Sikh and ye shall find ...

Huh, famous last words - slept rubbish last night. We've been switching the air con off overnight and leaving the fans running. That has worked well - but last night was way too hot and I slept really badly. Plus all these bites are really itching now! Undid all the good I did getting a bit extra the day before. Never mind - at least I made more progress with my second reading of Game of Thrones …

Had a meeting at 0830 - with Panther Sports which is a really impressive stats package and league software. I felt we were not advanced enough for them yet but they are keen to work with us and in a very small way so that the relationship can grow as we grow. From there we went to run a session at the British School which is to be the National Academy for VX in India and where we have been running the evening sessions all week. It started OK, we were running games but then suddenly more kids arrived, then some went, then some more came - total chaos. We had no idea what was happening - apparently it was recess which was why we were getting totally fluid numbers and had no chance of organising teams. Talk about knitting fog!

After that we had a meeting with the Principal to take our leave and discuss the TBS role as National VX Academy for India. She told us that not only had we been in the paper so much but it had also featured on the TV! That left us with a free afternoon before this evening's session so we planned to do a bit of work then pack - but as soon as I got in I fell asleep. Hardly surprising after the bad night last night and we do have a VERY early start tomorrow to catch a flight home.

I have to say, we are so very very impressed with what the guys at VX India have achieved in such a short space of time. They only got started in January and have got media coverage, have got a National Academy, are working very hard to send players to the World Cup because they can see the benefit in this, plan to hold a World Cup, plan to host an Asia Cup, plan to host test matches, are well on the way to state recognition and this evening we had a meeting with a potential sponsor! They keep finding new players and new ways to develop the sport. And just one example of the impact of VX - this is still a highly sexist society and in processing the photos I saw several examples of young girls fitghting Sikh warriors for the ball. Where else can you find that?

Before that we had a final session with the group - they have really come on. This was probably the best session of all. Such progress.

Then the meeting with the sponsor was very positive. I really hope that the Indian team, and the others that are doing their best to get players to the World Cup, can get over and we can pull the stops out for them. Suman said to me 'You are my brother.' I said it last time - such delightful people. They are doing so much for VX and showing us the way to go. I can't wait to come back! The future is bright. The future is Indian!

And now it's much much later than I wanted as we have a very early start to go home tomorrow so time I logged off and turned in. India - we'll miss you