• Name: Huyen
• Gender: Female
• Role: Coach
• Location: Vietnam

Huyen is a female Pass It Back coach based in Nuong Dam commune, one of the poorest communes in Hoa Binh Province, Vietnam. At 27 years of age, Huyen is also one of the oldest members of the ChildFund Pass It Back coaching team.

“I am married already and have a 5-year-old daughter. My husband works as Commune Youth Union Officer and I am a corn farmer. So the concept of being a coach is very new to me.”

Huyen’s road to becoming a coach with ChildFund Pass It Back began with a two week intensive training course, where she learnt how to play, coach and officiate the game of rugby, while also learning training techniques to enable her to facilitate the life skills, first-aid and safeguarding components of the curriculum.

“During this time I learned and grew a lot. The thing I liked most was the close bond formed by the training group, despite the fact that we all came from different countries, different cultures and different backgrounds – such as Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Hong Kong, and Japan.

Like many working mothers, Huyen has to juggle her work and family commitments alongside her roles as a coach in her community. “I have to generate a coaching plan with my partners and manage my time in order to balance my farming and coaching.

“I have had a lot of support from my family since I joined ChildFund Pass It Back. I consider myself so lucky because it is very uncommon for women to be allowed to attend any social activities after getting married in my region.”

Huyen is also enjoying this opportunity to work with young people in her community. “In Vietnam, children in rural areas do not have much chance to play like the kids in big cities. Therefore, I bring something fun for them to play and I am happy with that. And alongside the ChildFund Pass It Back curriculum, coaches share their own real life experiences to facilitate life-skills discussions.”

As a role model to her young daughter, Huyen says it won’t be long before she is on the field. “She has already expressed a desire to learn rugby when she grows up.”

And Huyen hopes she will be there to see it happen. “I am a farmer, but I do not want to give up my work as a Pass It Back coach.”