Ho Chi Minh City outlines sport strategy

Nine kinds of sports will be the focus of HCM City's main sports activities under a plan to 2020, according to officials.

Mai
Ba Hung, deputy director of the city's Department of Cultural, Sports
and Tourism, said the sports include taekwondo, judo, volleyball,
athletics, bicycle, table tennis, tennis, badminton and football.

Although these sports are popular, they have not been developed adequately, Hung said.

The
city will also focus on enhancing Olympic sports like weight-lifting
and gymnastics, as well as athletics, male volleyball, martial arts,
tennis and badminton.

In addition, the HCM City Football Club
said it will further invest in football, although the club is faced with
a shortage of finances.

The department has also asked Thong Nhat
Stadium to offer training programmes for young footballers to develop a
long-term pool of players for football.

Hung, who is upbeat about the sport, said: "I think city football will see further progress this year."

Other sports like table tennis, cycling and tennis will also receive more funds from various sources.

The city will also work with the sports federation to send athletes abroad for professional training, according to Hung.

Officials
said the city was considering plans to build the Rach Chiec Sport
Centre and the HCM City Sport Centre, the latter expected to be located
near the Phu Tho racetrack.

HCM City is also preparing necessary documents to ask for the right to host the SEA Games in 2015, 2017 or 2019.

For
long-term planning, the department will select athletes with the most
potential and train them into professional athletes. It is also working
with many sport centres to invest in other sports with potential,
especially beach volleyball.

The number of city residents who
play sports has been increasing, accounting for up to 25 percent of the
city's population until October last year, according to city
authorities.

In 2010, the city held a total of nearly 800 amateur sport competitions./.

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Gia Lai centre to provide top professional players

HA NOI – V-League football team Hoang Anh Gia Lai will recruit the first graduates to emerge from a training course at the Hoang Anh Gia Lai-Arsenal-JMG Academy in the next three years.

The US$4 million football academy in co-operation with English Premier League club Arsenal, began its first course under-12 year olds three years ago.

They have been undergoing professional football training and regular schooling under the seven-year free programme that is aimed at creating top international players.

"They will be the first players to graduate from our academy. Kids receive full time football training and education, to help them prepare to play professionally in Viet Nam or elsewhere in Asia, Europe or even England," deputy director of Hoang Anh Gia Lai Sports Stock Company Tran Van Minh said yesterday.

"We'll sign professional contracts with them by 2014 when they are 17 years old. They can play for Hoang Anh Gia Lai in the V-League or transfer to another team in Southeast Asia or Asia," Minh said.

He also added that coaches from Arsenal had said that two of the first intake of students eligible for European championships.

The academy enrolled 10 young hopefuls on the second course last year. – VNS

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Cheers to a new spirit in Vietnam

Students of Foreign Trade University are training on hard-surface yard of Tan Binh Stadium

Photo: Tuoi Tre

A Confucius Vietnam is embracing cheerleading as schools and universities nationwide see their most acrobatic beauties doing stunts in style at sport events or during cheerleading contests themselves.

That very American activity with its signature pompoms, tumbling and of course cheering is no more an alien concept in Vietnam as the ‘sport’ has become more and more popular through Hollywood teen movies like Bring It On or High School Musicals.

In fact, it was not until less than 10 years ago that a tiny fraction of the Vietnamese youths came to know what cheerleading really entailed.

The year 2010 can be considered the first milestone in the Vietnamese cheerleading history, when cheerleading was, for the first time, included in U-league, the national varsity contest for university students.

Magnificent waves of skilful cheerleaders in fancy clothes tumbling, jumping, and dancing to highly stimulating music managed to grab attention at the Tan Binh Stadium recently. It is a clear sign cheerleading would become a popular and attractive activity to Vietnamese youths in the near future.

Nguyen Ha Mi, a fourth-year student at the Foreign Trade University and also member of this school’s cheerleading team said “This activity requires great teamwork. Mutual trust is the most important factor. If you don’t trust yourselves or your teammates, you can never form the human pyramid”.

