Sport I firmly believe is a universal language. I love that basketball is incredibly popular in Serbia as it has presented several opportunities for me already. A few weeks ago we hit the outdoor courts to play some pick-up and meet people. That was a bit entertaining as although Michael and Ben are great teammates, they are not great basketball teammates. We were the 5'9" and under team against Serbian guys who were huge and neither Ben or Michael played any high school basketball. We got whooped pretty good, but managed to have some good conversations. For my players who are reading this, I would have taken any of you as teammates.
But, this week preseason training started up for all of the youth teams in Uzice. They have been on summer break since about 2 weeks before we arrived. Chris (our YWAM contact here in Uzice) has an auto mechanic. The mechanic's brother happens to coach a 13-14-year-old boys team. Chris had asked if I could come check out practice and I had my first opportunity Wednesday night. That night was conditioning in the park. Thursday morning they had actually basketball practice which was unique as it was on an outdoor court as all of the schools are still closed for the summer. It was fun to connect with Milos the coach and he was very welcoming. Yesterday I returned to practice to help and he is now calling me his assistant coach. There was a team of 8-9-year-olds practicing after us and he introduced me to that coach and asked if I could stay. He agreed. After that practice, the 15 and 16-year-olds practiced and I was able to stay and assist with that practice.
On the left is Dragos the older team's coach and Milos the youngest team's coach.
I got 3 practices in a single day and last night was conditioning. I hung out with Milos and the physical therapist Sergi after. It is refreshing to be back in an element I have missed in my month out of the U.S. I still miss the Mitchell Kernels and the players I was able to coach this past year, but it was nice to be on the court doing what I love and having the opportunity to build relationships and talk about spiritual things.
I have an invite to attend and out-of-town friendly game on Sunday night and will be back to 4 practices on Monday. It is hard to believe that we are already leaving Uzice on Tuesday. The month has flown by, but we have seen God work. I am looking forward to what he will do in our last 3 days in Serbia.
