[LATEST NEWS: Nathan Buckley and Gary O'Donnell to attend Vietnam Swans Footy Clinic on Sunday 14 March at 5pm, RMIT University, District 7, Saigon.]

Netball: Saigon Shooters Vs Hanoi Oi's

The Saigon Shooters shall host a tournament against the Hanoi Oi’s iN Saigon on 14 March (when the Swannies are in Lao for  our match against the Lao Elephants). Club Coordinator, Fleur Gamble, sent out the email below.

Dear Sponsors, Supporters and Spectators,

Saigon Shooters Netball Club would like to invite you to the first ever SSNC Netball Challenge to be held here in HCMC on Saturday March 20th. We will be hosting the Hanoi Oi’s and playing one full game of netball at the AIS Sports Centre in District 2.

Our Club has only been operating since September 2009 and already we have generated huge interest from men and women within our community. This is our first chance to showcase netball in this city as well as to offer another exciting event to our community.

We hope to see you all there next Saturday. please see the attached flyer for more details on the event.

Yours in Sport, Fleur Gamble
Club Coordinator, Saigon Shooters Netball

The Vietnam Swans can now confirm that our footy clinic on Sunday 14 March 2010 will be held at RMIT University, 702 Nguyen Van Linh Boulevarde, District 7, Saigon, will be held from 5 – 6pm. Please arrive at 4.45pm to ensure we can start on time.

Gary O’Donnell from Essendon is confirmed to attend. It is expected that Nathan Buckley will also attend however, this will be subject to his flight from Australia landing on time in Saigon.

All are welcome to this free community event.

Last minute change

There will be a last minute change to the venue for Sunday’s footy clinic in Saigon on 14 March with Nathan Buckley and Gary O’Donnell.

Gary and Nathan are now due on a flight that won’t land in Saigon until Sunday afternoon. This has caused a problem with our booking at Parklands in D2, Saigon.

We are currently trying to confirm the availability of RMIT from 4.45pm – 6pm.

More to follow.

The AFL's General Manager for International Development, Dave Matthews, with Kevin Sheedy last year.

Last Friday, the AFL’s General Manager of International Development wrote to the Asian Footy Clubs regarding the footy extravaganza weekend which will be happening in Shanghai later this year. Against the backdrop of the World Expo, the 11th Annual Asian Champs will be played on Saturday 16 October and the following day, Melbourne shall play Brisbane in an exhibition match.

Dear Friends of the AFL,

We at the AFL are pleased to write to keep you updated on the latest progress for the Kaspersky Cup Match between Melbourne and Brisbane.

Most of you would already know Andrew Sawitsch from his time in Beijing/Tianjin and with the AFL China team at the 2008 AFL International Cup. Andrew is now living in Shanghai and working for the AFL in preparing for the game in October. Particularly Andrew will be implementing the AFL Community Program that we have developed in partnership with the Yangpu District Government. This will involve 500 children at 5 Schools and 2 Universities all of whom will be involved at activities pre-game and half time at our game in October.

The AFL has received strong indication of a full involvement by the two clubs during their stay in Shanghai and we look to include the Asian Champs in those contacts particularly on the Saturday when your games are on.

Both Clubs are bringing their full list of players and coaches as well as extended supporter groups which should give us a chance to plan other activities around the game once we confirm final travel times. At this stage it is intended that the Clubs will be in Shanghai for the period Oct 13-18 and they will travel to other parts of China either before (Melb) or after (Bris) to build on the benefits and experience they can offer their playing group.

For the promotion of the Kaspersky Cup itself the AFL has appointed Andrew Collins (Mailmanchina.com) to implement a media strategy to promote AFL, the game and the match. The media strategy will be internet based and no doubt Andrew, who is well known to the Shanghai Tigers group, will keep all the AFL Asia teams in the loop of how to support his program via the strong social networks in China.

The involvement of all who normally play and support the AFL Asian Champs is essential to the success of our Shanghai excursion. We are keen to include admission to the Kaspersky Cup as part of the participation fees for the Asian Champs and we will work with the Championships Committee for the best way to deliver that. It is important that all the AFL supporters in Shanghai attend the game so that we are able to gain respect and then be able to increase the support we can provide to all involved in future seasons.

