Kindness

Last school year my favorite time of the week was handball practice. Admittedly, I was terrible at the sport, but I loved trying to play and being able to connect with a few of my students in a different way.  The coach was kind enough to let me take part in practice and tried to catch me up on the years of the training that the girls had.  Unfortunately, handball is not similar to any American sport I know and even after a whole year practicing, I still couldn't throw the ball with much force.  The game is played on a basketball court, with goals similar to hockey, and a ball similar to a soccer ball.

When I went to the matches that our team played with other schools in town, I was struck by the difference of appearance of our school versus the other schools.  Other schools had full uniforms and some even had names on them.  Our school only had a batch of men's shirts that were giant on them and even then some girls had to wear their own tank-tops or t-shirts.  Our shirts were also worn by the boy's team in matches; they were sometimes worn by both teams each week, and quite frankly smelled of it.

my school, in white

I spent a lot of time with the girls last year and I wanted to think of way to thank them for all their patience with me.  I finally decided I would try to get them shirts that were cut for girls and actually fit. I tried to think of how to accomplish this.  I couldn't think of any place in my town that had nice shirts that were made for sports.  I decided I needed some reinforcement stateside.  A friend of a friend works at Brooks, makers of fabulous running gear. I thought I would give it a shot.  I wrote a letter asking if they be willing to donate shirts to the school.  They wrote back, that they would not only donate shirts, but also shorts.  The girls would have complete uniforms, that actually fit!

Over the summer a big box arrived from Brooks and I have spent the past few weeks in anticipation.  This week will be the sign-up for handball (it's a year-round sport so it starts a little late) and next week will be the first practice.  The coach has the uniforms and is equally excited to show the team their new uniforms.  

Stayed tuned for the big unveil in a few weeks!  Also, again a giant thanks to Brooks, for the amazing donation!