Coach Ky Phuong: SLNA needs a strategy to retain and recruit young players

Nghe An Newspaper has an interview withCoach Le Ky Phuongabout his training

Coach Le Ky Phuong demonstrates to his students. Photo: Duc Anh

PV: Which U class are you currently coaching? Is training young people, especially young children, much more difficult than training mature children?

Coach Le Ky Phuong:I am currently the coach of the U13 SLNA team. They are at an age where they are not yet full and have not yet had enough to worry about, many of them are still very naive, so I have to work hard. However, being a coach at any age has its own interesting things and difficulties. For children at a young age, their understanding of football theory is still limited, their basic techniques are still lacking, so being a teacher for children at the U level will be more difficult. However, teaching young children also brings a lot of joy, they are innocent, pure, emotional, that helps me have a lot of motivation when going to class.

PV: Can you tell us about your journey as a coach and the marks you have left?

Coach Le Ky Phuong:I retired from football in 1998, after that I studied at Hue University of Sports for 4 years. In 2003 I returned to SLNA Club and from here I was appointed as coach for the U13 team. Luckily, in my first year as coach I and my students won a Gold medal, this was the first medal in my coaching career.

During my time as a coach, I have won many medals with the SLNA youth teams. But among the medals I have achieved, the one I still remember most is the Gold medal with the SLNA U15 team in 2018. Because after more than 15 years, the SLNA U15 team has not achieved any significant achievements, so after winning this achievement, I feel very happy, because I have contributed a little bit of my effort to the overall achievements of the whole team, bringing joy to the fans.

There are many other memorable medals, that is, in 2020, with SLNA winning the national U17 championship. In this tournament, SLNA had to face many formidable opponents, with determination, disciplined play, but no less beautiful, the U17 SLNA team won the Gold medal. At the end of the tournament, the Nghe An team won many subsidiary awards such as best goalkeeper, best player and style award. Among the awards I like the most is the style award. Because in the process of training the players, I always promote the personality and ethics of the players, I always want them to play football with technique, with humanity, not to play dirty or rough to win. Therefore, when the children win the style award, they are recognized for both playing beautifully and playing ethically.

Coach Le Ky Phuong always lives by a philosophy that ethics must come first before professional training. Photo: Duc Anh

PV: How do you inspire your students to always try their best? In addition to playing football with passion and inspiration, do they also see football as a profession to support themselves?

Coach Le Ky Phuong:As you know, I am not originally from Nghe An, I am from Thai Binh, but I have played for SLNA since I was young, so the blood of Nghe An has always flowed in my veins. My appearance is very small, I remember when I was playing football I was only 1.58m tall and weighed 53kg, but I was not afraid of any opponent. Because I play football with thinking, with technique, with the passion of Nghe An and with the ethics of a player. Now as a coach, I often pass on that spirit to my students, I hope that in addition to practicing professionally, they must also cultivate ethics, so that when they grow up they will become valuable people, will be respected and loved by others. Perhaps it is my thinking that has inspired and inspired them, helping them think more seriously about their football career.

PV: Young players often come from many different places, living far from home and family from a young age, so what ways have you found to be a spiritual support for the players?

Coach Le Ky Phuong:Children have to live far from home, far from family from a young age, so they will lack the affection of their father, mother, brothers, sisters... Therefore, I always consider myself as their second father, second mother, always listen, share, love like my own children. Moreover, in my daily life, I always promote exemplary behavior, how I must live to be an example for them, how to make them believe and follow. I have experienced many storms in life and have tried to overcome them with willpower, now I want to pass them on to them, so that they can strive, find their own way to go on their own path.

I told them that if they were right, I would always stand by their side, always protect them, but if they were wrong, I could not protect their wrongs. That is my philosophy in life, so after many years of leading many generations of students, I am still proud that the majority of the students I have trained since childhood have achieved both professional skills and moral lifestyle.

PV: So among the many generations that grew up from SLNA Training Center, which generation of students impressed you the most?

Coach Le Ky Phuong:Having spent nearly 20 years as a coach, I have led many generations of students, each generation has left me with many memories, happy and sad, most of them have become famous, all are mature players both in ethics and expertise. I love every generation of players, however, the generation that left the most impression on me is probably the generation born in 2003 (including players such as Dinh Xuan Tien, Nguyen Van Bach, Trinh Hoang Canh, ...), the generation that won the recent U17 national championship. They have been with me for quite a long time (nearly 7 years). I am very happy that now they still remember me, consider me as a family member.

During nearly 20 years of coaching, Mr. Phuong has brought home many medals for SLNA youth football. Photo: Duc Anh

PV: To become a good player in today's modern football environment, in your opinion, what factors are necessary?

Coach Le Ky Phuong:To become a good player, in my opinion, you need to have many things. In addition to the qualities that an athlete has, self-training is extremely necessary. In modern football, the mindset of playing football is an extremely important factor, so you need to improve yourself every day. After each training session, you have to ponder and think, why did you handle that situation like that, is there a better way to perform; in general, to become a good player, you have to be passionate and serious in training, then you can hope to succeed.

PV: Currently, Vietnamese football has made strong progress, so in order to keep up with modern trends, what do youth football coaches need to do to adapt?

Coach Le Ky Phuong:In the development trend of modern football, the coaching profession is a profession that requires constant improvement of knowledge. In my opinion, each coach, in addition to being a football expert, must also be a manager, a psychologist, and a doctor... For example, when a player makes a mistake in a match, the coach must know how to encourage, share, and act as a psychologist for the players so that they can continue playing with confidence. In general, to become a good coach, you need to study and study forever.

Reporter: Nghe An has always been the cradle of national football, where there is always a tradition of youth football. So what does SLNA Club need to do to continue that tradition, to develop Nghe An football in the future?

Coach Le Ky Phuong: In my opinion, in order for Nghe An youth football to always maintain its position at the top of the country, it is necessary for all levels, sectors, and club leaders to pay attention to youth training. That development must be centered on people, the core, and accompanied by synchronous investment in facilities. As you know, currently the competition between youth training centers across the country is very large, many strong football academies go to all localities to recruit players.

Therefore, SLNA wants to have young players, talented, with outstanding qualities, it is necessary to have a strategy to retain and recruit them. Opening satellite football training centers in localities across the province, in my opinion, is a very good thing and we should promote it.

PV: What do you want to say to your special students?