SPANISH FORT, Ala. — The Sports Authority of Thailand will return to its Bangkok headquarters with a greater knowledge of American athletic programs after a 10-city tour that brought 18 delegates to the Deep South of Alabama, the west coast of California and the Big Apple. 

Part of the delgates’ tour included a stop at Spanish Fort High School; the United States Sports Academy in Daphne  planned the visit so that Thai sports professionals could see how sports are played the U.S.

“They’re here to see how we do P.E. on a typical day,” Beverly Spondike, Spanish Fort High School principal, said.

While at the high school members of the sports authority observed coach Bryant Vincent’s  girls athletic class. The girls worked on coordination, cardio fitness and weight-lifting.

“This opportunity introduced us to how … the high school P.E. classes are different from classes in Thailand,” Siriraks

Khawchaimaha, a member of the Sports Authority of Thailand, said. For instance, she said, Thailand P.E. classes don’t lift weights.

The opportunity to see another country’s physical education was enlightening, she said. “It’s very exciting to us and to me because it is my first time in another country.”

The delegation — which will be in the U.S. for about two weeks — will look at various aspects of physical education and see how high school, college, community and professional sports differ from those in Thailand, Tim Foley, a faculty member at the United States Sports Academy, said.

“We teach certification programs there (at the Sports Authority of Thailand) and many have participated,” Betsy Smith, associate dean of continuing education with the academy, said. “We have a long-standing history with Thailand.”

Smith said the academy organized the trip for the authority so it could witness the levels of athletics that lead up to a professional sports career.

The delegates first arrived in Los Angeles, where they visited the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif., and Azusa Pacific University  in Azusa, Calif.

While in Baldwin County they visited a Daphne High School versus McGill-Toolen Catholic High School football game and kids soccer game in Fairhope, Mark Stevens, director of communications at the academy, said.

The delegates are scheduled to travel to the New Orleans  Superdome and also tour Auburn University’s campus in Auburn, Ala.; Georgia Tech’s campus in Atlanta; and the Verizon Center, home of Washington D.C.’s Wizards basketball team. They will end in New York City, according to ussa.edu, the academy’s official Web site.

“The kids are very interested in sports here,” Sumalee Vinyuvat, director of human resources at the Sports Authority of Thailand, said through a translator. “We’re happy to observe the differences from Thailand and America and get to see the sports here.”

Vinyuvat said she has noticed how Americans enjoy sports differently than the Thai people, who mostly think of sports as a recreational activity. She said the most popular sport in Thailand is soccer.

Many officials from Thailand said they were excited for their first time in the U.S. They took photos with the newspaperreporters  and  even taught a Spanish Fort Sun reporter a phrase or two in Thai.