"The acts must be stimulating, young and fresh. And the stunts are the spirit that brings motivation to the sports team that you cheer for”

However, as cheerleading in Vietnam is still in its infancy, those interested in this encounter great difficulties and shortfalls.

Brand new sport

The cheerleading teams participating in U-league shared that they first pursued cheerleading with many no’s: no coach, no expert, no music mixer and no practice room.

However, there is a yes: their love.

Nguyen Le Thanh Long, a head cheerleader at HCMC University of Pedagogy told Tuoi Tre his team had to learn from videos on Youtube and tried to imitate them.

Long’s squad can now form a firm human pyramid.

During a morning practice session in cheerleading on January 8, a member at Hong Bang University had to leave due to injury caused by a teammate’s inaccurate landing, and 20 minutes later, two others left for similar reasons.

Another difficulty is the availability of practice places. The Hanoi’s Foreign Trade University’s team had to practice on their concrete schoolyard before competition, and most suffered scratches and minor injuries all over due to the lack of proper mats.

The obstacles, nevertheless, did not lower the Vietnamese spirit and passion for this lively sport.

Cheerleading competition

In the cheerleading competition on the 8th and 9th last week, four teams from Da Nang’s Duc Tri College, HCMC’s University of Pedagogy, Hanoi’s Foreign Trade University and Hong Bang University presented to spectators in Tan Binh Stadium spectacular performances, energetic dances, skillful moves, lively cheers, stunts, tumbling, synchronization, creativity, and showmanship.

The competition is judged more professional and high-quality than any other previous cheerleading contests in HCMC.

Cheerleading originated in the United States, particularly from Princeton University, with approximately 1.5 million participants and the number has started to grow globally.

Cheerleading began as a student directed the crowds to yell a certain phrase to cheer for their home team, but gradually developed into our modern cheerleading in 1980s incorporating difficult stunt sequences and gymnastics.

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Real fight back in stormy Spanish Cup derby

Real Madrid's Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo (R) vies with Atletico Madrid's Czech defender Tomas Ujfalusi during the Copa del Rey (King's Cup) football match Real Madrid CF vs Club Atletico de Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid

Photo: AFP

Real Madrid fought back from a goal down to defeat city rivals Atletico 3-1 in the first leg of the Spanish Cup quarter-finals Thursday.

Atletico were ahead after just seven minutes at the Santiago Bernabeu when Uruguayan striker Diego Forlan was on target following a bright burst from Sergio Aguero which was ended by goalkeeper Iker Casillas's clumsy challenge.

But Sergio Ramos powered in a header from an Angel Di Maria corner in the 14th minute to bring the home side level before Cristiano Ronaldo and Mesut Ozil added second half strikes to give Real breathing space ahead of the second leg next week.

Atletico's young goalkeeper David De Gea pulled off a string of fine first-half saves to keep his side in the contest, particularly alert to a header from Portuguese international centre-half Ricardo Carvalho.

But he was powerless to keep out Real after the break.

Ronaldo gave his side the lead in the 61st minute when he stretched to steer in a cross from German star Ozil past De Gea.

Ozil then grabbed the third in stoppage time after a defensive error allowed him to chip the ball home from close range.

There was a bad-tempered end to the match, however, when Aguero and Ramos clashed and as their row continued, missiles were thrown onto the pitch.

In the night's other game, Almeria edged Deportivo La Coruna 1-0 thanks to a first-half own goal from on-loan Norwegian defender Knut Olav Rindaroy.

On Wednesday, Lionel Messi celebrated his second successive World Player of the Year award by hitting a hat-trick in Barcelona's 5-0 rout of Real Betis. Pedro and Seydou Keita were Barcelona's other scorers.

Sevilla came back from 3-1 down to draw 3-3 at Villarreal in Wednesday's other last-eight, first-leg tie.

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Ho Chi Minh City outlines sport strategy

HCM CITY — Nine kinds of sports will be the focus of HCM City's main sports activities under a plan to 2020, according to officials.

