Giao Thuy preserves and develops traditional rowing

Giao Thuy district women's rowing team competes at the Provincial Rowing Championship.

The district currently has more than 20 male and female rowing teams that are active and regular. Rowing competitions are organized annually by Giao Thuy district and communes during village festivals, mainly in early spring. Rowing competitions take place on large river sections, usually the river section flowing through the village or near the relic area. Many communes and towns in the district have maintained the rowing movement continuously for decades, typically the communes and towns: Giao Long, Giao Hai, Giao Xuan, Giao Ha, Bach Long, Giao Thuy, Quat Lam... Of which, the two communes of Giao Hai and Giao Long have the strongest rowing movement with many skilled rowers attached to the river all year round. In Giao Hai commune, after many ups and downs, in 2003, the sport that existed a hundred years ago was restored by the commune government and local people and has grown stronger and stronger. Currently, all 4 villages in the commune have established rowing teams, each village has 2 male and female rowing teams, each team maintains 15-20 members. On the occasion of the Kien Hanh village festival (January 5th and 6th), the commune organizes traditional sports activities such as rowing, wrestling, chess, to tom diem... The most exciting is the rowing competition with the participation of 4 rowing teams from the villages: Tan Hung, Bac Cuong, Tien Lang, Lam Thanh. When the rowing competition is held, people in the village, outside the commune, and people returning from far away, eagerly go to watch the festival, cheering, flags, flowers, and drums fluttering, creating an extremely exciting festival atmosphere.

In Giao Long commune, every time Tet comes, the locality organizes a traditional rowing competition, gathering rowing teams from 4 villages: Trung Long, Long Hanh, Nam Long, Kien Long; each village includes 1 male rowing team and 1 female rowing team. The male rowers are people who often go to sea to catch seafood, while the female rowers are girls who trade seafood all year round along the river, aged 25-35. On the festival day, on the river, the image of oars splashing the waves, racing boats like arrows tearing through the water, rushing forward; on the shore, thousands of spectators cheering along with the sound of drums and gongs, jubilantly and bustlingly, creates a vivid picture, imbued with traditional colors. The rowing competitions during each festival are not only simple sports activities but also have many elements of folk beliefs. People in the coastal area of ​​Giao Thuy consider this an opportunity to express their gratitude to their ancestors - the ancestors who reclaimed land, established hamlets, built villages, and prayed for favorable weather, bountiful crops, and calm seas for fishermen to go out to sea smoothly. In some localities in the district, they also organize a ceremony to welcome the gods, offer incense to the village temple and pagoda before starting the rowing competition. Therefore, rowing not only demonstrates the physical strength of Giao Thuy people but is also a profound cultural and spiritual symbol of the whole community through many generations.

Rowing competitions in Giao Thuy not only take place in the space of traditional village festivals and spring festivals but are also organized in local cultural and sports events to celebrate the country's major holidays such as: District Cultural - Sports Festival on the occasion of the August Revolution and National Day (September 2), the anniversary of the Liberation of the South, National Reunification Day (April 30) and International Labor Day (May 1), the District Sports Congress with the participation of more than 10 male and female rowing teams from communes and towns in the district. Through the competitions, the district selects athletes to form a strong rowing team to participate in the annual Provincial Rowing Competition. Participating in the competition, Giao Thuy district has 2 male and female rowing teams with more than 40 core athletes from 2 communes: Giao Hai and Giao Long. With the spirit of solidarity and nobility of sports, continuously from 2012 to 2023 participating in the Provincial Swimming Tournament, the Giao Thuy district swimming team has excellently won high rankings such as: First prize, Second prize in the events: men's swimming, women's swimming and the overall team prize.

In the process of efforts to inherit, preserve, conserve and promote folk sports in Giao Thuy, along with traditional wrestling and rowing, there are certain difficulties. That is, the source of human resources is increasingly lacking, because the young generation has little access to or has not yet fully seen the cultural value of this folk sport. Many young people leave their hometowns to study or work far away, so mobilizing them to participate in training is difficult. In addition, the funding for organizing competitions, purchasing boats, oars, and life jackets mainly depends on socialized resources, so it lacks stability and longevity. Faced with this reality, Giao Thuy district has advocated promoting conservation work associated with developing the grassroots sports movement. The restoration and maintenance of rowing teams is included in the annual plans of communes and towns. Along with that, the district calls on organizations, individuals, and sponsors to join hands to support funding for equipment purchases, organize tournaments, and honor groups with outstanding achievements. Some localities are experimenting with introducing rowing into extracurriculareducation programs to help students get acquainted with rowing skills early, building a movement from within schools. Preserving traditional rowing not only contributes to preserving the national cultural heritage but also creates an environment for physical training, educating the spirit of solidarity and the will to rise up for the younger generation. This is an important foundation for building a grassroots cultural life, improving the quality of life of rural people, and moving towards sustainable development in the integration period.

Article and photos: Khanh Dung

Source: https://baonamdinh.vn/van-hoa-nghe-thuat/202505/giao-thuy-gin-giu-va-phat-trien-mon-boi-chai-truyen-thong-c0b5e19/