AIA Vietnam Junior Footballer Festival: Fueling and nurturing passion for sports

Attractive playground for children

The sports field of the Provincial Labor Culture House (Vinh City) was bustling and bustling during the Young Footballer Festival. Hundreds of children, aged 8-12, passionate about the "king sport" from all over Nghe An province had the special opportunity to meet, interact and practice with two coaches Shaun Harris and Aaron Tillbrook from the English Premier League Football Club, Tottenham Hotspur.

Nearly 600 children in Nghe An had wonderful experiences at the Young Footballer Festival. Photo: Duc Anh

For more than 2 hours, the young strikers were trained in basic skills such as passing, shooting, dribbling, fighting and defending the goal; under the direct supervision of 2 coaches.

Coach from Tottenham Hotspur Club, directly instructing and training the children. Photo: Duc Anh

Excited to be instructed and trained for the first time by the coaches of the famous club, the young players enthusiastically practiced, seemingly forgetting the intense heat of Nghe An.

Despite his wet shirt and sweaty body, young player Bui Huy Tuan (9 years old) from Le Loi Primary School (Vinh City) was still enthusiastically passing, dribbling, and practicing with his friends. Tuan has loved football since he was a child and especially idolized the Tottenham Hotspur football team, so he was really looking forward to the Young Striker Festival. Tuan happily shared: "Today I am very happy because I met and was directly trained by the coach of my idol team; it helped me gain confidence and improve my football skills. This is truly a wonderful experience, giving me more motivation to pursue my passion for football."

The "Little Striker" festival was a wonderful experience for young player Bui Huy Tuan. Photo: Duc Anh

The joy of being able to indulge in their passion, meet and interact with coaches of the prestigious club is the common feeling of nearly 600 children participating in the Junior Footballer Festival. For them, this is truly a useful and practical playground to practice health, interact and connect; and are especially meaningful childhood memories.

Children enthusiastically practice basic soccer skills. Photo: Duc Anh

This year's festival has some new and interesting features: in addition to the basic training, the coach selected the 12 best children of the day to compete in the "simulated Premier League" final match.

In addition, the Organizing Committee also awarded 5 additional prizes to children with impressive performances during the training.

Become an annual event of AIA Vietnam

The Young Footballer Festival returns to Vinh for the first time, after the spectacular success of the program's third consecutive season in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and Da Nang in late August and September.

Through the 3rd season of the Young Striker Festival in 5 localities, the Organizing Committee will select the 24 best children this season to attend the "AIA Premier League Training Camp" in Thailand. Photo: Dinh Nguyet

Through the 3rd Young Striker Festival in 5 localities (Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang, Nghe An and Bac Ninh), the Organizing Committee will select the 24 best children this season to attend the "AIA Premier League Training Camp", scheduled to take place from December 14 to 19, 2019 in Phuket, Thailand.

In the first season of 2018, 22 children were selected from more than 3,000 young players to be sent to the “AIA Premier League Training Camp” in Phuket. During 1 week here, the young players were directly trained by 2 Tottenham coaches, participating in many extracurricular activities with many practical and attractive topics. Besides the ball, the young strikers were also equipped with knowledge about nutrition, team skills...

Coaches Shaun Harris and Aaron Tillbrook and leaders of AIA Vietnam gave encouraging speeches to the young players before entering the field. Photo: Duc Anh

From the resounding success of the Junior Footballer Festival over the past 2 years, AIA Vietnam has officially made this event an annual activity; to meet the needs of the community and create a meaningful regular playground for children.

Mr. Ha Van Phuc, Director of AIA Nghe An General Agency Office shared: “With the desire to help people live "Healthier, Longer and Happier" lives, AIA always strives to build programs to raise awareness among Vietnamese people about healthy living, helping people make small but positive changes in their daily lives.

We hope that the event will contribute to nurturing children's passion for sports with exercises from international coaches; encouraging children to actively exercise every day for comprehensive development and a healthy lifestyle."

AIA and Tottenham Hotspur will continue to develop practical content to help people in Asia live "Healthier, Longer and Happier" lives. Photo: Duc Anh

At the end of July, AIA Group announced the extension of its partnership with Tottenham Hotspur Football Club until 2027. This is a very special milestone, in this new phase of cooperation, AIA and Tottenham Hotspur will continue to develop many practical contents. Together with Tottenham Hotspur players, coaches, physical experts and nutritionists in all AIA Group markets will accompany, helping Asian people to have Healthier, Longer and Happier lives. The appearance of Tottenham Hotspur coaches in the Junior Striker seasons over the past 3 years is one of the proofs of this./.