Bustling with Vietnamese football activities in America

$30,000 to host tournament in southern California

Over the years, Vietnamese soccer in the United States has grown very strongly. Many states and regions across the country with large Vietnamese populations have quickly formed soccer teams based on their interests and passions.

There are no complete statistics yet, but according to many players, there are at least dozens of teams, big and small, young and old, who meet each weekend to practice and play friendly matches enthusiastically. California alone, considered the main land of Vietnamese people in the US, has no less than 20 teams of many ages that practice regularly and have a solid reputation. Every year, there is a large-scale tournament held in Dallas, Texas in early July, gathering many "famous" teams. In addition, the San Diego football club in southern California, with its "self-made" efforts, has also created a tournament of no less quality when gathering many forces from all over the US to participate.

Rộn ràng với hoạt động bóng đá người Việt trên đất Mỹ- Ảnh 1. — Many football teams gathered to attend.

Rộn ràng với hoạt động bóng đá người Việt trên đất Mỹ- Ảnh 2. — Cheerful faces from all over the US attended.

Last weekend, the 3rd tournament in San Diego was exciting with 14 teams competing, including 8 youth teams and 6 over 50 teams from many places in the US.

The youth teams are mostly players who were born and raised in the US or have just settled or studied here with team names such as Saigon FC, Lam Anh FC, Houston FC, Vistrols FC, Viet Lynwood FC, Viet Orange County, KOSD, VSDU FC. The major teams are mostly players who have played football in Vietnam. They are names that have played for top teams in the country such as Bui Thong Tuan ( Da Nang ), Phan Huy Khai, Tran Quan Huy, Nguyen Xuan Danh (Saigon Port), Vo Thanh Long (Nang Nghia Vu, Ho Chi Minh City Police Club) or in the first and second divisions such as Luat, Luc (Hoc Mon).

No matter what color the team is wearing, from Chicago to San Diego, from KP FC to Thanh Long Quan, all show exciting runs, boiling enthusiasm and fierce, uncompromising spirit, creating very interesting moments on the field.

Rộn ràng với hoạt động bóng đá người Việt trên đất Mỹ- Ảnh 3. — Father and son of former football stars Vo Thanh Son and Vo Thanh Long

Not to mention a number of other players who, for various reasons, could not participate, but followed every move of the tournament from afar, calling to share and encourage such as Vu Trong Thanh (Department of Industry), Luu Tan Phuoc, Tran Ngoc Hai (Customs). Especially the early appearance of former famous player Vo Thanh Son, who was once famous for his folding table kick and was the top scorer of the Vietnam National Championship in 1981-1982 with 15 goals, contributed to inspiring the players.

Or many other athletes like Vo Ngoc Lien (swimming) flew in from Houston, was present throughout the 2 days on the field, not only encouraging her husband but also contributing to creating a lot of cheerful, refreshing laughter.

Rộn ràng với hoạt động bóng đá người Việt trên đất Mỹ- Ảnh 4. — Former swimmer Vo Ngoc Lien with the trophy of the tournament in San Diego

Hoang Nguyen, the main organizer of the tournament, is a very young person who said: "To have a tournament that attracts so many people, we raised 30,000 USD, just enough to cover the organization costs. Including 4,000 USD for the field, 5,700 USD for the referee, the prize money including cash and trophies of more than 10,000 USD, in which the first prize of the 2 categories is 2,000 and 1,500 USD respectively, the rest is a lot of support for drinking water for the teams, the final party. The tournament is non-profit, so the brothers in San Diego participated wholeheartedly in the organization, working and learning at the same time. We are very happy to bring an exciting playground to the Vietnamese community in the US, hoping that next year we will attract more sponsors to expand the scale of playing on 4 fields at San Diego University instead of just 2 fields and have more than 20 participating teams".

Rộn ràng với hoạt động bóng đá người Việt trên đất Mỹ- Ảnh 5. — Hoang Nguyen (right), member of the tournament's Organizing Committee

Things that remain in the amateur football tournament

The tournament ended after 2 days of competition with a very high density, each team played an average of 2 matches/day. Just that much is enough to see, if there is not enough strong personnel, not enough physical strength and reasonable distribution of strength, no player can stand it. However, even though there is not much time to practice, including assembling the team or coming up with specific tactical plans, the teams, especially the over 50s, still play very confidently and methodically. Because most of them play football like it is in their blood, having played enthusiastically in Vietnam, so when they go on the field, they automatically understand how to play, how to play to contribute most effectively. The most interesting thing is the tireless cheering when inside the game, outside all the reserve players and fans are excited with every ball, clapping and screaming.

Rộn ràng với hoạt động bóng đá người Việt trên đất Mỹ- Ảnh 6. — The organizers explain the rules to the teams right at the field.

In general, the Vietnamese soccer community in the US has brought useful, interesting, exciting and engaging playgrounds. If there is more carefulness and upgrading, in the near future there will be more professional tournaments, thereby bringing many practical spiritual values, contributing to further enriching Vietnamese soccer in the US.

Some pictures at the tournament: