JUNIOR SPORTS TEAM
Est. 2019
Junior Sports Team Thailand is a non-profit initiative dedicated to making a positive impact. Since our establishment in 2019, our mission has been to train every season 14 local children without prior swimming skills to become proficient open-water swimmers.
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Beyond fostering physical fitness, our commitment extends to instilling values of discipline, team spirit, and resilience.
WHY SWIMMING?
In Thailand, many children grow up without learning how to swim, a skill crucial for their safety and well-being. Despite the country's vast coastlines and rivers, swimming education is overlooked.
Many schools lack the resources or facilities to offer swimming lessons, and access to affordable private lessons is limited. For many families, the cost of swimming lessons is simply unaffordable. This gap in essential life skills leaves children vulnerable to drowning, a leading cause of accidental death in Thailand.
2019 - TODAY
2025
Our 2025 season kicks off in May with the selection of new team members from our local school in Klong Muang, while our fundraising campaign begins in April. Six former students are currently training for OCEANMAN KRABI (March 28-30, 2025) to compete in the OCEANMAN Kids Race.​
2024
We successfully concluded our fundraising campaign in early 2024, setting the stage for an exciting year ahead. This May, we will kick off training with Team 2024, while simultaneously reviewing our program to refine both our student selection process and training curriculum. This thorough evaluation underscores our unwavering commitment to continuous improvement, ensuring our initiatives align with evolving needs and best practices.
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In an exciting development, two of our former students participated in the OCEANMAN 2024 Krabi event this May. Both completed the open-water Kids Race, with one of them achieving an impressive 3rd place finish in her age category.
2023
We successfully trained 12 students in the running team and 12 students in the swimming team, achieving significant milestones in their respective disciplines. All members of the swimming team passed the 500m open-water test. Four outstanding students from the swimming team showcased their skills at the prestigious OCEANMAN World Championship in Phuket, completing the Kids Race.
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All members of the running team completed the trainings and showcased their endurance by successfully finishing the 5km Krabi Scenic Mini Marathon in Krabi. These achievements underscore our commitment to not only providing training but also cultivating excellence and participation in official events within their chosen sports.
2022
9 students entered and successfully completed the OCEANMAN ASIA Championship open-water race and completed the 1km rate. An amazing achievement, considering that the students could not swim 6 months ago.
2021
In February 2021, we successfully reached our fundraising goal with our second GoGetFunding campaign, securing the funds for our second team. Due to Covid, OCEANMAN 2021 was canceled and the race was postponed to 2022.
2020
At the beginning of 2020, we launched our first GoGetFunding fundraising campaign to raise the necessary funds. In April, we started to train 20 students from the local Klong Muang School, for several hours a week, to become confident and competent open-water swimmers. 12 students entered the OCEANMAN 2020 race and all completed the 1km race. An amazing achievement, considering that most of the students could not swim at the beginning of the year.
2019
In 2019 OCEANMAN Thailand, part of OCEANMAN, the first and only open water swimming championship, took place in Klong Muang Beach, Krabi. Over 500 swimmers from all over the world participated and competed over various distances in this fun-filled, yet challenging, event. Among the athletes were many children. Unfortunately, none of the local children, living at Klong Muang Beach, were able to participate in this event due to financial restraints and the lack of necessary swimming skills. We wanted to change this: The Junior Ocean Sports Team project was initiated.