My sister plays basketball in Florida, so I’ve asked her to organize a camp* for teens in Calarasi (Romania – a sister town to the one in which she lives, Royal Palm Beach – thanks to the efforts of our grandfather)… And today we were searching (once again) for a gym where we could hold this camp (as it’s supposed to start on Monday!)…
What we have found so far:
a) the stadium gym – an old, extremely shabby place with no air conditioning (no gym we’ve been to so far has AC). when we walked in my sister exclaimed, “real hard wood floors!”, as in, there were significant cracks, so it would’ve made playing basketball quite difficult.
b) brand new gym at public school 11 – very nice on the outside, but we were denied entering because of summertime cleaning and besides, they did not have the screws necessary to finish installing the basketball hoops (WTF!?!?!)
c) brand new gym attached to a day care center – we were allowed to check it out – and it was pretty, with eight bball hoops lining the gym – but it was pretty much a SAUNA in there – no AC and the sun blaring in from like four sides… HORRIBLY BUILT
d) outdoor hoops – summers in Romania are really hot, so I ruled this option out – but even if we would’ve liked to try it, it would’ve been impossible as the hoops are set up on a curb!!! (as in, you would inevitably trip and fall if you tried to go around the hoop)… and the “courts” are made out of concrete….
e) a final gym was suggested for our consideration – and we are waiting to get the ok for it tomorrow… I won’t hold my breath for AC though… and it’s the only gym in Calarasi suitable for online exposure.. (will post pics from the camp, if we get this gym).
But the whole process made me wonder… what the hell are these people doing with their sports programs? Apparently, not much… which is why all of Romania’s talented athletes (and you know we have some good gymnasts…) cannot become as great as they could if they had access to real gyms and real coaches.
*The camp is organized by my association – Volunteering Squared about which I will write more shortly.
UPDATE: We got this gym, which I am quite pleased about…
Not bad, right?