in other words
august6
2015
Small Town, Big World: For the Love of the Game
By Britt Bensen-Steele
I remember when it happened. We
were out tooling around on our motorbike
through the narrow streets of Ubud, Bali
when suddenly, Larry hits the brakes and
points off to the right.
There is a school and a big concrete
pad out front. He points again, and on the
end I see a pseudo-basketball hoop, and one
kid with a basketball. We park our motor-
bike and quickly realize we have come upon
a bunch of Balinese teenagers shooting some
hoops.
We walk up to the edge of the court,
keeping a respectful distance to observe. We
see them. They see us. They keep playing.
After a few minutes, a ball bounces off a shoe
and veers toward Larry. He picks up the ball,
and bounces it a few times. He steps closer.
He works his way in to shoot the ball, showing the kids
that he knows a little about basketball.
It doesn’t take long for them to see he can
make a free throw. They start smiling, sending the ball
his way, and gesturing for him to shoot again. The more
baskets he makes, the more they smile and pass him
the ball. One boy singles himself out and speaks. “Mi-
chael Jordan!!” All the boys laugh. Larry laughs. A
tall smiley boy puts his palm on his own chest and says,
“Name: BonBon.” Larry puts his hand on his own
chest and says, “Larry.”
This day marked the beginning of Larry teach-
ing a group of Balinese boys how to shoot, and navigat-
ing his way through an explanation to BonBon that he
wanted to talk to someone about replacing the back-
board, hoop and nets for the school. BonBon nods in
understanding and takes off on his motorbike. He re-
turns with a teacher on the back of his motorbike, who
speaks only a slight bit more English. Larry does his
best to explain, again, his intention.
7
what had just transpired. We get the impression
from the caretaker that maybe we’ll never see
the money again, nor the new equipment. We
drive by for a few days, and see no evidence of
new equipment.
About a week later, Larry, on a solo mis-
sion, heads over to the school grounds and finds
a court full of boys playing with the new back-
board, hoop and net. Larry pulls up and the
boys are all smiles. He waves as he walks onto
the court, and BonBon yells, “Hello Larry!” and
throws him the ball.
Larry still hears from BonBon by email. He
is married and has a child. He still asks Larry
about camp in America and tells him the village
is happy with the equipment.
Never doubt, gestures of the heart last
a long, long time. (BonBon is the one in the
black t-shirt.)
The teacher gets
on his cell phone and with-
in 15 minutes or so, ten
adult men, including the
“head master,” the English
Teacher to help with Eng-
lish, and a couple graduates
of the school, are standing
with Larry, staring up at the
hoop, rambling mostly in
Balinese, and exchanging a
few bits of broken English
of “how much it cost?”
They settle on an
amount they think it will
cost to fulfill Larry’s prop-
osition. Larry hands them
cash. One man folds it
and puts in his pocket. We
head back to our rental and
explain to our caretaker
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