The story of the veteran coach of Nghe An Sepak Takraw village

Outstanding achievements…

Born in 1972, in Dien Tho commune (Dien Chau), after graduating from high school, Hoang Huu Nghia took the entrance exam to the Football Faculty, University of Physical Education and Sports (located in Tu Son district, Bac Ninh province). In December 1993, after graduating from university, he was assigned to work at the Nghe An Department of Physical Education and Sports (now the Department of Culture and Sports) as a movement officer of the Professional Department.

In 1996, Hoang Huu Nghia transferred to work at the Provincial Sports Training and Coaching Center (now the Sports Training and Competition Center), as a shuttlecock coach.

In 1997, Sepak Takraw was introduced into high-performance training at the center. The leaders of the Department of Physical Education and Sports were desperate to find a coach with the expertise to lead the Provincial Sepak Takraw Team. At that time, Hoang Huu Nghia boldly accepted the task despite having no experience in this sport.

To gain more knowledge about rattan ball, he read documents and learned from colleagues in localities with strong rattan ball movements such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Bac Giang, Soc Trang, etc. every time he led the team to practice and compete.

Coach Hoang Huu Nghia and Nghe An Sepak Takraw Team at the 9th National Sports Congress in 2022. Photo: NVCC

In 1998, for the first time, Nghe An Sepak Takraw Team participated in the National Youth Tournament, facing strong opponents such as Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi... but Hoang Huu Nghia and his students excellently won 1 Gold Medal in the 3-woman team category.

At that time, this achievement was a big surprise to the province's Sports and Physical Education sector, because Sepak Takraw had just been introduced into high-performance training for less than a year, and most of Nghe An's athletes were very young, under 20 years old. This first Gold Medal gave teachers and students even more motivation to practice and strive to achieve more achievements.

Coach Hoang Huu Nghia - Head of Sepak Takraw Department, Nghe An Sports Training and Competition Center.

In 1999, Hoang Huu Nghia and his young students participated in the first National Sepak Takraw Championship and won a Bronze Medal. Since then, every year the Nghe An Sepak Takraw team brought home medals for the province's sports. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, under the guidance of coach Hoang Huu Nghia, many athletesrattanNghe An has grown up quickly and been called to the National Youth Teams, National Teams such as Bach Ha, Ho Minh Thuan, Dau Bao Hien (female), Pham Viet Thanh (male)...

In 2009, the Nghe An Sepak Takraw Team won the first National Championship Gold Medal. Since then, Nghe An Sepak Takraw has won 3-5 Gold Medals at National Youth Tournaments and National Championships. At the 6th (2010), 7th (2014), 8th (2018) and 9th (2022) National Sports Congresses, Sepak Takraw is one of the sports that brought the most medals to the Nghe An sports delegation.

Leading the Nghe An Sepak Takraw Team to continuously achieve many high achievements, coach Hoang Huu Nghia was soon highly appreciated by domestic experts. In 2006, he was called up to be the coach of the National Men's Sepak Takraw Team. Right from his first time leading the team to participate in the 2006 World Championship, Hoang Huu Nghia affirmed his ability, when his students won 2 Bronze Medals. Also in that year, at the 15th Asian Games (ASIAD) held in Qatar, he and the women's team won 2 Gold Medals and 1 Silver Medal.

In 2011, Hoang Huu Nghia was entrusted with the responsibility of leading the National Women's Sepak Takraw Team. And he was the one who played an important role in the rejuvenation of the National Sepak Takraw Team in the early 2010s.

After the resounding achievements of Vietnam's sepak takraw at ASIAD 15 when winning against Thailand, the powerhouse of this sport, the three main players of Vietnam's sepak takraw, Luu Thi Thanh - Hai Thao - Bich Thuy, gradually lost strength and had to leave the field. Coach Hoang Huu Nghia had to start rebuilding the team from scratch with young athletes such as: Nguyen Thi Dung, Nguyen Thi Hoa, Dinh Thi Thuy Hang, Nguyen Thi Quyen...

Coach Hoang Huu Nghia and his students at the National Beach Sepak Takraw Team. Photo: NVCC

Since then, in tournaments such as SEA Games, ASIAD or World Championship, Vietnamese women's sepak takraw, although not yet able to surpass Thailand - the world's number 1 power in this sport, has created many special marks, in which, the most impressive is the world championship in the 3-woman team in 2011.

…and worries

Hoang Huu Nghia said that being a National Team coach always requires pressure to achieve results. For him, that is not as difficult as having to be away from home often, having little time for family. But thinking about the honor and responsibility of a National Coach, he threw himself into work, with his students conquering the challenges ahead.

In 2017, coach Hoang Huu Nghia resigned from the National Team to focus on coaching the province's sepak takraw. Under his leadership, at the National Sports Congress in 2018 and 2022, Nghe An sepak takraw ranked second in the whole delegation in sepak takraw, just behind Hanoi - the strongest locality in the country in this sport. In addition, in 2022, the sepak takraw team participated in 3 club, youth and beach championships, winning 3 gold medals, 3 silver medals, and 5 bronze medals.

Coach Hoang Huu Nghia and National Team player Nguyen Thi My - the athlete who won the Gold Medal at the 31st SEA Games in 2022. Photo: NVCC

After Nguyen Thi Hoa, Nguyen Thi Quyen, Dinh Thi Thuy Hang in the early 2010s, coach Hoang Huu Nghia continued to discover and introduce to the National Women's Sepak Takraw Team talented athletes from Nghe An such asNguyen Thi My, Ngo Thi Ngoc Quynh. Among them, Nguyen Thi My is the most outstanding face, when she and her teammates in the 3 women's team defeated the Thai team at the 31st SEA Games in 2022 to win the precious Gold Medal after nearly 20 years of waiting in the regional playground.

It was Mr. Hoang Huu Nghia who trained and encouraged me a lot to overcome difficulties and always try my best in tournaments to bring glory to my province and the country."

National athlete Nguyen Thi My (Nghe An Sports Training and Competition Center)

Although he has won many achievements in sepak takraw, according to coach Hoang Huu Nghia, for many years he has been very concerned about the development of this sport.

“Unlike football, volleyball, badminton and martial arts, the socialization of Sepak Takraw in Nghe An is very limited. Currently, this sport is only developed at the Provincial Sports Training and Competition Center because for most people, it is still quite unfamiliar, even among the youth.

Currently, Sepak Takraw has not been introduced to schools and the Phu Dong Sports Association does not organize Sepak Takraw competitions, so when looking for talented athletes, coaches have to go to the localities to recruit. Coaches have to establish relationships with schools so that they can introduce them to talented athletes. Or we have to personally go to each village to "recruit" talented students. These methods take a lot of time for coaches.

In addition, compared to other localities that are strong in sepak takraw, the number of training targets for sepak takraw athletes is quite small, so selecting athletes to participate in national competitions is difficult. Therefore, in addition to the enthusiasm and efforts of athletes and coaches, it is necessary to have more attention from the Sports and Physical Education sector to further develop the sepak takraw sport in Nghe An", coach Hoang Huu Nghia confided./.