The Australian rules football club, Vietnam Swans, welcomed two football-greats from Australia to teach a fun coaching clinic for Vietnamese and expat kids on Sunday.

Aussie rules: Football hero, Gary O’Donnell from Essendon Football Club, Melbourne, teaches kids how to climb on his back to take a mark at Sunday’s coaching clinic for kids organised by Vietnam Swans at RMIT.

O’Donnell said the trip so far had been a “whirlwind”, as the they were trying to cram as much into their three days in Viet Nam as possible.

Kids and club members alike were thrilled to have the two Aussie football heroes at the fields and everyone agreed the event was a huge success.

About half of the kids were young trainees from an NGO for disadvantaged youth called KOTO. The non-profit is training the young people in hospitality and said it is their first group of trainees. The rest of the participants were young Aussie kids from international schools.

The kids were taken through football drills that taught them how to leap up to catch the ball and were even able to jump onto O’Donnell’s back to make a mark (catch the ball on the full).

They were also taught how to kick the oblong shaped ball and do hand passes, before Buckley and O’Donnell coached them in actual games.

The expat youngsters, the kids from KOTO and the other Vietnamese kids took to the full-contact sport with gusto – running, kicking and tackling like champions.

One of the Vietnam Swans players said of the KOTO kids during the game, “They’re not holding anything back.”

Nguyen Thuan, the father of one of the Vietnamese kids, Kiet, who attended the clinic said, “The experience put my son in touch with a new world.

“Kiet loved every inch of it and wants to come back,” Thuan said, adding that Kiet didn’t want to wash his shirt because Buckley had signed it.

KOTO said the kids had been “over the moon” ever since they were invited to the event.

“Giving our trainees the opportunity to have life experiences and become well-rounded young adults is a major part of what we do at KOTO and opportunities like this are wonderful for us,” KOTO Saigon Deputy General Manager, Lam Viet Hung said.

“Not only are the trainees out and about being physically active, but they’re also learning about a new culture and meeting new people,” Hung said

“Making sure the trainees feel good about themselves is also a major part of what we do, and people like Nathan, Gary and the Vietnam Swans taking the time to help them is something the trainees appreciate immensely.”

As the sun set, Buckley and O’Donnell signed jerseys, posed for photos with fans, old and new, and listened to words of appreciation from the Vietnam Swans President Phil Johns and KOTO.

Johns thanked the two football stars from rival clubs in Melbourne for contributing to his club’s young history.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News