Ready for Nghe An Provincial Sports Festival 2022

The football match in Group B between Tan Ky and Nam Dan is part of the 9th Nghe An Provincial Sports Festival in 2022. Photo: Chung Nguyen

Eagerly awaiting the competition day

The opening ceremony will take place on August 13.Nghe An Provincial Sports Congress9th time in 2022. There are 18 sports officially competed at this congress, of which 12 sports in the program have been organized for opening, competition and awarding. The remaining 6 sports: Swimming, athletics, chess, tug of war, crossbow shooting, badminton, will take place after the opening ceremony of the congress.

At this time, localities are urgently training and preparing carefully for athletes. In order to bring a successful congress, achieving the desired professional quality.

At Dien Chau District Stadium, at 4 p.m. in a temperature of 37 degrees Celsius, 7 athletes, including 4 men and 3 women, were enthusiastically practicing. Drops of sweat soaked the shirts of the teachers and students of the track and field team. But all those difficulties could not stop the will and determination in each step of the athletes here. They wanted to enter this year's congress with the best preparation and achieve high results worthy of the sports tradition that the district has built over many generations. Most of the track and field athletes practicing for this congress are outstanding players selected from high schools in the district.

Coach Pham Hong Canh - Physical Education teacher at Minh Chau Secondary School said: “To prepare for the athletics competition, for nearly a month now, we have required all students to be present at the stadium to practice every day. At first, we selected 14 students, after a period of filtering, we have only had 7 students. These are all very talented students. The most outstanding is Hoang Anh Quan, who 2 years ago won a Silver Medal in the 3,000m athletics event at the Phu Dong Sports Festival of the whole province. This is one of the factors that we predict will achieve high results in this congress. In addition, in the women's 3,000m event, Nguyen Xuan Mai is also a very potential athlete.”

Athletes from Dien Chau district are working hard to prepare for the official competition day of the athletics event in the congress program. Photo: Duc Anh

On the training ground, the coaches complete the final specialized techniques before participating in the competition. In addition, they are also required to improve their performance. These are factors that help athletes achieve the best performance when entering each event.

Hoang Anh Quan said: “During the summer, to support my family, I went to Vinh to apply for a part-time job. However, when the teachers called me back to practice to prepare for the competition at the congress, I was very excited and immediately accepted. Every day I have to cycle more than 14km to the training ground, but when I think about competing in a major provincial tournament, all difficulties can be overcome. In the past two years, we have not had the opportunity to compete and practice much due to the impact of the epidemic. But through days of very serious training, my friends and I have gradually regained our form and are completely confident to enter the tournament, with the highest determination.”

Dien Chau Unit participates in athletics at the 9th Nghe An Provincial Sports Festival in 2022 with 6 events including: High jump, long jump, 400m, 1,500m, 3,000m, 5,000m. Talking about the opportunity to win medals, Coach Pham Hong Canh commented: “Currently, in athletics, there is fierce competition from localities such as Thanh Chuong, Hoang Mai, Do Luong, Tan Ky. To win a Gold Medal in events such as high jump, long jump or 3,000m, 5,000m is very difficult. However, we have prepared quite thoroughly and hope to be able to win a Gold Medal in this event”.

Dien Chau will compete in 6 athletics events. The team's goal is to win at least one Gold Medal. Photo: Duc Anh

Being a coastal area, the athletes here all have quite special physiques. Sports such as athletics, tug of war, soccer, and volleyball have always been Dien Chau's strengths in previous congresses. Entering this congress, Dien Chau competed in 7 events including: Pole pushing, cross-country, vovinam, karate, volleyball, traditional martial arts, and wrestling. Achieving quite good results when winning 10 gold medals, the locality will compete in 4 more events in the near future and promises to be able to win many more important medals, to compete for a position on the medal tally of the congress.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hao - Deputy Director of the Center for Culture, Sports and Communication of Dien Chau district said: “In the past time, Dien Chau has made serious and thorough preparations for the 9th Nghe An Provincial Sports Festival in 2022. Therefore, through 7 events in the program of the festival that have been organized, Dien Chau has achieved quite good results (with 10 Gold Medals). After the opening ceremony, we still participate in 4 more events and will try to achieve the best results to compete for the position on the medal table. We are ready for the opening ceremony of the festival, the athletes are all very eager to compete in the most important tournament of the province".

