Saigon President, Derrin Limbrick advises the troops that it’s now time to elect the Saigon Committee for 2010 – and announces when training will resume.

SAIGON COMMITTEE, 2010

The time has come for the Club to put together our Committee for 2010.   We will be arranging a meeting to elect the new Committee on Wednesday 3rd February, 6 30 pm at Oasis Bar (behind the bus station across from Ben Thanh Market. ).  If you need more information just .

In 2010 the following positions will be open for nominations:

• Saigon President
• Saigon Treasurer
• Communications manager
• Social Coordinator
• Membership coordinator

Plus we are also planning on introducing a new concept that involves a coaching committee instead of a single coach.  The idea being that a group of players will be responsible for organizing training drills and will also liaise with the Saigon President and Hanoi Coach for match day teams and tactics.

If you are interested in attending the meeting please confirm your attendance by .  If you are not able to attend but still wish to nominate either yourself or anyone else for any of the above positions, then please let me know and we will make sure that you are included during voting.

We will also have many other opportunities for people to be involved in the Club throughout the year, so, if the committee is not your thing but you are still interested in assisting at other times throughout the year, just let me know and I will keep you updated.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

TRAINING BEGINS, 2010

It is the time of year that I know you have all been waiting for!  Training will commence on Saturday 27th February at RMIT, District 7 (click for Google Map), at 2 30 pm sharp.  For those not in the know, we normally charge VND 50,000 per training session but, for any new comers, the first training is always free.  The Club will supply water and we normally go for a cleansing ale afterwards at the Tavern in Phu My Hung.

I am sure that everyone has been maintaining some level of fitness over the off season so a good run shouldn’t hurt any of us, right??

We will have a new approach to training this year that I am sure everyone will find fun and rewarding.  I hope to see all the old faces and lots of new ones on the 27th!

Ya hearin’ me!

Footnotes:

• The Vietnam Swans National Committee will be elected by the Saigon and Hanoi Committees.
• Hanoi has already held its election. Willy is the new Prez, Stanno is Coach, Trav is Treasurer and Dan Kindness is the floater.
• In Hanoi, training has already commenced. Gym training at the Embassy is held Wednesday nights and training on the UNIS oval will commence on 6 February. See Hanoi’s training regime starts smokin’ for full details.
  

Tomorrow, the Vietnam Swans will be running an Auskick Clinic and the Jim Beam handball board at Auscham’s Big Day out Event in Saigon. The Swannies will be on from 3pm – 6pm.

For all the other key pieces of information, please see Auscham’s update below.

Dear Members and Friends,

is now only 1 day away!  Today is your LAST chance to buy pre-purchased tickets at a reduced price from AusCham or any of the ticket outlets around town.

Don’t miss out on your opportunity to be part of this fun/family community day at RMIT with lots of interactive sports/games, family fun and live bands performing on Main Stage.  The Hard Rock Café resident band, “All American Hitmen” kicks off on the main stage at 6.00pm!

Check the poster below for full listing of all activities all day and night; what’s on and when!

Tickets are on sale now; click here to find your nearest ticket outlet and “GRAB YOUR TICKETS NOW”!

Ticket Price           Pre-sold                          On the Day
Adult                     550,000 VND                  630,000 VND
Child                     220,000 VND                  270,000 VND

For group sales of 25 tickets or more Contact us now to get 10% discount!

Click on the above to visit our special website and see you at the BIG DAY OUT 2010!

The Swannies in Hanoi are on the move! From tomorrow night they’re at the gym – and Dan Kindness has just sent out the email below to rally the troops! Below that, Coach Stanno announces dates for training on the UNIS ovals.

Boys, just a quick reminder…

Wednesday Night Fitness Training starts tomorrow at 6.30pm.  To start off, we will keep the session relatively light with the aim being to gradually increase the pain over coming weeks until it becomes a complete and utter smash session!

But here’s what we are going to do tomorrow:

• 1830: Start
• 1830 – 1845: Warm up with Hanoi Oi’s netball team
• 1845 – 1900: Sprints (no faster than 75% of maximum speed)
• 1900 – 1930: Light circuit training (light weights, high reps, high intensity targeting upper body, legs and maybe abs)
• 1930 – 2000: Friendly match against Hanoi Oi’s (hopefully the girls will be gentle).

2000: Pizza and beer or beer and pizza.

To register, please email [email protected] now.

Meanwhile, Coach Stanno has announced the times and dates of the first on-field training sessions for the Swans in Hanoi. They will be held at UNIS, Ciputra from 12.45pm – 2pm on the following Saturdays:

• 6 & 27 February
• 6, 13, 20 & 27 March
• 3 April

Footy’s alive and well in Hanoi in 2010!

Peter Parry has written to arguing that a “half sized” version of Aussie Rules could significantly broaden its appeal. For those of us playing footy in Asia where we struggle to field touring teams of 18 players plus bench, and find decent sized ovals, a lot of what he says resonates.

Part of Peter’s article, is reproduced below:

“…In an increasingly time and space poor world, most team games have their smaller or shortened versions which encourage wider participation and are used to promote those sports in new markets. In comparison Australian Football, the big game on a big field, has been slow to embrace smaller formats.

