Carrying Vietnamese blood with the spirit of solidarity and mutual love, Mr. Nguyen Quang Hoa from Trieu An commune, Trieu Phong district and young people from Quang Tri in Korea have joined hands to carry out meaningful activities towards their homeland and country. Mr. Hoa is currently the President of the Vietnamese Community Football Association in Southern Korea, Head of the Organizing Committee of the Quang Tri Football Tournament in Korea and many charity tournaments to raise funds to help those in difficult circumstances in his hometown.
Nguyen Quang Hoa is the one who tries to connect and organize many sports activities for the Vietnamese community in Korea - Photo: NVCC
Labor export turn
Nguyen Quang Hoa (born in 1985) comes from a poor family. After finishing high school, Hoa learned to help his parents with household chores. In 2011, Hoa went to work in South Korea after deciding not to continue his studies.
In the new land, the young man got used to manual labor work, and at the same time began to adapt to the life of a young person far from his family and homeland. He said that at that time, every weekend, Vietnamese brothers who lived and worked near each other often went to the public soccer field to play soccer, socialize, and meet each other. After practicing sports, the young people asked about each other's health, encouraged each other to live well in a foreign land...
A few years later, more Vietnamese people came to Korea to live and work. Especially in the southern part of Korea, more and more young people from Quang Tri came to live as labor export workers like Nguyen Quang Hoa.
Anh Hoa (far left) with Vietnamese athletes and fans at the Ulsan Foreigners' Sports Festival, UIVC 2023 - Photo: NVCC
Seeing the joy of the Quang Tri people after each meeting in a strange place, Hoa cherished the idea of uniting them into a community to do more meaningful things together...
Efforts to unite and develop Vietnamese community football
In 2017, through social networks, Quang Hoa connected many young people from Quang Tri and planned to organize a meeting and exchange. On the occasion of the Mid-Autumn Festival in 2017, Hoa and some of his brothers organized a football exchange program and met with fellow Quang Tri people for the first time in Ulsan city, South Korea.
He said that at this time, two football teams were established, Nam Song Hieu and Bac Song Hieu. After the football match, 300 Quang Tri people in Korea reunited and had the first meeting of Quang Tri compatriots in Korea. This is considered the foundation for the Quang Tri Compatriots Cup Football Tournament in Korea. After the first football meeting and exchange, when saying goodbye, everyone was reluctant and moved by the love of compatriots in a foreign land.
In the following years, Quang Hoa and other Quang Tri people living far from home made efforts to connect on social networks, creating an increasingly strong community. He often initiated friendly matches between fellow countrymen from districts in Quang Tri province who were living and working in the southern region of Korea.
In 2019, Mr. Hoa organized a larger hometown tournament than in 2017 and also took the opportunity to gather the players, grasp the work situation as well as the ability to maintain training and competition of each person and each team. Working closely in each stage and Mr. Hoa's enthusiasm created a strong belief for the players as well as the Quang Tri compatriots every time they met.
In 2022, the Quang Tri Cup Football Tournament in Korea will be held for the second time in Ulsan City, Korea. Many viewers commented that this is truly an attractive tournament, a playground that shows the spirit of solidarity and drama of the children of the white sand and wind of Laos.
The Quang Tri Cup Football Tournament in Korea is a meaningful playground for Quang Tri people far from home - Photo: NVCC
In 2023, the tournament will have many changes to bring better quality with 200 players from 4 teams: Gio Linh, Vinh Linh, Trieu Phong and Lien Quan (other districts and towns of Quang Tri combined). Mr. Hoa confided: “The happiest thing is that each tournament receives the cooperation and enthusiastic participation of Quang Tri players and fans in Korea. Especially the attention and legal support of the authorities; the companionship of many sponsors, organizations and individuals of Quang Tri in Korea as well as in their homeland.
This is what helped the Quang Tri Cup Football Tournament and then the Quang Tri Communion Meeting in Korea to be successful. Creating and maintaining a playground regularly for Quang Tri people far from home is also the wish of me and the organizing committee. I think these activities partly help people have more motivation and joy to try harder in business and work, reducing their homesickness."
Towards home
In addition to organizing grassroots football for the Quang Tri community, Mr. Hoa also organizes annual football programs for the Vietnamese community in Southern Korea and manages a Facebook page called "VCF - Vietnamese Football Community in Southern Korea". He is currently the Chairman of the Football Association of the Vietnamese Community in Southern Korea with more than 1,000 members. The association was established in June 2023 and is currently operating quite strongly with many tournaments as well as meaningful charity and social programs.
To date, the association has 24 Vietnamese football teams operating in the southern provinces of South Korea. Also in June 2023, Mr. Nguyen Quang Hoa and other enthusiastic people joined hands to organize the first Vietnamese Community Football Tournament in Southern Korea. Along with that are charity programs and fundraising tournaments for the homeland of Vietnam in general and Quang Tri in particular.
In particular, the Four-Hero Cup Football Tournaments were extended to the people of the Central region in 2017, 2020, 2021. In 2020, when the Central region was flooded, Mr. Hoa and the Quang Tri Association in Korea accompanied the Quang Tri Green Road 9 Cycling Club to give 1,000 gifts to people in districts that were severely damaged in the province. In addition, the association also regularly contacts the Vietnam Red Cross Society to support cases in the countryside that are in difficult circumstances or are sick or have had accidents.
Organized football matches help connect the Quang Tri community in Korea - Photo: NVCC
Mr. Hoa added: "In the near future, we will try to maintain the activities we have done so that the association can grow stronger and more complete, becoming a common home for Quang Tri people far from home.
In the next meetings, the organizing committee will expand the program, in addition to football exchanges and hometown meetings, there will be more folk games imbued with Vietnamese cultural identity; organize art programs to better connect the Quang Tri community in Korea. In addition, we will actively contact and connect with volunteer teams in many provinces and cities to have more activities aimed at difficult cases."
Hoai Diem Chi
Source
Comment (0)