Ky Son Children: Dreaming of going down the mountain, entering Song Lam Youth Training Center

These days, the Ky Son Children's Team is diligently practicing to prepare for the Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth and Children's Championship in unpredictable weather. Photo: Dao Tho

Having missed out on a year of the Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth Football Tournament (2018), this year the Ky Son Children's Team returned to this playground with great determination. In previous seasons, this highland team had to pack their bags and return to the mountains early because they could not get past the group stage against districts with better physical and technical foundations. However, this year the coaching staff has planned to practice early, determined to enter the competition with a new mindset, full of courage and confidence.

This year's Ky Son Children's Team is missing many key players, but they are still determined to pass the group stage. Photo: Dao Tho

With only 10 days left to prepare for the competition, this time, despite the erratic weather in the mountainous district of Ky Son, the players still practiced diligently under the guidance of two coaches Tran Van Hong and Nguyen Huu Lieu.

“Most of the children are from Huu Kiem, Ta Ca communes and Muong Xen town. We have to wait until they are on summer vacation to have time to practice a lot. In Ky Son, due to the high mountainous terrain, very few communes have football fields for practice. Therefore, discovering football talent is really difficult.”

Coach Nguyen Huu Lieu

Poor training ground conditions affecting the quality of training sessions are also a disadvantage for the border team. Photo: Dao Tho

Coach Tran Van Hong said: Before the competition day of the Nghe An Newspaper Cup, the good soccer players were taken away by the District Education Department to participate in a soccer tournament for primary and secondary school students hosted by a milk brand, causing the team's lineup to be reduced in many key positions.

Most of the players are gathered from communes, where travel conditions are difficult, but they are all very passionate about football. Photo: Dao Tho

Due to travel conditions, training is also quite difficult for this border team. Many players live nearly 10 km away and have to ask their parents to take them there in the morning, take them back at noon and continue in the afternoon. With the desire for their children to have a healthy playground, many parents still accept to give up their farming work to let their children enjoy the joy of playing football. The father of player Vi Tuan Hung from Huu Kiem commune said: Seeing that my son is so passionate and talented, my wife and I take turns taking him to the training ground.

At the Muong Xen town stadium, Mr. Tran Van Hong - Deputy Head of the Culture Department of Ky Son district and also a coach is meticulously instructing the children on each technical movement. With a team of 12 children's players (no youth team), the children are practicing hard with the dream of making it through the group stage of the Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth-Children Football Tournament.

The dream of these young players is to enter the youth training center of Song Lam Nghe An. Photo: Dao Tho

Player Dang Nguyen Khoi Nguyen (10 years old) shared: “I really like Song Lam Nghe An Club. I want to be in the club’s training center to learn more and become a professional player like Phan Van Duc.”

During training sessions, the coach spends time teaching players how to compete for the ball. Photo: Dao Tho

However, after a year of missing the Youth Football Tournament - Nghe An Newspaper Cup due to financial difficulties, this year, coaches like Mr. Tran Van Hong are still worried. Funding has not been allocated, all initial costs are paid by individuals to prepare for the team. "Because the district is poor, there is no socialization. With limited funding, we are still waiting for the training regime for the children," said Mr. Hong.

To prepare the players well, the coaching board let the team compete with Tuong Duong Children's School and regularly go to artificial turf fields to practice. However, the field conditions were not good, muddy when it rained, dusty when it was sunny, greatly affecting the quality of the practice sessions. According to the coaching board of Ky Son Children's Team, the whole district only had one artificial soccer field located at a school, the rest were dirt and stone fields, none of which had grass.

Although there are many difficulties ahead, with high determination, at this year's Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth Football Tournament, Ky Son still aims to pass the group stage - something this team has not been able to do in previous seasons.