“Other sports do the small version big time

“T20 in cricket now looks set to revolutionise the old game, going further in attracting new participants and fans than 1 day cricket a generation ago. Cricket also has a widely played indoor version (primarily recreationally) and has used 8-a-side on small ovals in South-East Asia. Rugby 7’s has taken a simpler version of the 15-a-side game of complex rules to dozens of countries beyond its traditional domain. Soccer has several smaller versions – outdoor 5-a-side, indoor 5-a-side, beach soccer…with world cups playable in some of these formats. Basketball a 3 on 3 version, Rugby League has the very popular “touch footy” format as well as a 9’s version sometimes used in international development, Gaelic football has an increasingly popular annual 7’s tournament, American Football has a non-contact “flag football” version, and the list could go on…

“Australian Football is the biggest sport in size terms

“In terms of size Australian Football is a big game: 36 big men fly high and roam far and wide on the world’s largest football field. The game is appreciated best from the stands, even widescreen TV fails to capture the full scale of play. Whilst the full size version due to its spectacle will always be the elite form of the game, half-size versions like “9-a-side” and “RecFooty” are increasingly making their mark. Perhaps the most important aspects of half-size versions are: the relative ease to form a team, the fitting onto smaller grounds and the double ball time for play time that participants get in a high aerobic format. These factors increase the potential to gain and maintain high participation rates…”

To read the rest of the article on World Footy News, click .

Hanoi’s President, Mr Willy, has written into the Swannies’ Blog to proclaim:

“Finally people are starting to give me the recognition I deserved soooo damn long ago…”

Hearin’ ya, Willy.

Prior to the Vietnam Swans 2009 AFL Grand Final Party last September, we played the attached “Swannies Season in Review”.

Special thanks to Bill Crang for putting the slide show together.

Just before Christmas, the Swannies’ “Angry” Dave Hadley was invited to appear on Saigon’s HTV7, the local television station, to join in a session of freestyle football (soccer) with Vietnam’s best player, Dao Nguyen Duc. Below is Angry’s story.

I was approached by HTV television, one of the premier television stations to do a piece for a program they have on HTV7 called Smiling Vietnam.

The last two months, I have been saying pretty well much ‘yes’ to anything anyone wants, so I agreed enthusiastically.  In typical Vietnamese style they told me little about what to expect, just what time they would pick me up and they were excited that I was athletic.

I got into the TV van and the interview began.  They were taking me to play soccer.  Whilst I am no good at soccer, I can pass and run fast, so I thought we could be on a winner.  As we get closer, the host informs me that it is in fact freestyle football and I was going to meet the best player in Vietnam, Dao Nguyen Duc.

Freestyle football is basically trick football and it is the art of expressing yourself with a football, while performing various tricks with any part of the body (except hands).  This sounded difficult for someone who is used to strength and power and not agility and flexibility.

I met with Duc and he showed me a “basic” trick, around the world.  It was quickly obvious to them that I could not do such a basic trick and we quickly changed to an informal game of soccer.

Had a great time filming it. It was enjoyable to see Duc doing some very fancy tricks.

Smiling Vietnam are excited to do another piece with the Vietnam Swans.  Stay tuned Swannies, you are all about to be local television stars!

Big Joe has just sent the photos above into the Swannies Blog where he is proudly wearing his Vietnam Swans hat.

Joe reports that his hat was:

Spotted on the High Island II, off the coast of Dammam.  Just a stone’s throw from Kuwait.

I asked the soldiers that were hanging around a tank, outside the airport in Dammam, if they would let me pose with them.  However, it seems the Yemenese have been acting up again and the Saudi soldiers gave me a firm ‘NO!’

Can’t hurt to ask . . . Then again, I wonder if I would feel the sting of several AK rounds hitting me simultaneously?

Big Joe’s an impressive unit – does anything for a good photo of a Swannies hat!

As you know, in Saigon has been set for Saturday, 30th January 2010.

It is a great family day with fun activities – including Auskick which will be run by the Swannies. Click to see the Swannies on the Auscham website.

There will also be great food and beverage outlets. It will culminate in live entertainment with bands & DJ entertainment late in to the night!

To book your tickets, email now.

The Swannies Blog has secured exclusive photos of last week’s 5th Vietnam Swans Annual Golf Day 2009 in Melbourne.

Congratulations to Ryan Jeffery for winning the Ryan Jeffery Jacket for the best score.

The jacket was officially named the “Ryan Jeffery Jacket” the day before at the MCG by Swans Presidents Kainey, Taber and Johns.

It was a great day and it was great to see the numbers increasing.

We had 12 on the actual golf course and another 4 Swannies turned up afterwards.

Great to see so many guys from different eras – some of whom date back as far as sepia. In a few years time we may well have to book out the Ballroom at Crown.

Beginning, middle and end of the day, people are honking their horns for a reason.

For the full results, see the preceding story on the Swans Blog.

To see more photos of the 5th Vietnam Swans Annual Golf Day, check out the .