The Deputy Director of the Center for Culture, Sports and Communication of Dien Chau district added: “This congress has also strongly promoted the movement of physical training and sports among the people in Dien Chau. It creates solidarity and improves the spiritual life of each person. On the other hand, it helps Dien Chau sports to increasingly contribute to the overall development of the province's sports.”

Dien Chau won the Gold Medal in Volleyball at the 9th Nghe An Provincial Sports Festival in 2022. Photo: Duc Anh

Preserving and promoting traditional sports

Over the years, in parallel with the development of current sports, the mountainous districts have always attached importance to the preservation and promotion of traditional sports. The traditional sports movement has increasingly improved in quality and developed widely from the district to the grassroots.

Tuong Duong is a mountainous district, home to 6 ethnic groups: Thai, Kho Mu, O Du, Tay Poong, Mong and Kinh, each with its own unique culture. Thanks to regular propaganda, mobilization and organization of competitions in ethnic sports. Therefore, currently, in many localities in Tuong Duong district, ethnic sports are still preserved and developed such as: throwing con, tug of war, pushing sticks, crossbow shooting... Many games have been gradually formed and developed into attractive sports, suitable for local conditions. Folk games are traditional sports that are often held on the occasion of Tet, Spring or village festivals and even in sports festivals at all levels... With the goal of preserving and developing traditional sports, in recent years, Tuong Duong district has always paid attention to, maintained and expanded sports training activities to attract many people to practice and compete regularly, especially stick pushing and crossbow shooting. Every year, from the district to the grassroots level, these two traditional sports are regularly organized. Thanks to that, athletes have the opportunity to practice and compete regularly and continuously...

Crossbow shooting is a strong sport in Tuong Duong district. Athletes in the mountainous district are perfecting their final techniques to achieve the goal set by the district. Photo: Dinh Tuan

In preparation for the 9th Congress, members of the crossbow team are currently practicing hard to continue bringing many achievements to their district.

Mr. Lo Van Kien, in Lung village, Tam Thai commune, Tuong Duong, used to be an excellent athlete who won many medals at many Sports Festivals at many levels. He is now the coach of the Tuong Duong district pole pushing team.

Mr. Kien shared, “To achieve high results in crossbow shooting, athletes must practice regularly and actively participate in sports competitions organized by the commune and district. Through these competitions, athletes can gain more experience as well as practice skills and high concentration. During the training period to compete at the upcoming Nghe An Provincial Sports Festival, I often let athletes compete with each other. During the competition, I will know the athletes' strengths and weaknesses. From there, I can make timely adjustments.”

Mr. Ngo Minh Phuong - Deputy Director of the Center for Culture, Sports and Communication of Tuong Duong district, said: In recent years, the district has paid attention to and invested in strong sports such as crossbow shooting, stick pushing... Thereby, it has contributed to preserving and promoting the good cultural values ​​of the ethnic groups in the area while creating a healthy playground, improving people's health, creating a source of athletes for the district as well as promoting the development of mass sports movements. To continue promoting the campaign "All people exercise following the example of great Uncle Ho", the district will strengthen socialization, mobilize resources to invest in facilities for physical training and sports activities; organize district-level sports competitions...

Tug of war always attracts the attention of many people in the mountainous district of Tuong Duong. Photo: Dinh Tuan

The 9th Nghe An Provincial Sports Festival in 2022 is a festival for the people of President Ho Chi Minh's hometown. Currently, localities across the province are actively practicing to achieve the best results, contributing to the overall success of the festival. With serious preparation from the localities, the unit promises to bring many positive things, creating a spreading influence for the province's sports to develop further in the future.