St. John’s soccer team in Vietnam

The St. John’s University men’s soccer team has accomplished many impressive feats under Coach David Masur - winning a national championship in 1996 and qualifying for the NCAA Tournament 14 years in a row, among others. But becoming the first United States collegiate soccer team to play on Vietnamese soil, as 19 student athletes will experience during a three-game, 18-day tour they embarked on recently, is a whole different kind of achievement.
“This will be a cultural experience for us and we are honored to serve as ambassadors of St. John’s University, and the sport of soccer, as well as representing the United States,” said Masur of the trip that will include visits to Da Lat, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi in a community service initiative as well as an exhibition soccer tour of Southeast Asia.
Dr. Hung P. Le, Assistant Dean and Director of Vietnam Initiatives for the Graduate Division of Arts and Sciences, arranged the trip as part of the university’s partnership with Vietnam to foster academic programming and work with the Vietnamese Sports Ministry.
“It’s going to be such a rush to step on the field in Vietnam and be the first American college soccer team to ever play there,” said Georgios Spanos, St. John’s sophomore defender from West Islip, N.Y. “I’m a history major so it makes the trip all the more interesting for me. I’m also interested in hearing how their players view world issues, how they condition and train and what their coaches expect of them.”
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed with the Vietnamese Sports Ministry in January 2006. Rev. James Maher, C.M., Vice President of Student Affairs and Dr. Le made the trek to Vietnam for a press conference to announce the historic partnership.
Aspiring to the teachings of the Vincentian Mission, St. John’s University has set up opportunities for the student-athletes to visit the Daughters of Charity in Da Lat, observe many vocational trades and international business activities in the region and work with contemporaries from two Vietnamese Universities to share their views on current world issues.