Follow the children on summer tour

The times I took my child to competitions in the summer, for me, were not races but father-daughter trips.

Competitions and games at Nha Trang Green Race Track.

Take the exam leisurely

These are eye-opening trips with opportunities to exchange and learn with friends; they are occasions to explore new places that we have never visited. The annual National Green Race for Youth and Children (NDX) is one of those competitions.

For many years now, every summer, the national swimming competition organized by the Department of Physical Training and Sports (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) takes turns throughout the provinces and cities.

When a stressful school year comes to an end, the cicadas begin to chirp their summer song, and it is time for my father and I to go on a Green Race tour. Calling it a tour sounds grand, but it is mainly in the word tour in its most leisurely sense.

In turn, major cities across the country take turns hosting the student athletes to gather and compete. From Da Nang , Hue, then Hai Phong, last year in Nha Trang, last year in Thanh Hoa. And this year the tournament is scheduled to be held in the mountainous town of Kon Tum.

Cultivate discipline, independence and courage

In the annual student swimming tournament system, it can be said that the level of competition for medals in the Green Race is among the most difficult, along with the student sports tournaments of the Ministry of Education and Training. To get a medal, athletes must not only have talent but also practice hard and seriously.

Experience playing lithophone in Truong Son craft village, Nha Trang.

And it is also thanks to the time spent together practicing and competing that helps the children learn to be independent, united and gain experience in competition. Usually, the athletes go first with the coaching staff, the parents only come with the team on the days leading up to the tournament.

At this time, the children themselves must learn to respect the team's schedule, happily get along with their fellow swimmers, and follow the coach's lesson plans and tactics... And obviously, this will help them improve themselves in their studies and later in life.

However, as I often remind my daughter, practice seriously, compete with all your might but with the most relaxed mindset, winning or losing in competition is a normal thing. It is easy to talk, but to have that courage, you need to go through many real-life experiences.

I still remember the 2023 Nha Trang Green Race, my fellow swimmer made a mistake in the start so the referee stopped the swim to start again. But my daughter burst into tears, the teachers and organizers calmed her down for a while before she calmly continued competing. It shows how much pressure there is to compete, even though it is an amateur tournament.

And the main purpose is to travel.

Over a week of concentration in the host city, in addition to training and competition time, athletes and their parents can freely arrange time to visit the sights and enjoy local specialties.

Experience playing lithophone in Truong Son craft village, Nha Trang.

I have a habit of taking advantage of my time outside of work when I visit a strange land to learn about the historical and cultural sites there. I believe that human life is limited, everything changes every moment, if you don’t see it now, it’s likely to be different tomorrow. So whenever I have the chance, I visit, but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to visit again.

For example, during the Nha Trang tour that year, the father and daughter took the opportunity to visit Long Son Pagoda, Nui Church, the Institute of Oceanography, and the YerSin Museum in the Pasteur Institute. Later, when returning home, in an assignment about a Champa cultural monument, the daughter boasted that she had written about the Ponagar Tower that she had visited during the recent tour.

During the 2024 Green Track race in Thanh Hoa, we had the opportunity to wander around the Ho Dynasty Citadel, Lam Kinh, and the prehistoric archaeological site of Nui Do. Seeing with our own eyes the hundreds of years old gray stone gate, walking on the stone path worn by time, I thought there could be no more intuitive and memorable history lesson.

In the long journey of nurturing that the ancients often wrapped up in the nine words "cu lao van" (literary island), I always thought that the most gentle way for parents is to determine the mindset of accompanying, learning and playing with their children. I often follow my children on all their trips with that same playful mindset.

Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/theo-con-du-dau-mua-he-3156312.html