With the Kids

5 11 2010

Every Tuesday and Thursday I go with a teammate (John) to a nearby village called Novo Celo.  The trip takes about 30 minutes by car and feels like we’re going into the middle of nowhere.  The gym sits on a hill with nothing else around, but on the inside 40-50 kids await our arrival.

We have had a lot of fun working with them in the last few weeks.  The kids are very kind and are a refreshing end to the day.  And even when we forgot to bring the basketballs on Tuesday, they participated in some high-level duck, duck, goose 🙂  It feels great being able to make them smile.

Here is a photo of John lifting one of the kids up for a dunk from our first visit with our entire team.

 


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A Unique Team and GM

28 10 2010

I have an inchoate feeling that there is a bright future for ABA Strumica.  Part of the reason for that is our General Manager.  It is very rare that you come across an American GM in European basketball, especially in Macedonia. But what is truly unique about our GM, Ryan Smith, is that he is a Christian.
The reason Ryan and his wife Jyl are in Macedonia is to share the love of Christ and positively impact Macedonians.  That sure doesn’t sound like most basketball clubs, but it is working.  From top to bottom there is a Christian community supporting the team and doing big things in the lives of the people.
The team regularly takes part in community projects and also works with kids.  Below is a photo of our first workday cleaning up some trash in the community.  The vision for ABA is big and Godly, and I am excited to share a piece of what is taking place.

The Team at Work in Macedonia

If you are interested in giving to the ABA Sports Ministry you can visit http://www.faithandlearning.com and give to ABA Basketball- Balkans Ministry.


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Big Win for ABA Strumica

21 10 2010

We had a great win last night at home 82-74.  It was a great team effort and a much needed win.  The fans and the environment were wonderful here in Strumica.  We hope to keep building on this!  Stats to come soon.


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Players of the Week-Macedonia, Week 2

19 10 2010

They say a couple of nice things about me, but weren’t so nice to the team and teammates.  I truly believe they will realize how wrong they are about our team in the near future.  Here is the LINK.


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Game 2 Macedonia

16 10 2010

After dominating the first 1/2 and going into halftime up 47-42, we played a pretty bad 3rd quarter in which we only scored 4 points.  We fought hard in the 4th, but our 3rd quarter hole was too deep.  We ended up taking a tough road loss 84-73.  Here are the links to 2 different websites for box scores.  The first is HERE.  The second is HERE.


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First Game in Macedonia

12 10 2010

On October 9th, we went on the road to play the best team in Macedonia (Feni).  They went on a run to go up 13 in the 2nd quarter and we ended up losing by 15 (90-75).  They are a good team, play well together and know the game.  However, we are definitely capable of beating them as we mesh as a team.  To see the BOXSCORE click here.


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