Rescued from cave, young footballer wins scholarship

Four years ago, he was one of a dozen members of a youth soccer team trapped deep inside the flooded “Tham Luang Cave” in the northern Chiang Rai province in Thailand. Today, he is the winner of a scholarship from a prestigious British soccer school.

Duangphet “Dom” Promthep, one of the 12 football players from the Wild Boar youth soccer team and their coach who were cornered in Tham Luang Cave for 17 days, has been accepted by the Brooke House College Football Academy just north of London, United Kingdom. Founded in 2008, Brooke House instructs talented footballers aged 12-19, and is one of the premier academies preparing young players for professional careers at clubs in England and across the world.

“I promise to work hard and do my best,” Dom said upon learing the news of his acceptance.

In 2018, a monsoon storm struck Thailand’s northern Chiang Rai province causing a flash flood that made escaping the cave impossible. With the world transfixed by the plight of the young boys, a combined Thai and international rescue team descended on Chiang Rai and launched a successful operation to evacuate and save the boys and their coach.

The rescue operation tale has been memorialized in print and on screen with documentaries and feature films. Most recently, American director Ron Howard released his version of the rescue with the critically acclaimed feature film Thirteen Lives, currently showing in theaters and on Amazon Prime. The movie stars Viggo Mortensen and Colin Farrell.

Duangphet thanked the Sports Education Foundation, the Zico Foundation and Brooke House for granting him the scholarship. He also thanked Vachiralai Bee School in Chiang Mai, where he has been studying and his Thai football manager and ex-player Kiatisuk “Zico” Senamuang.

Photo courtesy of https://4occ.isoc.go.th/04news/?p=7804