Playing with all the guys has really shocked the community that a girl can play this sport too.
Chin Lone (also known as cane ball) is Myanmar’s traditional and national sport. Six people form a circle and use a handwoven ball made out of rattan to kick the ball to each other while trying to do their best, most difficult, and beautiful moves. The point of the game is to keep the ball from hitting the ground all while pushing yourself to try out your best moves with grace. While there are chin lone competitions, it is not seen as a competitive sport. Individuals are simply playing for themselves, trying to improve their own skills and moves.
When I first moved to Myanmar, I saw the hotel staff playing chin lone constantly during their free time. Some other PCVs and I asked them if we could join them and I’ve been obsessed ever since.
One of my priorities when moving to my official site was finding the chin lone boys in town. However, the people I met were definitely not boys being that most of them were 40 + years old. There are about 20 men on the team. The oldest man I play with is 74 and he kicks ass. He has become my unofficial coach teaching me all the different types of moves and making me train during practice. Everyday he’ll tell me “one hundred” with whatever move he just taught me- wanting me to practice it 100 times a day. He has become one of my favorite people in my community, caring for me like I’m his granddaughter. I found this team within a couple months by stumbling upon a recreation field near my house. There was a group that was playing in a fenced in and covered room. They saw me peeking into the fence and invited me into the chin lone room. They were super welcoming and excited that the new foreigner in town was interested in chin lone and after about 15 minutes of watching they made me play even after I told them I would just watch. Ever since that first time, I’ve been playing almost everyday with them from 4 to 6 PM. In this short time, they’ve become not only great friends but family. I’ve gone to cheer them on in tournaments and I have even played in a tournament with them which was the scariest and coolest experience I have had here.
I think one of the most positive highlights of me joining their team is that I am currently the only female in my town that plays chin lone. Playing with all the guys has really shocked the community that a girl can play this sport too. My intention is to encourage girls and women to participate in sports that may not be traditionally within their social norms. Gender roles are definitely prevalent across Myanmar, and although there are many professional women chin lone players, they are almost all in Mandalay and Yangon. I’ve talked with many people in Thaton that say chin lone is just not for girls. They simply can’t do it. Or that people don’t feel comfortable with their daughters playing with boys. So, many people in my community were really surprised and a little nervous for me joining the team as the only female in an all male chin lone team but now that I’ve been playing for nearly a year, they have gotten used to it and many tell me how proud they are. In fact, anytime I am getting introduced to someone, a person from my community will say “this is Yadanar (my Myanmar name), she can play chin lone.” There are also so many people who I run into and don’t even know that say “OH! You play chin lone!!” with the biggest smile on their face. However, I am a foreigner and I do get treated differently here. Because I am a foreigner living in Myanmar, I can get away with not strictly following every social/cultural norm because people know I come from a different background. There are many cultural rules one must follow as a local living here. I, however, am not expected to follow all of these cultural rules and norms like the other women in town. I am not quite sure if there would be the same reaction from my community with a local female participating in chin lone.
Ellie is a MM3 Volunteer serving {and kicking} in Mon State. Thanks for sharing your cool story!
And read more about Ellie's Service over on her blog: https://ellieinmyanmar.wordpress.com/
No comments
Post a Comment