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About five months ago Mick Hassett and Marty Staples got together
for a kick of the footy in Vientiane, capital of Laos. Since then,
the "Lao Elephants" have grown to around 10-15 regular participants
at weekly training sessions, with players from Laos, Australia, New
Zealand, Japan, Norway and the UK.
Armed with plans for a pink jumper featuring a grey elephant
logo (an idea which some say may rival Sweden's Landskrona
Bulldozers strip for original design), the Elephants are planning
their debut international match against neighbours the Vietnam
Swans later this year. The Swans played host to a few of the
Elephants earlier this year, with seven Laos players joining the
Vietnam team for last month's Asian Championships.
Sharples tells us, "the Lao Elephants are about five months old
and to the best of my knowledge they are the first Aussie Rules
club to have existed in the Lao People's Democratic Republic. The
idea was first floated between myself and Mick Hassett in March
this year and has gradually grown from that into a couple of
kick-to-kick-see-who-can-take-the-biggest-grab sessions (followed
by Beer Lao and talk of greatness), into organized training
sessions twice a week (followed by Beer Lao and talk of
awesomeness).
"We are based in Vientiane but welcome all comers from the
provinces. We train on Sundays at 5pm at the National Stadium
(yes… it really is THE national stadium) and on Wednesdays
at 8pm at the spiritual home of Laotian footy - "the Sandpit". The
Sandpit is an immaculately prepared sporting cauldron using some of
the best mud management techniques around. Impossible in the wet
and unusable in the dry it is truly the perfect surface for
elephants.
"For the first couple of months we had between 2 and 8 at
training as quite a few of us warmed up to represent our
Indochinese cousins Vietnam at the Asian Champs in Bangkok in July.
Seven of us from Lao had a run around with the Swans and it was an
awesome day. Big thanks to the Swans for accommodating the
Elephants - as (Vietnam Swans president) Phil asks "how can an
elephant fit inside a swan?" Nowadays we are getting between 10 and
15 at training and recently have had to take the unprecedented step
of using two footys at training.
"We hope to take on a Vietnamese side either in Hanoi or Saigon
at year's end or early next year. Other goals include designing
the perfect jumper that truly reflects the club's heritage and
represents the pride of the nation. Presently the idea is to have a
pink background with a grey elephant on the front. This design is
unlikely to clash with the jumpers of other clubs.
"The major concern in terms of sustainability of the club is the
transient nature of expatriate life. Therefore we would like to get
more and more Lao players down – our Lao teammates so far
have adapted remarkably well to the game given that they have never
played or seen it in their life – there is a lot of natural
talent. For anyone living in, or passing through Vientiane please
feel free to come to a training session, all are welcome."
Very possibly the first Australian Rules club ever to carry the
"Elephants" nickname, the Lao side will definitely add some colour
to the Asian footy scene in coming years.
For more information about the Lao Elephants, contact Marty
Sharples at
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