were: girls under
7 - Phatthalung; boys under 7 - Phatthalung; girls under 12 - Gymnastics
Training Center from Chiang Mai Physical Education College; and boys under
13 - Gymnastics Training Center from Suphanburi Physical Education College.
All the young athletes enjoyed a dinner party at 5 p.m.
as a final event!
Chinese caravan makes a
whistle-stop in Chiang Mai
Aims to promote trade, investment and tourism
Nopniwat Krailerg
A caravan from China, with 60 cars and more than 200
people, is traveling through Thailand to promote business, investment and
tourism between China and other Asian countries.
 The
rally caravan arrives at the Lotus Pang Suan Kaew Hotel, Chiang Mai.
Sathorn Vanitsthian, president of the Asia Pacific
Economic & Trade Association (APETA) said in Chiang Mai that APETA had
previously organized a 54 car caravan from Thailand to visit southern
China’s Yunnan province. “It was the great success and we received a
good reception from the Chinese government and their people. The governor of
Yunnan province especially attached great importance to the venture. We then
asked the Beijing government for approval to organize another caravan as a
return trip. It is the first time in history that the Chinese government has
allowed Yunnan province to become involved in a caravan trip to visit
Thailand,” he said.
The group consists of representatives from the government
sector, leading businessmen from Yunnan province with their families and
journalists. About 50 media representatives from Yunnan province, nearby
provinces, Hong Kong and Macao are covering the event.
The caravan will cover 10,000 kilometers over 18 days. It
will be in Thailand for 10 days. It set out from Kunming in Yunnan province
to Talua on the Myanmar-Chinese border, then continued to Chiang Tung,
Tachilek in Myanmar and entered Thailand at Mae Sai district in Chiang Rai
province.
According to the program, there was a one night stopover
in Chiang Rai and a day in Chiang Mai the following day. The caravan would
then proceed to Kamphaeng Phet province before it reached Bangkok.
It would continue traveling southwards to Chumphon,
Phuket, Hat Yai, passing by Sadao district to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and on
to Singapore. It would return via Surat Thani province.
“Another point of the trip is to present to the world the view that
Thailand could be the center of land communication in Asia,” Sathorn said.
The stopover in Chiang Mai was “A tactic to show that Chiang Mai is a city
where one can do business and it could be the center of investment in the
Upper North of Thailand. It provides the opportunity to those businessmen
who joined the trip to consider investing in Chiang Mai province.”
Farangutans are back on form
By Colin Hinshelwood
On 24th April the Farangutans winning streak came to
a crashing halt after losing to a team who had previously only scored
one goal in 10 games. The 2–0 defeat was a humbling blow to the
foreign legionnaires who had been enjoying an Arsenalesque run of
victories.
The
Arsenalesque Farangutans FC
And so it was back to hard nights of physical
training, sexual abstinence and sobriety for the lads. Wives and
girlfriends were left unsated and the U.N. Irish Pub coffers echoed of a
dusty, eerie silence.
But on Saturday the farangs were back with a
vengeance and celebrated May Day with a hard-working performance.
The Chiang Mai Senior League committee had recently
expressed concern that the average age of the farang team might be too
low for this “35-ish” league of gentlemen. Surprisingly the team’s
average age turns out to be 32. Committee secretary Khun Daeng was
suitably impressed by this finding and insisted upon hearing the secrets
of the Farangutans’ boyish good looks and seemingly eternal youth.
“Vitamin C, yoga and lots of sleep” confided 40-year old Amarildo,
when quizzed about his Dorian Grey visage. “Star Trek and Porn”
winked goalie Mark, a baby-faced 33-year old who is frequently asked for
ID at Loy Kroh.
Anyway … ‘twas a 4 pm kick-off at Hang Dong and
the sun was searing. The capacity crowd of 26 jostled for shade; police
tore down security barriers fearing any surge might cause a Hillsborough
scenario.
Coach Hinsh was back from training camp in Koh
Phangan to add weight to the midfield. Bryan “Shaggy” Haggerty
assumed sweeping duty and Chico and Mick formed a two-pronged attack up
front.
A disciplined and hard-fought first half ended
goalless although there is speculation that a Shawn Kelly shot that
crashed down off the bar and onto the line, actually – believe it or
not – bounced off the line, into the roof of the net and then burst
through the net and landed on top of it! The referee didn’t see it and
it seemed to defy all laws of physics so in the end no goal was given.
In the second half the Farangutans fitness and
teamwork overwhelmed poor Jamjuli (who had previously beaten us 4–1).
Three goals came in quick succession. The first, a jinking run by Chico
Panno and a chip into the middle was headed home by Hinsh. Minutes
later, Masao’s corner was met perfectly by Shaggy Haggarty who headed
home a beauty. And never to be outdone, Chico himself casually rifled
home a 20-yard effort with 15 minutes still to play.
Final score: Farangutans 3 – 0 Jamjuli.
The Farangutans now have 19 points from 11 games and
are hot on the heels of Fawng Keaw, Mae Rim and the Police.
All information about the league, the teams, the fixtures, etc., for
any poor lonely soul out there who is interested can be found on our
website: www.geocities.com/farangutans
Chiang Mai HHH Corner - “On On!”
CH3, the oldest hash club (males) in Chiang Mai is picked
up from the Fish & Chip Shop, Ratchawitti Road (opp. Irish Pub) at 16.00
once every 2 weeks. Pick up can be arranged from Fish and Chips shop as
well.
CSH3 is a mixed Saturday hash which is picked up from the
H3 Pub on Moon Mueng Road every Saturday at 15.30. Pick up can be arranged
from Fish and Chips shop as well.
CUMH3 is a male hash which runs from the Fish & Chip
Shop, Ratchawitti Road (opp. Irish Pub) every consecutive (from CH3)
Tuesday. Pick up is at 16.00.
BH3 is a female hash (Harriettes) that runs once a month
on the last Sunday of the month.
All information either from Fish and Chips, H3 or
“ONON” Pub. Or look at the websites at:
http://www.thai-american.com/hhh/
It’s great fun and you surely get value for your money
plus you get to meet all the long-time expats here!
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