We started the tour with an overnight stopover in Kuala Lumpur. Arriving into Bankok on Saturday July 5th the customs people at the airport gave us a difficult time as we didn’t know the address of our host Ruangrit Sangkaew (Rit.)
With a population of 65 million the 40 minute drive out to the Royal Thai Navy Base provided us with some interesting sights into the life of the Thai people. Expecting to have a rest on the first day and acclimatise to the 25 + heat and humidity, the boys instead were happy to play a game on the concrete at the base. Each separate parking area providing small goals so the locals can enjoy a small sided game of Thai Futsal anytime. Sharpshooter champion after our first kick was Jackson Gibbons, beating Jordan Jessup in the final. This presented the opportunity for our guest coach from England Daniel Ball (brother of Man City star Michael Ball) to see the Wynrs programme in action for the first time.
Day 3: Game v Phoenix Football Academy, Bangkok. Played on grass in extremely hot conditions the boys were behind from the start in the 8v8 game. Jordan Jessup pegged one back, followed by an own goal. 4-3 behind after the first quarter. The guest players Got and Go both scored and the Thai keeper playing for Wynrs helped keep the score tidy. By the final quarter Levon Mosdell came forward to score a well deserved winner, the end result being 6-5 for us. The boys also had their first shopping experience in Thailand leaving the stores with bags full of bargains, doing their mothers proud!
Day 4: Game v Singsamuth School (8v8), Sattahip- Chonburi, about 150km SE of Bangkok (close to the famous beach resort Pattaya.) Unfortunately the school team expected the “foreigners” to be huge kids and thus fielded an older age group. Despite the help again of the Thai boys Got, Go and Gem the game ended with a 3-0 loss. Jordan Jessup also missed a penalty. A large school crowd turned out to support the local side and the Wynrs subs lapped up the attention of the Thai school girls fascination of the “huge foreigners.” Elephant riding and the Budha lasered into the hillside were other attractions experienced during the day. An overnight stay at the Royal Thai Navy National Headquarters and a magnificent swim in the brand new Olympic size swimming pool were other highlights.
Day 5: The morning was spent at a beautiful private beach of Sattahip. A visit to the amazing sea turtle conservation centre of the Royal Thai Navy capped off a fantastic stay. The 2 hour journey back to Bangkok was broken up by a journey to a famous Tiger Park.
Day 6: Game 5pm – Futsal (5v5) v FC Panda. A magnificent facility provided the opportunity for the Wynrs boys to test their indoor skills against the “Panda’s”. Within a short time and without any support of the talented Thai boys Got and Go the Wynrs boys were down 6-1, Benjamin Allan scoring for us. An incredible fight back over the final 2/3’s (3 x 20 min.) left the final result a narrow loss, 7-6. Other Wynrs goal scorers were Jordan Jessup 2, Richard Enright 2, Jackson Gibbons. George Stephen and Jackson Gibbons both had some game time in goal. The morning was taken up by a tree planting festival at the Navy Base at low tide. After lunch more bargains at the local markets.
Day 7: Wynrs tournament at FC Panda. Played on grass, in house Wynrs tournament involving Kiwi Kick, Wynton’s Way, Sharpshooter and 1v1 with Got, Go and some other talented Thai boys.
Day 8: Game v FC Panda at 4.30pm. 7-7. Win 6-5 in penalty shootout. Scorers: James Rudd, Kelvin Boyd 3, Jordan Jessup 2, Jackson Brady (smiling assassin.) Got played in goal for us. With the help of a “dodgy” ref Wynrs equalised in injury time and were rewarded with victory in a penalty shoot out. The Panda hosts provided another delicious Thai barbie before the boys left for the first of 2 nights at their homestays. Earlier in the day we had a trip to the world’s largest crocodile farm.

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Day 9: Mini Tournament v Phoenix Football Academy and Chaisam Football Academy. The final day of football ended on a high note with 2 wins. 10-4 v the Phoenix : goals, Kelvin Boyd 3, Jordan Jessup, Richard Enright, Jackson Gibbons, George Stephen, Levon Mosdell, Benjamin Allan, Jackson Brady. 11-1 v Chaisam : goals, Kelvin Boyd 3, Benjamin Allan 3, Levon Mosdell 2, George Stephen, Jackson Gibbons, Jordan Jessup. Another highlight for the day was Jackson Gibbons winning the “thigh juggling”, George Stephen “headers” and Jordan Jessup – the Sharpshooter winner. In the afternoon shopping was the order of the day before the final sleep over with the homestay.
Day 10: Departure with Malaysian Airlines at 14.15.
Day 11: Arrive into Auckland at 10.15am.
 

Footnote: The boys had a great time and so did the coaches. Only one of the boys had a bit of home sickness. 3 of the boys struggled a bit with the Thai food. Breakfast was Western style, lunch and dinner Thai food. Rice, soups, chicken. Due to the heat we were on to the boys, drinking bottled water throughout the day. No fizzy drinks, sweets, chewing gum or chocolate were allowed. Next time we’ll forbid mobile phones being taken as with the time difference we had problems with phone calls, sleep disruption etc in the middle of the night. During the last days with the homestays 3 boys bought BB guns. At the airport in Kuala Lumpur the guns were confiscated!
At all the games the boys performed the haka, led by Jordan Jessup, Jardin Draper and George Stephen. The locals were always impressed.
The living and sleeping experience at the Royal Thai Navy was perfect in regard to comparing it with a professional football environment during a teams pre-season training camp. Another team building exercise that we undertake on all tours is daily meetings and notes taken, points awarded for good behaviour, special effort or points deducted for misbehaviour. First place went to Levon Mosdell (lethal Levon) followed closely by George Stephen and Benjamin Allan. 2 other boys in the hunt for first place were BB buyers!!!

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