Clearly the Expo in Shanghai together with the AFL Asian Champs and Kaspersky Cup opens the opportunity to widen the attendance to that which would normally attend the Asian Champs. Hopefully those involved will perhaps include family and friends in the trip to have a great time in China. But planning is essential as is conduct during such events. China does have conditions that all groups have to meet. Those conditions are relevant to the visa applications but also conduct when we have AFL on display. We urge early attention to the application for China visa but importantly be mindful of conduct at events where we will have many guests including Government officials from both China and Australia.

The Kaspersky Cup will have an alcohol plan in place and we have to deal with local security which is very nervous about large crowds and behaviour at events. So we will be asking all those attending our AFL related events to not act in a manner that brings us down. The AFL does have a policy of responsible serving of alcohol and we trust we have your support.

We will try and provide regular updates of our plans and trust that all our efforts together will see a great festival of AFL in Shanghai in October.

Best Wishes

David Matthews
AFL General Manager International Development

The Vietnam Swans will attend the ANZAC Day Dawn Service at Long Tan in remembrance and respect for all people who have died in all wars

On Saturday 24 April, ANZAC Weekend, the Vietnam Swans will play an intra club match between Hanoi and Saigon at the Vung Tau greyhound race track (75 minutes from Saigon by ferry).

The following morning, we shall attend the ANZAC Day Dawn Service at Long Tan.

Dan Kindness, Warrant Officer Class 2 at the Australian Embassy says to the Vietnam Swans and our supporters that:

The time has now come for you to tread the boot prints of those unfortunate soldiers to gain a sense and understanding of what was suffered not so long ago. It will be an experience you will never forget.

(We shall attend the Dawn Service) together with those who once fought there. Their stories, the visible pain, and their respect and appreciation to you for showing support will leave an impression that will never be forgotten. It is expected that over 500 people will be attending the ceremony this year.

(Further) the Vietnam Swans will organise a group tour of Nui Dat, Long Tan, Binh Ba, the Long Phuoc tunnel system, the Horseshoe, the infamous mine barrier and other locations. The tour will include submission of all permissions required to visit the sites, and Dan K will provide a detailed brief on Australia’s involvement and objectives in the province.

More importantly, we will be fortunate to have a veteran accompany us on the tour, who will be able to provide first hand experience of what life was like 40 years ago.

Already, 35 people, including 10 players, from Hanoi have committed to this tour. Saigon is still to ask for commitments from its player and supporter base but the numbers will be significant.

ANZAC Weekend 2010 will be a lifetime memory for those of us who participate.

For further information, contact either Dan Kindness or vietnamswans@gmail.com

JD, former Captain and Coach of the then Hanoi Swans, stands atop Africa's highest mountain while wearing his Swannies hat

For sure, Nathan Buckey, who will visit the Swannies on 14 March, is a highly decorated Captain of the Collingwood Football Club. As yet, he hasn’t coached the Pies at the highest level. Jarrod Dale by contrast has done both for the then Hanoi Swans. He’s captained. He’s coached. In the photo above, he stands atop Africa’s highest mountain, Mt Kilimanjaro wearing his Swannies hat! This bloke smokes.

Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate

About time I got around to this and thought this was a good moment as any after reading the Swannies website. Looks as though footy in Vietnam is gathering a huge amount of momentum and it is another big year to honk yer horn if you love footy, especially in Vietnam!

I took this photo at the top of Mt Kilimanjaro last April and will be heading up there again in a few months time. Let’s hope the Swannies get to the top of a few mountains this year as well. The goals are being set and I hope you can reach them.

JD

Samantha Lane next to the birthday boy, Josh Little, meets the Swannies last Friday night

Samantha Lane on "Before the Game"

Last Friday night, superstar of Channel 10′s Before the Game, Samantha Lane bumped into a gaggle of Swannies in Saigon. The Swans were out celebrating Josh Little’s birthday.

In the backline (L to R), you can see Cranger, Gus, Angry, the Glove, Sam, Shag, Rosscoe and Nikko.

In the forward line (L to R), we have Ingrid, (Mac)Beth, Samantha and Josh.

For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Gus, he’s the one expecting the photo to be taken from a side doorway.