In the summer of 1994, I went on a volunteer trip to Cambodia. Our group consisted of athletic trainers and coaches. Cambodia is picking up the pieces from the Vietnam War and The Killing Fields, and one of the things they wanted to put together was an Olympic volleyball and basketball team. The government obviously couldn't afford professionals, so we volunteered to teach them what we knew.
During the days, we taught them about coaching, playing and training. Most of our students were ex-Olympic-level volleyball players who wanted to learn new skills. Before the Vietnam War and The Killing Fields, there was a national volleyball program in place, but war and revolution decimated those efforts. We taught through a translator, who we called Menodo. Here's a picture of me teaching line rules with Menodo looking on.
After class, we always played with our students. We absolutely loved them. They often treated us to bananas and sweet rice cakes. Here's a picture of me doing a passing drill after class.
Here's a picture of our team.
