Thailand - "For us Don Bosco is a father". The men's national Goalball team brings Don Bosco to "Asian Para Games"

11 October 2018

(ANS - Nonthaburi) - Among the national teams competing 6-13 October in Indonesia in the III edition of the Paralympic Games of Asia, there is also a team with a clear Salesian imprint: it is the Thai men's Goalball team, a team game that can be played by athletes suffering from visual impairments. The entire team, in fact, is composed of Don Bosco Past Pupils of the Center for the Skills Development of the Blind of Pakkred, Nonthaburi district, in the northern sector of Bangkok.

The team spent weeks, from August until early October, training at the gym in the Salesian center. Team members are 5 Past Pupils: Cholathee Sukchum, Pornchai Jadmee, Noppadon Poosrisoam, Booncha Fankamai and Sivarin Pornpirun.

The latter is also the spokesman of the entire group, and just before leaving for the competitions in Indonesia he spoke to the Social Communication Office of the Salesians of Thailand: "For us Don Bosco is a father. We are all debtors of this center that has shaped us: without this center and the Salesians who animate it, today we would not be ourselves, who we are. This center offers us the future, it also allows us with visual disabilities to live a dignified and quality life."

The center where the 5 players were formated has been animated by the Salesians since 1978. The Italian Salesian missionary Carlo Velardo, SDB, former Rector, in 2009, was also awarded with the prestigious "Van Thuân Award - Solidarity and Development" for this work.

The center of Pakkred, currently led by Thai Salesian Brother Suwan Jutasompakorn, started its activities by offering the sighted and the visually impaired courses in carpentry and woodworking and also developing agreements with companies to facilitate the entry of students into the world of work. Over the years, the center has changed the formation provided and today offers a course for massage therapists and issues the certificate of Thai Traditional Massage Doctor.

Great attention is also paid to sport. At the center's facilities, in addition to Goalball, students can also practice Judo and other disciplines; and there are other past pupils - like Panyawut Kupan and Kittikorn Buadee - who are doing well in national soccer tournaments.

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