Director of Song Lam Nghe An Youth Football Training Center: 'Difficulty in selecting athletes'

Nghe An Newspaper reporter had an interview with Mr. Tran Quang Dung - Director of Song Lam Nghe An Youth Football Training Center to clarify the direct impacts on the selection of athletes for this leading youth training center in Vietnam.

PV: What role does the Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth - Children Football Tournament play in selecting talent for the Song Lam Nghe An training center?

Mr. Tran Quang Dung:This has been our official recruitment channel for many years. Through the tournament, we discover students with good qualities and outstanding competitive qualities to bring them back for long-term training. Without the Nghe An Newspaper Cup, the recruitment work of Song Lam Nghe An will be greatly affected.

For example, in 2021, due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, the tournament could not be held. As a result, we could not recruit enough players like in previous years. From 215 players, we had to reduce it to 200 players due to a lack of quality input sources. We could not recruit in bulk, but had to rely on observations and actual competition in the tournament. Without the Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth and Children's Football Tournament, the selection process would have been very difficult.

PV:Can you share specific data on the 2024 selection process through the Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth and Children's Football Tournament?

Mr. Tran Quang Dung:In 2024, our U10 team recruited 33 players, of which more than 90% were players who had competed in the Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth Football Tournament. The U12 team also added nearly half of the squad from this tournament. That is a clear demonstration of the tournament's role in our recruitment system. Without the tournament, there would be no such numbers.

PV:In 2025, the Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth - Children Football Tournament will not be held. How will that affect Song Lam Nghe An's recruitment work?

Mr. Tran Quang Dung:When we received the news that the Youth - Children Football Tournament Nghe An Newspaper Cup would be canceled this year, we were very worried. Especially the players born in 2013 and 2015 - this is the source of recruitment for U11 and U13 next year. Without a playground, we have no basis to evaluate the players' competitive ability or qualities.

The absence of such a quality tournament is a big disadvantage for Song Lam Nghe An in particular and Nghe An youth football in general. Not only does it lose the opportunity to recruit players, but it also affects the quality of long-term training.

PV:Do you have any ideas to continue this tournament in the coming years?

Mr. Tran Quang Dung:I really hope that the tournament will be restored soon. After Nghe An merged administrative units and switched to a 2-level local government model, the organization of the tournament needs to be adjusted to suit the new situation.

After the merger, the whole province has about 130 communes, in my opinion, it can be divided into preliminary competition clusters. Each cluster will organize the competition in the form of groups, from which the best teams will be selected to the final round. The final round should be organized centrally in a convenient locality, with a central location in the province.

For effective implementation, coordination and direction from the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Nghe An is needed. The Department will play a guiding role, supporting localities in establishing football teams and organizing the preliminary round. This method is similar to the model of organizing national youth tournaments of the Vietnam Football Federation.

Organizing in this way not only ensures professional quality, but also creates opportunities for children to compete more and demonstrate their abilities. At the same time, this is also an effective way for us to discover and select talents for youth training, and most importantly, to maintain a healthy and beneficial summer playground for children across the province.

PV:Thank you for the conversation!