Can Tho Kids Soccer

Jesse and I love playing 'football' (called soccer in the US), and it's a fantastic way to meet local children and adults and get great exercise.  Fortunately, all the men and some of the women in Vietnam and Laos are football fanatics, so we keep our eyes peeled for dusty fields, wide street corners, or decaying local stadiums where we can scare up a game, and we rarely are disappointed.  Here in the Mekong we've found a fantastic new venue -- outdoor centers with 4-6 small astroturf fields where men and boys play almost all day long.  We've found two such centers here in Can Tho, and have joined many fun and sweaty games in recent days.

Yesterday at 6:30 am when I went for a run I stopped at a nearby center and watched some 25-40 year-old men playing.  They had 11 players, and when one man saw me he motioned for me to jump in and make it an even 12.  We played for a sweaty hour and had lots of laughs.  Jesse has made 14 new friends his age, and at 5 pm every night they jump on any unused fields and start a pick-up game.   There are night lights so they can play quite late.  Here are two videos from Jesse's game last night.  In one video, the kids are trying to select teams, and Jesse is showing them the Laotian technique he learned of having one team wear half-body shirts, and the other have full-body shirts.   See you on the field!  Duncan