The mark of female coaches
In Vietnam, the number of former female football players who have gone on to become coaches is not much. One person who has succeeded from being a player to becoming a coach is Doan Thi Kim Chi.
During her peak playing career, the former midfielder born in 1979 won 4 SEA Games gold medals, 4 national championships, 4 times won the Vietnam Women's Golden Ball award, a Southeast Asian championship and many other titles.
When switching to coaching, captain Kim Chi won the Vietnamese women's football championship 9 times with Ho Chi Minh City club (2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024).
A player who played with Doan Thi Kim Chi on the national women's football team is Van Thi Thanh. After retiring in 2011, she switched to coaching and is currently the only female coach in Vietnamese football with an AFC Pro certificate - the highest certificate of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), qualified to lead the national team.
Coach Van Thi Thanh is leading the Thai Nguyen T&T women's football team. The former striker from Ha Nam has just won the first championship with this team at the 2024 T&T Group Cup international women's football tournament.
Besides the two prominent faces above, Vietnamese women's football also has a number of former players pursuing coaching careers, including former center back Dao Thi Mien, currently leading the Hanoi women's team; former goalkeeper Dang Thi Kieu Trinh - assistant coach of Thai Nguyen T&T team; former goalkeeper Nguyen Thi Kim Hong - assistant goalkeeper coach of the Vietnamese women's football team, one of the effective assistants to coach Mai Duc Chung.
Highlighting the role of female coaches
When accepting to lead the Thai Nguyen T&T women's team, coach Van Thi Thanh expressed her opinion that she wanted to highlight the role of female coaches in Vietnam.
The former player expressed: "The role of female coaches in Vietnam is not really prominent, but in recent years it has been better. Clubs still often use male coaches. I think it is necessary to promote the role of women in coaching. Not only coaching, but also as course lecturers.
When I was studying for my coaching degree, I was mostly with male coaches, but off the pitch, I thought there was no difference between men and women. I thought that maybe I would manage a men's team in the future, while my male colleagues would manage women's teams. Although there are differences between genders, the mindset and ability are the same.
What male coaches can do, women can do too. Sometimes women have certain advantages. There are quite a few men's teams in the world that have female head coaches. That combination also aims at the common goal of achievement."
The former player from Ha Nam confirmed that she is striving towards those things, and hopes that if players wish to become coaches after retiring, they will always receive favorable conditions and training support from the club's leadership while they are still playing.
To realize the role of female coaches in Vietnam, the challenge for coach Van Thi Thanh or other female colleagues will certainly not be small.
So, perhaps, the first thing that needs to be done for the "female generals" on the field is to have a title with the team and assert themselves. Coach Van Thi Thanh affirmed: "We must go hand in hand with youth training and attracting good coaches, supporting the players to develop in the future. Only with good coaches and good players can the team become professional."
