By TIM TUTOR/Sports Editor

(Editor’s note: Coach Ginn had a lot to say about his experience overseas, and this is part one of the story. Part two will be in next week’s SportsTime.)

Pontotoc High School boys head basketball coach Jon Ginn recently left the safety of the United States to lend his expertise to some needy youth and coaches in war-stricken Iraq.

Global Sports Partners, an internationally recognized company coordinating projects and placing experts in countries worldwide, was looking for a basketball camp director to come to Baghdad.

Jon Ginn was their man.

The camp



The eight-day, two-part camp was made up of an adaptive sports camp (first three days) and a basketball camp (five days).

The adaptive sports camp was for disabled young people. These kids, whose handicaps ranged from birth defects to loss of limb(s) caused by the war, were shown how they could adapt to different sports even with their disadvantages.

Coach Ginn assisted long-time friend Thad Harper at this camp held at a sports club originally established for the use of Saddam Hussein’s elder son Uday — one-time head of the Iraqi Olympic Committee.

With morning and afternoon sessions, 42 high-school aged boys from around the country attended the basketball camp directed by Coach Ginn — with seven coaching assistants — and held on the campus of the University of Baghdad.

“The purpose of this camp, obviously, was for me to bring some American basketball to Baghdad.” Ginn said.

“Then the Iraqi Basketball Association would cull that number down to 15 to form a national team.” College volunteers worked as translators for Coach Ginn and staff.

“There were some good players at the camp with a lot of potential, but they are not nearly up to speed with where we (America) are at this point.

“They were very eager and worked hard,” Ginn added, while noting that Iraq does not have high school or college sports, but rather club sports.

“Under the circumstances, I thought the players did an outstanding job.”

Welcome to the neighborhood

The circumstances for Coach Ginn and the other visitors from the United States were somewhat uncomfortable.

“We were not in the green or international zone. We were in the red zone,” Ginn explained.

“We were in what we were told was a secure neighborhood ... as secure as you can be in Baghdad.”

When Coach Ginn and his people would travel from venue to venue, they were escorted by an entourage of security people provided by the Iraqi Minister of the Interior.

“At just about every corner of our neighborhood you had somebody sitting there in a Humvee or a Ford F350 heavy duty pickup with a machine gun.

“When we would walk to our evening meals, we had to go through an installation that was camouflaged and had a 30-millimeter machine gun pointed right at us as we walked up the street.

“Sometimes we would have to show our passport and clearance papers if it was a guard that we were not familiar with, but as we were there, over the course of time, we would go in and out of the area as we needed to.

“Anytime we would travel to and from a venue, we would have a security detail in front and in back.



“We were in a large van and they would have one of those pick-up trucks in front and in back, with four guys in each truck — three of them with AK-47 assault rifles.

“We heard gun fire and four or five explosions while we were there, including the very first day of adaptive camp. We had a car bomb that shock the gym where we were,” Ginn continued.

“We were never allowed to be out in the public. We were either in our secure neighborhood or in transit with our escort.

“That was the thing that was disappointing and sad ... the fact that we never got to mingle with the people.

“We would see them as we traveled to and fro, and you would see the busy streets and market places, but we could never get out.

“We couldn’t go to a restaurant or a bank. We had to have things done for us.

“One of the biggest things that we were warned about from the U.S. government before leaving was abductions.

“If they know you are an American and they could find a place to get you, I’m sure they would.

“We had to be careful. I’m sure that’s why the security was as tight as it was.”

Bridge builders

“The people that we dealt with were coaches and athletes. We were able to bridge some gaps and build some relationships.

“I had one Iraqi coach who had lost a leg due to the U.S. military. He was a passenger in a car that was trying to pull into an American convoy. They shot down into the car, which is common over there.

“For example, when we were traveling, if a car was not obeying our security forces, they would point their machine gun at them.

“But this coach was not bitter. He was happy we were there. He had two sons in the camp.

“He even told this in the camp, that we had changed a lot of perceptions about what America is about through our camp — with the children and with a lot of the coaches there.



“A lot of negative perceptions and the way that they see us were altered and changed due to us being there.



“So that was good.”

Winning over some of the Iraqi people may be the most important part of this foreign exchange.

“I think so,” Coach Ginn replied.

“Hopefully, it may open the door for us to do more stuff like this.



“I think to win the hearts and the minds of the country and to really see a change, it will come from average people like myself and other coaches.” People that are willing to go.

“We heard over and over again from a lot of the coaches and people that we talked to, ‘Thank you for coming under the circumstances. We’re glad you came. We love our country and I can’t believe you would come. Thank you for coming.’”