Phu Giao district is home to many ethnic minority groups like Khmer, San Chay, Tay, Nung…Hence, along with modern sports, the district owns a lot of traditional sports, contributing to promoting the local mass sports movement. Upon this, the district is responsible for supplying the province with athletes of traditional sports to attend the national sports festivals for ethnic minority people. 

Stick pushing is a favorite sports event in Phu Giao district

Ethnic minority people in Phu Giao district are scattered across communes and township, so each locality herein develops a traditional sports team in terms of tug of war, stick pushing and petanque.

The district’s policy of building cultural communes is a favorable condition for the local communes and township to form up their traditional sports teams. The reappearance of the local traditional festival has also contributed to reviving traditional sports. Many traditional sports have become the “food for the mind” of the local people.

The district has also brought traditional sports into the competition system of the annual tournaments, thereby helping it discover and training athletes of traditional sports for the art performance-sports festivals in and out of the province. These athletes have also gained achievements in many events.

In addition, many communes, namely An Binh and Tam Lap, have set up clubs on tug of war, sticking pushing and petanque. The clubs have contributed to making useful playgrounds for the local people. Along with the goal of doing exercises, the local people have shared mutual experience in daily life and business when coming to the above clubs.

La Van Tai, a resident in Tam Lap commune said: “I like playing petanque as it is very easy for playing and brings many joys for players. I feel very comfortable and enjoy good health when regularly playing this sports”.

But, sports movements at grassroots level, especially traditional sports need to receive more attention for better development. Nguyen Van Hai, Deputy Director of Phu Giao district’s Center for Culture, Information and Sports said that the district has braced up communes to bring traditional sports into tournaments. If the educational sector considers and sorts out suitable traditional sports to bring into physical education at school, it is sure that traditional sports will get more useful in promoting mass sports movements while preserving and upholding national identities, effectively implementing the campaign “All people take physical exercise following the example of great Uncle Ho”.

Reported by To Tam-Translated by K.T