Sports movement in Son La parish

The Spring Football Tournament has ended a few weeks ago, but its echoes are still spreading in Son La parish. Mr. Hoang Van Dung - Head of the parish football committee said that this year's tournament had 6 participating teams, mainly children from far away from home, taking place both before and after Tet. This is an annual football tournament organized by young people, but this year, there was coordination between departments and branches in the parish, so the tournament was more grand and of better quality.

In particular, the tournament also had the participation of parish priest Ho Trung Dung as a defender for the Son La parish football team, thus encouraging the spirit of the parishioners. After more than a week of exciting competition, the tournament ended with the championship title belonging to Son La parish. Trung Hau parish won the second prize, Xuan Son parish and the An Ton community shared the third prize.

Joy in the Spring football tournament at Son La parish.

Son La parish currently has 5 parishes: Son La (Xuan Son commune), Trung Hau, Thuong Cat, Yen Trach (Xuan Son commune, Do Luong district) Thanh Bang (Thanh Phong commune, Thanh Chuong district) with 350 households. Living in a large area, parishioners here mainly engage in agricultural production. Only a few households practice traditional occupations and do small business. In general, economic conditions are still difficult.

In Son La parish, Son La parish is the central and most populous parish. It has a parish church and is also the parish with the most developed sports movement in the parish. Overcoming the limitations of playground conditions, parishioners in the parishes are always excited to practice and play together with non-church people at local sports fields.

The parish football team was established early and has been active for 5 years now. In order to encourage the sports movement in the parish, talented children are selected and cared for. The football team is also cared for and invested in (nets, balls, uniforms, funds, etc.) for practice and competition.

The opening match between the two football teams of Son La parish and Trung Hau parish.

Many "sports-loving families" have made significant contributions to the general movement, such as the families of Hoang Van Hung, Hoang Van Huong, Hoang Dinh Anh (Son La parish)...

In particular, Mr. Hoang Van Thuong’s family, all three father and sons are passionate about football. Mr. Thuong himself used to be an athlete of the parish, a former player of the district football team, playing many sports such as football, volleyball, table tennis… His two sons are also famous players of “Xu Luong”, one of them is currently a player for Song Lam Nghe An Club.

Talking about his family’s passion for sports, Mr. Thuong shared: “In my family, everyone loves football and always devotes themselves to the movement. I also advise my children to study hard, promote their passion and pride as a son of Nghe An to strive and rise up.”

A woman in Son La parish and her child went to cheer on her husband playing soccer.

In recent years, the parish has not only organized major football tournaments, attracting many children in the parish, typically the football tournament to celebrate Spring and Lunar New Year, but also actively participated in grassroots tournaments and friendly matches with football teams inside and outside the parish, in Anh Son, Nghi Loc... leaving many good impressions.

From the general movement, many young people of the parish have grown up and become outstanding athletes participating in the Phu Dong Sports Festival of the school and the district. In particular, Son La parish is the hometown of a number of players who are currently playing for professional football teams such as Hoang Van Thong (U 17 - SLNA Club), Tran Ngoc Dong (T&T - Hanoi) ... many of whom are famous amateur players of the national "street" football movement.

Also worth mentioning is young athlete Hoang Van Tan - who has won many medals of all kinds for the province's wrestling team in national tournaments...

The departments and branches in the parish actively participated in the football tournament.

According to Mr. Hoang Van Dung, in recent years, along with the development of socio-economy, the attention and facilitation of local authorities, the sports movement of Son La parish has developed remarkably, and the tournaments are increasingly of better quality.

Many innovative activities have brought positive meanings, such as the summary and award ceremony being solemnly held at the parish church in the presence of the priest and pastoral council instead of being held right on the football field as before.

With the spirit of volunteerism, “love others as you love yourself” in some football matches, the parish organized donations to help families in difficult circumstances in the parishes. Last year, in the Spring football tournament, a player had an accident and tore his ligament and had to go to the hospital for treatment, the parishioners raised 80 million VND to share and encourage.

For Son La parish, the sports movement is also something that connects Catholics and non-Catholics. In each tournament, Catholics and non-Catholics in the communes come to the field to cheer, and many Catholic families have contributed materially to these football tournaments.

For the past 3 years, the summary and award ceremony of major football tournaments of the parish have been held at the church.

Talking about the role and significance of the sports movement in the parish, Mr. Nguyen Trong Quang - Chairman of the Pastoral Council of Son La parish said: "The parishioners in the parishes living in the two districts still have many economic difficulties, the facilities and playgrounds are not really adequate, but the sports movement is quite vibrant.

Along with cultural and artistic movements, humanitarian charity, and encouragement of learning and talent, the sports movement is making an important contribution to encouraging people to exercise, connecting neighborhood sentiments, implementing solidarity between education and morality, and building a peaceful and warm life in residential areas.