Over the past 8 years, Mr Vu Tien Ninh who is residing in Hoa Bac Commune, Hoa Vang District, Da Nang, has been actively involved in teaching sports to dozens of local children.

Teacher Ninh (left) and his pupils at a badminton practice session.

During that period, local children have called the 59-year-old man ‘teacher Ninh’ as a way to show their gratitude to him for imparting valuable knowledge and experience to them.

When he was young, the man loved to go to school and play sports. However, he soon dropped out of school due to poverty and his health problems.

At the age of 19, he worked in the municipal rail sector. During his working period there, he was facilitated by his unit to attend a training course for football talents and was then voted as the captain of the rail sector’s football team.

Mr Ninh and his teammates competed in numerous football tournaments nationwide and gained many notable prizes.

In 2010, he got married and moved to Hoa Bac Commune for living. During his stay there, he found that local children often played video games or swam in streams and rivers after school hours due to lack of useful playgrounds for them. This inspired him to run free sports classes for local children.

In order to realise his dream, Mr Ninh has visited his friends and colleagues and ask them for used balls and shuttlecocks, as well as funds to buy uniforms and sports shoes for his pupils.

Finally, his first football class has been opened with 13 pupils aged between 10 and 13.

The class opens in the mornings of weekdays, and on Saturdays and Sundays.

Thanks to hard practice, the football team has achieved numerous outstanding prizes at district and municipal-level sports events.

Since then, he has continued to open one more football class with 14 children, and a badminton class with 5.  

Thanks to valuable knowledge and experience from teacher Ninh, his pupils have gained many high prizes at sports competitions at municipal, district and communal levels.

In particular, one of his pupils in the badminton class has won the first prize at the district-level badminton tournaments for 4 consecutive years.

In 2014, Mr Ninh retired at the age of 56 before full retirement age due to his health problems. However, this diligent man never thinks of retiring because he wants to do his utmost to promote the development of his commune’s sports sector.

In early 2018, he asked for permission from the district authorities to open a football class for 13 primary school pupils and another one for 15 junior high school pupils, plus a badminton class for 14 others.

In addition, he is now responsible for instructing 5 children about table-tennis skills, and 9 adults about badminton skills.

In the future, Mr Ninh targets to establish young football, badminton and table tennis clubs, along with a Chinese chess club for senior citizens, in an effort to further promote the development of local sports movements.