Mai Ba Hung, deputy director of the city's Department of Cultural, Sports and Tourism, said the sports include taekwondo, judo, volleyball, athletics, bicycle, table tennis, tennis, badminton and football.

Although these sports are popular, they have not been developed adequately, Hung said.

The city will also focus on enhancing Olympic sports like weight-lifting and gymnastics, as well as athletics, male volleyball, martial arts, tennis and badminton.

In addition, the HCM City Football Club said it would further invest in football, although the club is faced with a shortage of finances.

The department has also asked Thong Nhat Stadium to offer training programmes for young footballers to develop a long-term pool of players for football.

Hung, who is upbeat about the sport, said: "I think city football will see further progress this year."

Other sports like table tennis, cycling and tennis will also receive more funds from various sources.

The city will also work with the sports federation to send athletes abroad for professional training, according to Hung.

Officials said the city was considering plans to build the Rach Chiec Sport Centre and the HCM City Sport Centre, the latter expected to be located near the Phu Tho racetrack.

HCM City is also preparing necessary documents to ask for the right to host the SEA Games in 2015, 2017 or 2019.

For long-term planning, the department will select athletes with the most potential and train them into professional athletes.

The department is also working with many sport centres to invest in other sports with potential, especially beach volleyball.

Sport centres in the city have faced a lack of space for athletes to practice because the land for public activities has become limited, especially in the central districts.

The lack of co-operation among various organisations and agencies has also presented barriers to furthering sports, according to city officials.

The number of city residents who play sports has been increasing, accounting up to 25 per cent of the city's population until October last year, according to city authorities.

In 2010, the city held a total of nearly 800 amateur sport competitions. — VNS

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From Poland with nostalgia

The memories of his homeland and his love for it suffuse the works of
Vietnamese-Polish artist Hoang Ngoc Huu whose works are on display at an
exhibition in HCM City.

"I am happy to have my first ever solo exhibition in my home country," Huu says.

Hoi Tuong (Reminiscence), organised by the Lotus Gallery and HCM City
Exhibition Centre, features 66 oil paintings he created back in Poland.

"Painting is both my soul and expression of love to the motherland and my family there," the 70-year-old artist said.

Many of the works are simply named – Vietnam , Thieu Nu Hue (Hue
Woman) and Le Hoi Hai Ba Trung (Festival Memorising Trung Sisters).

He also pays tribute to his new life in Poland through paintings like Thieu Nu Ba Lan (Polish Woman).

Huu, who was born in Hue , moved to Poland in 1969 to continue his
studies in shipbuilding and went on to marry a local woman.

In 1983, instead of writing a diary, he began to draw to register his nostalgia for his homeland.

His works have been displayed at several solo and group exhibitions in Poland , Germany , Russia , Japan , and China .

The exhibition, at the HCM City Exhibition Centre, 92 Le Thanh Ton street , runs until Jan. 20./.

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Southeast Asia remains football’s backwaters

Thailand’s coach Steve Darby calls on Southeast Asian nations to improve their football infrastructure for developments

Long considered a sick man in Asia, Southeast Asian football has been unable to get rid of the tag despite making great efforts in the past decade.

No country from the region has ever won a title at the Asian level, and Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia seem highly unlikely to change that any time soon.

Peter Butler – a former midfielder at English club West Ham who has coaching experience in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia -- said Southeast Asia is the “little boy” of Asia.

“They need better infrastructure and qualified managers.

“Japan and South Korea have pulled far ahead of them.”

Thailand’s coach Steve Darby also stressed the vital role of infrastructure in developing football.

Alfred Riedl, Vietnam’s former coach and currently head of the Indonesian team, said youth training plays the most important role but many nations in the region have failed to do it.

“They are not patient to wait for 10 years for a generation of young players to mature,” he added. “The period is longer than the office terms of football officials who need instant results.”

Cambodia’s Australian-born coach Scott O’Donnell pointed to another aspect of the problem: “Southeast Asian teams seem to focus on competing with one another and not on longer-term plans to catch up with the world.”