Nguyễn Thu Hoài was born and raised in An Cầu Commune, Quỳnh Phụ District, Thái Bình Province. The female athlete is known for her nickname "Hoa khôi bóng chuyền" due to her bright and beautiful appearance.
Thu Hoài has achieved many outstanding achievements in volleyball. She once made a mark when she was the first person to win the excellent two-handed title at an international tournament - the 2016 Southeast Asian Junior Volleyball Championship.
In 2022, Thu Hoài and her teammates in the Vietnamese women's volleyball team won the Silver Medal at the 31st SEA Games. In addition to her efforts to train and compete in high-level volleyball tournaments, Nguyễn Thu Hoài surprised many people by studying at the QH-2021-E QTKD-TT class at the University of Economics, National University of Vietnam.
Thu Hoài shared that she decided to study at university while still busy competing in volleyball because she was greatly influenced by her mother.
In an interview with Lao Động reporter, Thu Hoài said: “My mother has always been worried about my studies when I followed volleyball. My mother feared that if I didn't study at university after I stopped competing, it would be very difficult, hard to find a job, and hard to make a living.
The career of an athlete is very short, and the period of peak competition only lasts for a certain period of time. After retiring from the sport, many athletes do not know what to do next, and some even lose their direction.
Therefore, my parents were worried about their daughter's long journey, when competing would be difficult, and when stopping competing, what would happen next.”
As a result, Thu Hoài's parents once opposed their daughter's desire to pursue sports. According to Thu Hoài, when she was 13 years old, she had already fallen in love with volleyball.
However, the women's volleyball team of Thái Bình Province had visited Thu Hoài's house three times to persuade her parents, but they still did not agree to let Thu Hoài pursue a career in sports.
“After that, a teacher in the Thái Bình volleyball team transferred to work for the Vĩnh Phúc volleyball team and patiently persuaded me again. I tried to ask my parents to let me go to school, and they provided for me in all aspects, from food to training, and I even received a monthly allowance.
My parents saw that I was too fond of it, so they finally agreed. My father took me to the Vĩnh Phúc women's volleyball team. But, only a month later, I ran away.” – Thu Hoài recounted.
That was the only time she wanted to... run away, because when she arrived at the Vĩnh Phúc women's volleyball team, the 13-year-old Thu Hoài was completely "overwhelmed" by the harsh training conditions.
When she was at home, she imagined the scenario of being able to focus on training with the team in Vĩnh Phúc, Thu Hoài thought it was very exciting, nervous, and eager. But in reality, it was much more shocking, with a dense training schedule and a difficult life away from home.
At that time, the team only had a landline phone, Thu Hoài said, every time she called home, she cried because she missed her home and felt pitiful.
“That time, I decided to run away. A teacher had guessed it, when he saw me packing all my clothes into a bag. I returned to Thái Bình, and 2-3 days later, I finally dared to tell my mother, “I might not return to the team volleyball.” But, just before the new school year, I remembered the sisters in the team too much, and I packed my bags to ask my parents to let me return to the Vĩnh Phúc women's volleyball team.” – Thu Hoài recalled.
According to the "volleyball flower", that was the only time she had the intention of running away, after returning to the Vĩnh Phúc women's volleyball team, she had decided to stick with it, and made a concerted effort to train and compete to achieve her current position.
