Small event - big problem

Last weekend, the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) piloted a football training program at several schools, starting at Marie Curie School's My Dinh campus in Hanoi. This activity is part of a collaboration between the VFF and the European Football Associations (UEFA) aimed at developing women's football.

Although not large in scale, the program has sparked much thought in the fields of Sports and Education regarding the development of school football in particular, and school sports in general. This is an area where we have not done well or implemented systematically, despite recognizing the benefits for children's physical development and love of sports.

Of course, when analyzing the aforementioned limitations, it is easy to find objective causes: The infrastructure for school sports is very limited; there is a shortage of appropriately trained sports coaches/teachers; funding is limited, businesses may sponsor specific football tournaments but are not enthusiastic about long-term involvement with school sports; coordination between the VFF and the education sector is not synchronized; the pressure to achieve academic success is too heavy, leaving children with little time for sports activities... These causes have been analyzed for a long time, and everyone is aware of them, but there are no feasible solutions to change the problem.

Therefore, experiential activities like those being implemented by the VFF can only spark interest in football among a small segment of female students and cannot create a foundation for changing the appearance and quality of school football. To create a qualitative change in school sports, a comprehensive strategy is needed, with close guidance from the Government , genuine coordination between the Sports and Education sectors, the social responsibility of businesses, and strong media involvement.

Overall, this is a very significant issue, even related to the health of the entire population, and therefore requires concerted efforts to bring about comprehensive change in both awareness and action. Only with a consistent solution, based on correct understanding and a high sense of social responsibility, will stakeholders truly care about allocating land for sports fields and investing in a sustainable, multi-level school sports system instead of relying on sponsors.

More importantly, it also contributes to changing the mindset of those who place too much emphasis on academic achievement or personal gain while neglecting children's and students' right to physical care.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/su-kien-nho-van-de-lon-841929.html