School Sports Day

(Baonghean) - On the morning of March 16, the 16th Nghe An Province Phu Dong Sports Festival 2014 opened at the Vinh City Sports Competition Center and the competition events will begin in the afternoon. The Phu Dong Sports Festival (HKPĐ) promises to become a major cultural and sports exchange festival for teenagers and children across the province.

Present in Vinh City since the afternoon of March 14, Le Tuan Anh - a 4D student at Da Son Primary School (Do Luong) - won first prize in the men's singles table tennis at HKPĐ cluster 1, was very excited to compete at HKPĐ province this year. Tuan Anh confided: "I really like playing table tennis. Thanks to the dedicated guidance of the teachers, for the first time I overcame cluster-level opponents, participated in a major sports tournament, and competed with many friends from all over the province. I feel very happy and proud." Meanwhile, Pham The Duyet - a student at Quy Hop Town Secondary School said: "At the recent HKPĐ cluster round, I competed very hard and won first prize in badminton in the secondary school category for the age group of 13-14. I will try my best to compete well and win achievements for the district team."

To prepare well for the 16th Nghe An Provincial Sports Competition, since the end of November 2013, schools in the province have organized Sports Competitions, selecting talented athletes to train and compete in district-level Sports Competitions. In December 2013, districts and cities in the province simultaneously organized Sports Competitions. Vinh City has 24 secondary schools and 29 primary schools and is a strong unit when it has continuously won first prize in provincial Sports Competitions. Right from the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year, the City Department of Education and Training has directed secondary schools and primary schools in the area to actively prepare for the school-level Sports Competitions. 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 6 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. In order not to affect the quality of cultural subjects, in addition to maintaining studying as the main task, the teachers have guided the students to practice in the afternoons during the week after school. With careful preparation, we hope that the students will compete with high results, defending the first place of the whole team for the city."

A badminton practice session of athletes from Dang Thai Mai Secondary School (Vinh City) in preparation for the HKPĐ.

The 11th Provincial Phu Dong Sports Festival will take place from March 16 to 20 in Vinh City with the participation of nearly 1,300 athletes, competing in 8 sports: Volleyball, football, shuttlecock kicking, table tennis, badminton, athletics, chess and pole pushing. In addition, there will be the participation of 70 referees, 30 referee supervisors who are physical education teachers selected from schools across the province. The competition venues are: Huynh Thuc Khang High School, Hermann Gmeiner High School, Provincial Ethnic Minority High School, Provincial Cultural Center, Vinh City Stadium and SLNA Club's training ground. Up to this point, the competition venues of the sports have been decorated and repaired. The units have completed the procedures for registering athletes as well as the competition events. Mr. Vo Tuan Thien - Principal of Huynh Thuc Khang High School said: "As the chosen venue to host badminton, since December 2013, the school has repaired the roof, reinstalled the light bulbs, and repainted the walls of the multi-purpose gymnasium so that athletes can compete in the best conditions."

Along with the competition, many other activities are urgently prepared such as logistics, reception, security, and medical care. In preparation for the opening and closing ceremonies on March 20, in recent days, the students from schools in Vinh City such as Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted, Huynh Thuc Khang High School, Le Viet Thuat High School, Dang Thai Mai Middle School, Ha Huy Tap Middle School, Hung Dung 1 Primary School, Hong Son Primary School, etc. have been actively practicing for the mass performances. At the competition venues, the Organizing Committee has arranged for medical staff to be on duty regularly to promptly provide first aid in case of an incident. A large number of police will be deployed to ensure security and order in the competition area.

Mr. Thai Huy Vinh - Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training said: "The 11th Provincial Sports Festival in 2014 is a major sports activity of the provincial education sector, with the meaning of summarizing the training and competition activities in schools, contributing to encouraging the movement of the whole population to practice sports following the example of the great Uncle Ho. This is also an opportunity to discover the sports talents of students, select and train additional talented students of the province to participate in the 9th National Sports Festival in 2015 at "home" and in the neighboring province of Thanh Hoa". Mr. Thuc Van Tai - specialist in charge of physical education - Department of Education and Training assessed: "To prepare the force for the 2015 National Phu Dong Sports Festival, of which Nghe An is one of the two host provinces, the Organizing Committee has directed the Departments of Education and Training to seriously organize HKPĐ at school and district levels to select excellent athletes to compete in the cluster round. In addition to the two sports of athletics and pole pushing, before reaching the HKPĐ at the provincial level, athletes in the remaining 6 sports must go through the intense round in the cluster and district. Hopefully, the athletes will compete enthusiastically, showing their full potential to bring the audience exciting and quality matches, so that HKPĐ this time will truly be the school sports festival of the province."

Article and photos:Minh Quan