Lalia Tate's unique Thai Mother's Day gift, a National Team debut

BANGKOK (Thailand) - One day after Thai Mother's Day on August 12, Lalia Kwan Tate will have a memorable present for her mother.

For the first time ever, she will be playing for the Thailand national team and will be doing so at home in Bangkok.

"To represent a whole country, it's an honor and I take pride in my Thai culture."

"This is going to be my first time with the national team so it's really exciting," said Tate on the eve of the competition. "I think it's a great experience to go against other top countries - I don't have that many expectations, I'm just trying to stay calm and be collected and stay focused."

"It's a really big deal, I think it's really special for my mom because she [has always] wanted me to chase my dreams."

"I think that seeing me on the court with the national team is really going to be a special gift for her on Mother's Day."

Tate's mother has also represented Thailand in the past, albeit as a national team swimmer. Even though there were some mixed emotions early on when Tate reached a crossroads of choosing a sport to pursue, it's all behind them and been all smiles ever since.

"We're a family of athletes, actually we're all swimmers," Tate explained. "I had a couple of NCAA offers for swimming but I ended up switching to basketball. So, it was a bit of a bummer for my mom because she wanted me to swim for the Thailand national team."

"But I told her that I wanted to pursue my career in basketball. At first, she wasn't okay, but now she is and supports it. She sees that I'm here and that I'm putting on my jersey with 'Thailand' across my chest. And she's happy, so I'm happy."

The main factor in Tate choosing the hardwood over the pool? Being a part of a team.

"The thing with swimming was that it was very individual, it's a lot of pressure to not see the time that you want on screen. Basketball was more teamwork and family-oriented for me. Family is a really big thing in my life and that's why I wanted to bring my culture and bring it on the court with me and everybody."

And over the recent years, this team has become "another family" in her life.

Tate is a part of this new wave of the women's national team for Thailand that have their eyes set on gaining promotion back to Division A. Her journey to this moment might be more unique than her teammates, growing up and playing basketball at the high school and collegiate level in the USA.

It took some time after she made the bold decision to pursue her national team opportunity in Thailand, but it's finally about to happen.

"It's very surreal for me because I just came here three years ago, I've been preparing for this opportunity and now that it's finally here, it doesn't feel real," she said. "To represent a whole country, it's an honor and I take pride in my Thai culture."

"When I came here 3 years ago, it was very up and down, especially with COVID so it took a step back in the process of getting on the national team. It was a lot of just waiting it out, staying ready at the same time, trying to get on the court if I can, and trying to get in as many games so I could still be in the loop of everything, so it was hard."

"But now we're here and we've been training for a year now since [the South East Asian] Games. I think we're ready."

FIBA