Unknown stories about national female referee Nguyen Thi Thi
Many people are lucky to find their passion early, but not everyone is determined to pursue this choice, especially when the journey to it is full of disadvantages. The journey of female football referees in general, and national female referee Nguyen Thi Thi in particular, is like that.
Passion leads the way
Born in the mountainous district of Anh Son, the childhood of national referee Nguyen Thi Thi (born 2000) was closely associated with fields and hills. Her house was near the village football field, and as a child, little Thi often played in the nearby vacant lot, next to the dusty football matches of her brothers in the neighborhood.
Until one day, not wanting to stand outside the yard anymore, I asked my brothers to let me play football with them. The first few times I played, although I was not good, my ability was enough to convince everyone to keep me. From here, I realized that my passion and talent was football. During my 3 years in high school, I actively participated in all the football tournaments that the school launched and had small achievements when participating in the Phu Dong Sports Festival.
National female referee Nguyen Thi Thi
When he decided that sports would be his career, after graduating from high school, Thi went to Da Nang alone to take the entrance exam to Da Nang University of Physical Education and Sports.
After 1 month of working and studying, the little girl from the mountains of Nghe An finally became an official student of the University of Physical Education and Sports in Da Nang – also the student with the smallest appearance in this school.
With her passion and determination, this female student not only graduated with honors, won scholarships every semester, but also qualified to study and become a national referee.
The profession of courage
Besides health requirements, to become a referee, one needs to be brave and mentally strong.
When I was qualified to officiate a match, I often encountered people who looked at me with suspicion and apprehension. Many people even ignored me or asked me directly if my physique was enough to officiate a match.
National female referee Nguyen Thi Thi
Facing those negative attitudes, Thi just quietly proved her ability, seriousness and responsibility in her work. She recalled: “When I first started officiating, I participated in officiating a match of the Nghe An association in Da Nang. With the typical passionate sportsmanship of the Nghe people, the ball situations on the field were always very tense. Once when I blew a penalty, the players and fans protested with an extremely indignant attitude, using insulting words. Even the other referee thought I had blown the wrong whistle. In this situation, I chose to stay calm and asked everyone to review the video. After extracting the camera, everyone admitted that my decision was correct and apologized.”
“I understand that in sports there are always winners and losers, there are always tense situations, winning and losing, unsportsmanlike situations. As a referee, my duty is to be impartial and in the spirit of healthy sportsmanship. If my spirit is not strong and I am easily influenced by external factors, the referee will not be calm and clear-headed enough to manage the match” – Thi added.
In addition, Thi always maintains a careful and thoughtful attitude in every match. She is often the first person to arrive in the referee panel to survey the field situation and prepare for work in the most professional way.
“A good referee is one who is brave and confident enough to defend his own point of view and the fairness of the match. Before each match, in addition to physical exercises, I also have mental exercises. I often remind myself that I can do it and I will be a good referee.” Thi also shared that to deter excessive behavior from players, she had to use consecutive penalty cards during a match.
From proving herself, Thi gradually gained prestige and recognition from everyone. The words of encouragement and praise from colleagues and players are small joys on the journey of the little girl's career.
Before each match, referees must have appropriate physical training to keep up with the players and the ball. In fact, with the high frequency of matches, referees must prepare their physical strength a month in advance.
For women's football or youth football matches, it is not too difficult. But for professional men's football tournaments, if you are not well prepared mentally and physically, it is easy to fall into a situation of collapse. Once, because I was not well prepared, I fell into a state of muscle tension and exhaustion after the match.
Referee Nguyen Thi Thi
Although the job is attractive and in line with her passion, the income from tournaments is not enough to cover living expenses, so female referees like Thi often have to work many other jobs at the same time, such as physical education teacher, coach of grassroots classes...
After 4 years in the profession, Thi shared more about the hardships and difficulties of being a female referee: “As a female referee, we have to minimize collisions on the field and pay more attention to taking care of ourselves. When I first started working, because I was subjective, I was much darker and uglier. Only later did I realize and change. When officiating matches in hot weather conditions, we often use sunscreen. However, pursuing this job, having a little dark skin is also normal”./.
