Provincial-level sports tournaments: Professionalization is needed.

(Baonghean) - To date, Nghe An has completed all provincial-level sports tournaments as planned and is focusing all resources on the sports delegation competing at the National Sports Games. Therefore, this is the time to review the organization and quality of provincial-level sports tournaments over the past year to draw lessons and build a stronger sports foundation for the province.

Since the beginning of the year, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has successfully coordinated with various units to organize 7 provincial-level sports competitions, including: the Provincial Sports Festival, the Phu Dong Sports Festival, the Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth and Children's Football Tournament, the University and College Student Football Tournament, the Family Sports Tournament, the NTV Cup Tennis Tournament, and the Provincial Badminton Tournament for civil servants, public employees, and workers. According to Mr. Nguyen Danh Nam - Deputy Head of the Sports and Physical Education Department, Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the number of athletes participating in the competitions has increased compared to previous years, with increasingly higher quality of competition; many athletes have had the opportunity to showcase their abilities and strengths.

The largest-scale competition held this year was the Provincial Sports Festival, attracting nearly 2,000 athletes. Held every four years, the Provincial Sports Festival brings together provincial-level competitions in 18 sports, including freestyle wrestling, cross-country running, karate, and more. According to the organizing committee, the quality of performance at this festival showed improvement, with several records broken compared to the 2010 festival, such as the men's 100m race, women's long jump, men's high jump (1.90m), women's high jump, and men's 50m breaststroke. In some sports like archery and swimming, the athletes were significantly rejuvenated, but the quality of performance did not decline. Furthermore, this year's Games no longer saw the absolute dominance of a few units in certain sports as in previous editions. Instead, there was a strong rise of lower-ranked units, creating interesting "changes of power," such as Do Luong district in karate and wrestling, and Con Cuong district in archery...

Nghe An's track and field athletes on the 4x100m relay track.

Another sporting event that attracted a large number of athletes was the 16th Provincial Phu Dong Sports Festival. This school sports festival attracted 1,200 athletes from primary, secondary, and high schools throughout the province, competing in 8 disciplines: football, volleyball, table tennis, badminton, sepak takraw, chess, archery, and athletics. Although the top three teams – Vinh City, Quynh Luu District, and Dien Chau District – still occupied the top three positions, the number of first prizes and medals won by these teams was not as high as in previous years. This shows that the development of school sports among localities has become more balanced. This Phu Dong Sports Festival is also an important opportunity to prepare athletes for the National Phu Dong Sports Festival to be held on home soil next year.

Also this year, another provincial-level sports tournament that received much attention from the public was the 18th Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth and Children's Football Tournament. The tournament featured 25 teams from 21 districts, cities, and towns in the province; including 19 children's teams and 6 youth teams, with over 270 athletes. Every year, this tournament has become a valuable playground for children and teenagers during the summer, not only creating a movement for football training and improving the physical fitness of children, but also contributing to the selection of many young talents for the SLNA football club. Mr. Nguyen Dinh Nghia – Deputy Director of SLNA Football Joint Stock Company commented: “This year, the gap between the teams has narrowed significantly, many matches were evenly matched and very dramatic; there were no complaints related to personnel and refereeing. After the tournament, 30 young players were selected by SLNA Club to train at the SLNA football club.”

Throughout the year, provincial-level sports competitions have showcased many outstanding athletes, such as Tran Dinh Duc (born in 1997) from Thanh Chuong district, who broke the long jump record in athletics at the 16th Phu Dong Sports Festival of Nghe An province. Furthermore, at the Provincial Sports Festival, Duc also won a silver medal in the long jump. Currently, Duc is a promising prospect for the Nghe An provincial athletics team. In football, young players like Tran Dinh Hung, Nguyen Canh Sang, and Dinh Xuan Tien continue to excel, proving themselves outstanding trainees of the SLNA academy in the U13 and U15 age groups. In addition to the diverse range of sports, some provincial-level competitions this year also invited athletes from other provinces, contributing to a higher level of professionalism and improved competition quality.

Provincial-level sports competitions have yielded many encouraging results; however, many limitations of the province's sports have also been clearly revealed, primarily regarding infrastructure. Several popular sports such as badminton, volleyball, and table tennis are included in many competitions, but according to experienced coaches and athletes, Nghe An currently lacks any stadiums with sufficient area, playing surface, and lighting that meet national standards for hosting matches in these sports. In athletics, the track at Vinh Stadium (where running events are held at the Provincial Sports Festival and the Phu Dong Sports Festival) has been deteriorating for several years but has not been repaired in time, affecting the quality of competition for athletes. Furthermore, the refereeing in badminton, sepak takraw, tug-of-war, and other sports has also received numerous complaints. In addition, Mr. Vu Le Hoi – Director of the Provincial Sports Competition and Service Center – added: “As the core unit in organizing provincial-level sports competitions, we have observed that the socialization of sports tournament organization is still limited. Only a few sports tournaments have mobilized sponsorship from businesses, such as the Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth Football Tournament, the NTV Cup Tennis Tournament, and the University and College Student Football Tournament; the remaining tournaments are still mainly funded by the State budget. Therefore, investment in facilities, refereeing, and prize money is limited and does not truly encourage athletes to strive for high achievements. Furthermore, the practice of hiring or borrowing athletes and violations of competition regulations still occur in sports such as volleyball, table tennis, badminton, sepak takraw, and petanque… at the Provincial Sports Festival, Family Sports Tournament, and the Badminton Tournament for civil servants, employees, and workers… Therefore, the performance at these competitions is not satisfactory.” "This tournament does not reflect the true state of grassroots sports development in the localities..."

In 2015, dozens of provincial-level sports tournaments will be organized, and the province will also host the National Phu Dong Sports Festival (together with Thanh Hoa province) and several national championships in martial arts, sepak takraw, etc. Therefore, shortcomings need to be seriously considered and promptly addressed to improve the quality of these tournaments, especially in the context of Nghe An striving to become one of the country's strong sports centers according to Resolution 26 of the Politburo on the direction and tasks for the development of Nghe An province until 2020.

Minh Quan