The team departs for Tassie

The 2012 June Bevan State Team

The team with parents and supporters

The team departs for Tassie. This looked like de ja vu for me. Did I not do this 2 years ago with Jaz and Tyz in the Under 15s'?

Well the boys are bigger now and have more training than when they went for their first national competition.

I still recall the first Under 15s when they were just 11 and 13 years of age. When they saw the first team, they were totally dwarfed and over-awed. I still remember Olivier saying "why they so tall"

There were group photos taken and the BAWA president Judith was kind enough to see everyone off.

Amos, Tyz , Jaz, Edmund and Titus at the departure lounge

John , Irma and Silvi

Titus with mum and dad

The Tans

The Teos

The Phans

The Xus

Shelby , Judith and Kay

Alex , Phing and Shelby are travelling alone although Shelby's parents will be meeting her in Tassie.

There were some emotional hugs as the girls said goodbye to their families.

I have been hard at work planning the meals for the team. I am only concerned that with the requirement to drive, I may not be able to cook. Thank god for Irene. Touk Krei and Irma.


On the flight I was surprised to see  a familiar face sitting next to me with his wife. It was Peter Cooper. I had played against him in pennants organised by BAWA. He was always the tough opponent.

I had a long chat with him and found out that he also represented Australia  in 4 Commonwealth games and was also one of Australia's no. 1 for over 6 years in the 1960s.

It really is a shame that all these histories are not recorded and easily searchable on the Internet in this modern age.

Their glory and history may be glimpsed when you visit the BAWA office and see some plaque on the wall. I even recall a photo of a young Paul Kong with a full head of hair.

The flight was delayed for 40 mins because some idiot checked in his luggage and then failed to board.

They had to go through all the luggage to remove the luggage of the idiot.

Most of the team have gone to sleep cos its is now 12 am. I am used to staying up late working and will have trouble sleeping lthough I know I should cos I have to drive.

We are supposed to have a 2 hr wait in Melbourne during the transit.

Touk Krei is already in Tassie as she had to catch an earlier flight. She warned us that the cafes at Melbourne airport will not be open when we arrive.

However as we had been delayed in Perth, we had to play catchup with no time to even go to the loo before we had to report at the next checkin.

The team landing at Tassie

We arrived at Tassie at 7 am. The place is not as cold as we thought it would be.

The accommodation was better than expected. The boys and my family are sharing a big 3 bed room house. Feels just like home.

The house kitchen will be used as the main dining room.

The team had a walk to the town for breakfast. Hobart is much busier than what I had expected.

After breakfast, it was time to force the boys to take a power nap of at least 1 hr as they had their sleep routine totally ruined by the red eye flight to Tasmania.

The team went to the stadium for their first training session. The parents including myself went to look for groceries.

There was a huge discussion between the parents as to what to buy. It is amazing how a democratic process evolves and each parents volunteers their skills and contribution.

It was decided to do a BBQ for the first day as the weather was so good. The BBQ spot looks great and we had lamb, beef and sausages. The chicken sausages were free range chicken which was a luxury. I was told by Irene they were on sale.

The parents relaxing

The boys having dinner

The girls having dinner

Irene and YuLi

Edmund practising his Kiwi Haka which will be used to taunt the opponents

Tyz's haka

Sleepy heads, Amos and Jaz

The team is settling in well and the parents have worked out what each has to do. The common question was why are we going through all these trouble? Cooking and cleaning, running around! Is that not what we do for our kids. Just hope they appreciate what we do.