Female coach for nearly 30 years sowed the seeds of passion for Nghe An's Sepak Takraw

Journey to professional sports

Born in 1983 in Chau Nhan commune (Hung Nguyen), Ho Thi Minh Thuan's childhood was filled with hardships. Her father died early, and her mother, a primary school teacher, worked hard to raise five children in poverty. This situation soon trained her to be strong-willed and persistent - qualities that became an important foundation on her journey to become a professional sports player.

Her passion for sports came naturally to her since her school days. In 8th grade, her talent was discovered by teacher Hoang Huu Nghia - who had great contributions to the Nghe An Sepak Takraw movement - and she was put on the gifted team. An important turning point that opened the path to professional sports.

The talent of the Nghe An girl quickly shone. She was called up to the national youth team in 1998, and then officially wore the national team jersey just one year later. During the period from 2000-2001, she won many national and international medals, especially the 2001 Asian Bronze Medal - a rare high achievement for Vietnamese sepak takraw at that time.

Despite being at the peak of her career, in 2002, she voluntarily withdrew from the national team to return home to support her family – a difficult but responsible decision. In 2007, after completing her university degree, she officially returned to sepak takraw, this time as a coach at the Nghe An Sports Training and Competition Center.

Inspire passion, foster courage

With nearly 20 years of coaching experience, Coach Ho Thi Minh Thuan has always maintained a spirit of dedication, closeness and responsibility towards her students. Not only does she select and train them in technique, she also accompanies athletes in their daily activities, study, and practice of life skills and personality. For her, coaching is “love, responsibility and passion”.

Her great advantage is her extensive experience in high-level competitions, which helps her easily identify and overcome the weaknesses of athletes in both technique and competition psychology. She is a strict teacher on the field, but a friend and sister outside of class – always listening, inspiring, and encouraging each student with all her heart.

As a female coach, she also sacrifices a lot for her work. There was a time when training lasted 6 months, she had almost no time to take care of her young child. However, with the support from her family, she still steadfastly stuck to the field and devoted herself to Nghe An rattan ball.

Under the guidance of Coach Ho Thi Minh Thuan, Nghe An Sepak Takraw has always maintained its position as one of the three key sports. From the 2010 National Sports Festival to 2022, the team has continuously won gold medals. In the international arena, her students such as Nguyen Thi Quyen and Ngo Thi Ngoc Quynh have won Asian gold medals, World gold medals, ASIAD 2023 gold medals and most recently the World Cup 2025 gold medals - historical milestones for the province's sports.

After nearly 20 years of coaching, Coach Ho Thi Minh Thuan considers the 2022 National Sports Festival an unforgettable milestone – an “epic” of will, tears and the spirit of overcoming difficulties. At that time, the Nghe An Sepak Takraw team entered a 6-month training period away from home, practicing 2-3 sessions a day, with no days off. Key players such as Nguyen Thi Quyen (34 years old), Nguyen Thi Hoa (32 years old), Tran Thi Yen (31 years old), and Nguyen Thi Mo (29 years old) all faced physical difficulties and injuries, but no one gave up.

The tournament in Thanh Hoa started with many difficulties. The women's team of 4 made it to the semi-finals but lost to Hanoi in the finals; the men's team of 4 lost the gold medal to Vinh Long; the women's team of 3 and the men's pair only won the bronze medal. After 6 events, Nghe An Sepak Takraw still has no gold medals.

The turning point came from the women's team event. Overcoming Soc Trang, People's Police and Dong Nai, Nghe An team advanced to the final to meet Hanoi again. With determination, the athletes won 2-0 in both matches, bringing home the first gold medal in an explosion of happiness.

That joy fueled the women's doubles event. After passing the group stage with victories over Bac Giang, Thanh Hoa, Dong Thap, Nghe An defeated Dong Nai in the semi-finals, then faced the People's Public Security in the final. The match was tense at every point, but with fighting spirit and tenacity, Nghe An won 21-18, 21-17, completing the valuable double gold medal.

When the final whistle blew, the team leaders rushed onto the field, teachers and students hugged each other in tears - tears of happiness and constant efforts being rewarded. With 2 gold medals, 2 silver medals and 1 bronze medal, the Nghe An Sepak Takraw team overcame countless challenges to successfully complete their mission, leaving a deep impression in the hearts of fans.

Goals Ahead

Despite many achievements, Coach Ho Thi Minh Thuan is still concerned about the inherent difficulties of local sports: limited funding, lack of facilities, and especially the increasingly thin succession force. “The children do not consider sports as a long-term career, so after each congress, the force decreases significantly. This puts great pressure on training work,” she shared.

However, she still maintains an optimistic spirit and a responsible attitude. Although the current successor force is still small, according to her assessment, they have good training awareness, a high spirit of progress and especially a clear passion - the foundation for long-term development.

Looking ahead, Coach Ho Minh Thuan affirmed with determination: “At all costs, we must win 2 Gold Medals at the 10th National Sports Festival held in Ho Chi Minh City. The whole team is focusing all resources and will on this important goal.”