The 17th Nghe An Province Phu Dong Sports Festival: School Sports Festival

(Baonghean.vn)- The 17th Phu Dong Sports Festival of Nghe An province will take place from December 21 to 25 in Vinh city. Up to this point, all units and athletes are ready for the competitions at the province's school sports festival.

Exciting from the cluster level

From November 21 to December 8, in the districts of Anh Son, Thai Hoa Town, Thanh Chuong and Quynh Luu, the Phu Dong Sports Festival (HKPĐ) took place in 4 districts to select athletes to participate in the provincial HKPĐ. More than 3,000 athletes competed in 6 sports: football, volleyball, table tennis, badminton, shuttlecock and chess.

Primary school chess competition at Phu Dong Sports Festival, Nghia Dan district.

In order for the HKPĐ in the district clusters to take place successfully, the Departments of Education and Training have directed primary and secondary schools in the area to plan training and guide students to gain more experience during the competition. Mr. Dang Van Hoa - Head of the Department of Education and Training of Thanh Chuong district said: "Determining that the National Sports Festival held in Nghe An in 2016 is a major event of the Education sector and the Department of Culture and Sports, since the beginning of the 2014 - 2015 school year, the Department of Education has directed 81 primary and secondary schools to seriously and thoughtfully organize the school-level Sports Festival to select the best athletes to participate in the District and Provincial Sports Festival. Through this Sports Festival, we will review physical education, further develop the physical education and sports movement in schools, create a healthy playground for students, and help them have the opportunity to express and develop their talents through the sports they love."

During the HKPĐ of the district clusters, the People's Committees of the host districts all paid attention, created favorable conditions in terms of funding, and mobilized participating forces to make the HKPĐ a great success. Thanks to that, security and medical work were carefully ensured, and no unfortunate incidents occurred. In some district clusters such as Thai Hoa Town and Quynh Luu, the organizing committee also mobilized socialized resources to sponsor part of the funding for the organizing committee to reward units and individuals with high achievements. Units, athletes, referee teams and forces participating in the sports festival strictly followed the regulations of the organizing committee and the rules of the competitions, creating an exciting and vibrant atmosphere, truly a school sports festival.

However, through the HKPĐ of these clusters, some shortcomings in school sports work have also been revealed. The most noticeable is that mountainous districts participating with very few athletes, only about 10 athletes such as Ky Son, Que Phong, Tuong Duong... Mr. Thuc Van Tai - specialist in charge of physical education of the Department of Education and Training said: "In the coming time, we will advise the leaders of the department to direct the education departments of mountainous districts to overcome difficulties in facilities and teaching staff to further improve the quality of physical education for students. That is also the goal that HKPĐ at all levels aim for".

Ready for the Provincial HKPĐ

Mr. Nguyen Hoang - Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training said: "The 17th Provincial Phu Dong Sports Festival in 2015 is a major sports activity of the provincial education sector, with the meaning of summarizing training and sports competitions in schools, contributing to encouraging the movement of the whole population practicing sports following the example of the great Uncle Ho. Compared to the 16th Provincial Phu Dong Sports Festival in 2014, this Provincial Phu Dong Sports Festival does not increase the number of events, only replacing crossbow shooting with pole pushing, but thanks to that, the number of participating athletes also increased significantly because pole pushing is a sport that attracts more athletes to participate. On the other hand, in my opinion, the 17th Provincial Phu Dong Sports Festival will be more exciting and attractive than the previous Phu Dong Sports Festivals because in recent years, the Department of Education and Training has directed schools to continue to promote physical education in schools, 100% of schools fully implement extracurricular sports programs for students, and maintain organizing once a school year. School-level education contributes to improving the quality of comprehensive education".

Women's volleyball competition at Phu Dong Sports Festival, cluster 2, Thai Hoa town.

Up to this point, all units and athletes are ready for the upcoming competitions at the provincial HKPĐ. Vinh City has 24 secondary schools and 29 primary schools, and is a strong unit when it has continuously won first place at the provincial HKPĐ. Mr. Nguyen Duc Lam - specialist in charge of physical education - Vinh City Department of Education and Training said: "After organizing the city-level HKPĐ, we have selected a force to represent the city to participate in the provincial HKPĐ. Regarding the training organization, the students will gather at about 10 schools in the city and be divided into specific subjects. The units that are strong in each subject will be responsible for guiding and organizing training for the team members. With careful preparation, we hope that the students will compete with high results, defending the first place of the whole team for the city".

Nguyen Tien Dat - a student of Quynh Luu 1 High School shared: "At the recent HKPĐ cluster round, I competed very hard and won first prize in badminton in the high school category. This is the first time I have participated in a major sports tournament, competing with many friends from all over the province, so I feel very happy and honored. I will try my best to compete well and win achievements for the district team."

Minh Quan