Footy brings cultures togetherThursday, July 26, 2018 - 10:20 AM

Picture this.

A small elementary school situated in a remote village north of Vietnam, Ham Yen.

Eighty students attend this school, all of which have never laid eyes on a footy.

Until now.

It was only recently that a group of students from Willetton Senior High School (WSHS) travelled to this remote village to teach the students the fundamentals of our great game.

The Vietnamese students picked up the skills very quickly and it wasn’t long before they sent the footballs flying! 

WSHS Health and Physical Education teacher Judith Fapani, who led the trip, said it was an eye-opening experience the students will treasure for a long time coming.

“Our school project was initially aimed at providing new supplies and renovating buildings for a small village school in the northern hills of Vietnam,” she said.

“Our students were so excited when they got the chance to teach the children of the village the basics of football and were absolutely amazed to see how quickly they picked up the skills considering they had never seen a football before – only the round kind!

“Our students also got the opportunity to teach the kids literacy as part of their requirements of the project.

“I would like to thank the West Australian Football Commission for their kind donation of footballs to support the community service project in Ham Yen.

“With their generosity, students from vastly different worlds were able to come together to play our great game of footy,” she said.