Getting your kicks with the Vietnam Swans. By Harry Hodge.
Harry Hodge’s article, Getting your kicks with the Vietnam Swans was published last week in both the Saigon Times and Saigon Times Weekly. An extract is reproduced below.
Australian football is now played in Vietnam, and the footballers are members of the Vietnam Swans
I never realized how much I miss running on grass.
That thought kept playing on repeat in my mind as I kicked around footballs with some Australians on the RMIT campus on a muggy Saturday. Mind you, these were no ordinary footballs; they were Australian footballs. And the lads in question were members of the Vietnam Swans.
With elements including accurate kicking, making an acrobatic catch to mark the ball, and fairly frequent contact with the opposition, Australian Rules Football combines a number of elements for any athlete. Having played before in Beijing, I figured I’d hook up with the Vietnam Swans for an afternoon in District 7 and learn about their club.
Although teams have existed in Vietnam before, the Hanoi Swans started playing games in 2003, with a doubleheader against the Thailand Tigers and the Hong Kong Dragons. By 2007, the Swans had become a nationwide squad with members drawn from player pools in Hanoi and HCM City.
Every year the Vietnam Swans participate in the Asia Championships & the Indochina Cup. Excluding these events, the Swans organize tours with other teams and play hosts to other teams. The club boasts many non-Australian players with players from England, Ireland, Canada and the U.S.
“The characteristics of a good footballer are always going to be linked to fitness and skill”, said Vietnam Swans national president Phil Johns. “For people who have a background in Gaelic football, basketball, rugby and even soccer mean you will have an advantage in participating for the first time. Endurance is one of the best skills an Australian footballer can have. The ability to run all day on a big ground is such an advantage when everyone else around you is starting to tire.”
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