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Members of the Moo Pa soccer team and their 25-year old coach pause for a photo during a cycling trip. (Nopparat Khanthavong)
‘He loved them more than himself’: How a 25-year-old former monk kept the Thai soccer team alive
He [Cosch Ekapol] found kindred spirits in the boys, many of whom had grown up poor or were stateless ethnic minorities, common in this border area between Myanmar and Thailand.
He helped Nopparat, the head coach, devise a system where the boys’ passion for soccer would motivate them to excel academically. If they got certain grades in school, they would be rewarded with soccer gear, such as fresh studs for their cleats or a new pair of shorts. The two spent time looking for sponsors and used the Moo Pa team to prove to the boys that they could become something more than their small town would suggest — even professional athletes.
“He gave a lot of himself to them,” Nopparat said. He would ferry the boys to and from home when their parents could not and took responsibility for them as if they were his own family.
He also kept the boys on a strict training schedule, according to physical education teachers at the school field where they practiced. That included biking across the hills that surround Mae Sai.
