Nghe An female players and their cute target!

One afternoon close to Vietnamese Women's Day, like many other afternoons during the week, month, and year, after a morning of cultural classes, young female athletes from Nghe An Sports Training Center returned to "fight" together on the field and practice mat.

No one knows how much sweat these girls have shed during these youthful days. All they know is that: Those courts and practice mats, day by day, become more shiny and darker, and the soft feminine features are replaced by the sharp angles of muscles.

This afternoon, on the Taekwondo mat, 10 female athletes enthusiastically practiced their moves and sparred under the guidance and support of Korean experts and “senior” Nguyen Thi Duong. After a difficult spinning kick, Dang Khanh Nhi collapsed and could not stand up. Nhi sprained her ankle.

Tears rolled down the face of the 16-year-old athlete from Nghia Dan, who won the Gold Medal at the National Youth Championship and the Silver Medal at the Asian Youth Championship. Nhi Tam cried partly because of the pain, partly because of the worry about her injury and her desire to achieve high results that could be unfulfilled.

Nhi's anxiety is very normal, because in sports, elimination is extremely fierce. There have been many, many potential athletes who have had to stop and give up their passion due to injuries. And the same is true at the Nghe An Sports Training Center: Every 3, 6, 9, 12 months, the Center conducts surveys, assessments, and appraisals. Athletes who are "commented" to no longer be able to progress, progress slowly, and cannot achieve high results will be "replaced" by new people...

Athlete Nguyen Thi Lam Oanh (2 National Youth Gold Medalists) massaged her teammate, fellow countryman, and peer while sharing: "Injuries like Nhi's are very normal, often occurring in Taekwondo training and competition... I am just like her, just hoping not to get injured so that I have more time to practice, aiming for future success."

The road to success for an athlete is full of pain and hardship, especially for female athletes. At Nghe An Sports Training Center, there are currently over 300 athletes, of which female athletes account for more than half.

Almost all female athletes come from rural, mountainous areas and they come here very young, when they are only 12-13 years old. Away from their parents, female athletes have to live independently in dormitories very early. That sacrifice is called passion, love and aspiration.

Pencak Silat coach Trinh Thi Mui (who won the world championship many years ago) shared: Although they put in the same amount of effort, sweat, blood and tears, female athletes are at a disadvantage compared to men. In sports with female coaches, it is better, but if not, the sisters have to advise and help each other. The career of female athletes is very short, only about 7-8 years, while there are many factors that influence success such as psychological impact, gender characteristics, health, will to strive... For a female athlete, maintaining and stabilizing long-term achievements is very difficult.

In sports, achievement is income. At Nghe An Sports Training Center, there are athletes who have achieved high results for 9 years and received high achievement salary and benefits, but in the 10th year, when there are no more achievements, they have to return to receiving salary and benefits for their talents according to current regulations. It is hard, difficult, and arduous, but it must be said that the salary and benefits for athletes are not high, ranging from 3.2 million VND - 6.8 million VND (including wages and nutrition).

For female athletes, glory and bitterness always go hand in hand. That “bitterness” is a common state of the “post-athlete” period. When they reach the age, when they no longer achieve high results, they have to retire. At this time, athletes have two choices. One is to “receive a lump sum” of about 7-8 million VND/5 years. The other is to study at a sports university to become a coach and continue pursuing their passion. However, pursuing their passion is not easy when there are many job demands but few recruitment slots.

The feeling of “lost, lost, disoriented” – that is the story of National Grandmaster Nguyen Thi Duong. Duong is 32 years old this year, and has been a Taekwondo athlete at the Center for 16 years. She has made many contributions to the sports of her province and the country when she won 4 national gold medals, 1 SEAgames silver medal, and was the first Nghe An athlete to qualify for the 2011 Olympics. Duong graduated from Bac Ninh University of Physical Education and Sports but is currently an athlete “on” the gifted program at the Center. No longer competing but with good skills, she does well as a teaching assistant. Duong tries to stay with the utmost desire: “From passion, now it has become experience, it would be a pity to leave, staying and waiting to be trained at the Center, I don’t know if it will work or not. I hope to have an output mechanism for athletes”.

Duong's desire to become a coach is a common desire of many female athletes who have achieved high results such as Sepak Takraw Grandmaster Nguyen Thi Quyen (31 years old, 15 National Gold Medals, 2 World Gold Medals, 2 SEA Games Silver Medals, 2 Asiad Bronze Medals), "The Invincible" in the traditional village and kickboxer Ngu Thi Thuyet (29 years old, 9 National Gold Medals, 1 Asian Beach Games Silver Medal, 2 Let Viet championship belts).

Talking to reporters about the “post-athlete” regime, Mr. Nguyen Van Hue - Deputy Director of Nghe An Sports Training Center shared: This is still a difficult problem for Vietnamese sports. Currently, Nghe An Department of Culture - Sports is building a project to submit to the Provincial People's Committee for approval in 2020.

The project has three important contents: a special mechanism for excellent athletes who have completed university degrees to be retained as contract coaches in sports that are lacking; funding for vocational training for retired athletes; and a salary level calculated according to the salary coefficient to retain excellent athletes.

From passion, desire for glory to the desire to contribute is a long story, without an end. However, that does not mean that today's young female athletes lack an optimistic and life-loving outlook. The desire to reach the pinnacle of glory, to burn out with their youth is still urging them to practice enthusiastically. Grandmasters like Nguyen Thi Duong, Nguyen Thi Quyen, Ngu Thi Thuyet... are examples and targets for female athletes to strive for and surpass.

To achieve high results, female athletes must constantly practice hard.

October 20 - Vietnamese Women's Day, on the field, on the mat, Nghe An female athletes are still enthusiastically and persistently practicing. Each of them has very... cute wishes and plans. Young female athletes like Nguyen Thi Lam Oanh (16 years old, Taekwondo), Ha Thi Mui (15 years old, Muya Thai National Bronze Medal) hope for good health, good competition, and high achievements for their home province; Vang Thi Quynh Nhu (15 years old, Muya Thai National Bronze Medal) and Le Thi Dung (18 years old, Sepak Takraw) will use their small salaries to buy their mother a flower, a pair of slippers and a shirt; Dang Khanh Nhi hopes to have a teddy bear to confide in and share joys and sorrows.../.