Mackenzie just came back from a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! Because of this-and-that circumstances, she was invited to join the varsity girls team for the ACSC tournament in Chiang Mai, Thailand! The invitation literally came two weeks before the tournament, and for one of those weeks, she was gone to Outdoor Ed. So she had exactly one week to learn the offenses, defenses, press, press break, etc. Thankfully, she’s a smart kid and had it down pretty quickly. On top of that, she got my motherly advice of, “Make your shots and grab every rebound.” Ease to the pease.
Two days after Josh left to go to Taiwan with the boys team for the same tournament, Mackenzie and I woke up at 3am to take her to school and meet up with the team. That was super fun.
It was hard for me to go back to sleep because that’s when the crazy side of my mind decided to say, “So, you do realize that you just sent your 13-year-old basically on her own to another country?” The sane side of my mind kept chiming in, “Don’t worry, she has a bunch of adults and an entire team of girls looking out for her, and she’s a responsible kid.” But you know the crazy side of the mind, always hopped up on Red Bull, dancing Gangnam-style, and using her rock concert voice for everything. Anyway, they made it through ticketing, immigration, and bag check without any issues and were off to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and on to Thailand by 6:00am!
We got to watch their games online, which I learned to love, but at first, I hated! I hated that she couldn’t hear me cheering or offering the well-intentioned-but-undoubtedly-annoying-and-uncessary advice that I tend to shout out from the stands during games. Yes, I’m totally that parent, but at least I admit it, right?!
As with all the ACSC tournaments, there is a ministry time, so Mackenzie got to share a little bit of her testimony.
They started off pretty weak, but ended up 3rd in the tournament. 1st was untouchable, 2nd was a very long shot, and 3rd was the best realistic finish that we could hope for, so we’re all thrilled with their outcome.
Mackenzie started off looking like a deer in the headlights. It was a lot faster-paced than she was used to, so it seemed like she was a split second behind on everything. But with each game, she adapted more and more and never stopped improving. She earned so much playing time and even had really critical baskets and rebounds that set us up to win. There was a moment in one game where we were down two points and she was shooting free throws with about 15 seconds on the clock. Josh and I were frantically texting back and forth on whether she could handle the pressure. She sank the first one, but missed the second. (Thankfully, we still won!)
Mackenzie wasn’t the tallest one there. That girl on her left is a 6’3″ freshman, so she and Mackenzie can look forward to a few more years of defending each other!
The major shocker for everyone I’m sure was that Mackenzie made the All-Tournament team!!! I’m still trying to wrap my mind around it. When we had our first meal together, I wrapped up by saying, “Alright all-star, time to do the dishes again!”
Meanwhile, back here, I’m realizing that it won’t be long before this growing boy will go off to his tournaments too! This was his second helping of parmesan chicken, pasta, and salad. He must be in a growth spurt, because he is eating constantly!
Josh and his team arrived home early Sunday morning. They took 4th in their tournament and were plagued by lots of injuries, so that’s no fun. Josh arrived home tired and happy!
Mackenzie and team left Thailand on Sunday morning, but had an 8-hour layover in KL! Ugh, I know from my many overseas tournaments that once the games are finished, you just want to get home quickly, so this would be miserable for me! On top of that, their flight was delayed an hour or so, so that meant even more waiting!
Josh has a friend who is a pilot for Air Asia, so when they boarded, all of the girls were given free hats and free meals, so that was a fun surprise for them! Kenzie finally arrived home at 4am on her first day back to school! We let her sleep and skip her first couple of classes. When I arrived home from teaching my class, I saw Sim sporting the gifts that she brought him.
So cute. Thai pants are the best and cost like $2!
We’re all so thankful that she got this opportunity! She learned so much and benefited so much in all walks of life.
thrillanmanila 
I love that hands-on-hips stance Mackenzie has in the ministry picture. It’s her trademark. Jennifer and I were talking about how it makes her easy to pick out on the court.