Returning to competition always requires preparation.
“Actually, my return to compete in this tournament was also calculated and prepared by the coaching staff. However, I had to prepare myself carefully, especially professionally. I had more than two months to prepare before joining the squad for the tournament. My position is still the familiar middle blocker but I don’t need to move much, so I have to do better in tactics. Standing on the field with the players, I feel like I can renew myself more,” player and coach Ngoc Hoa shared when asked about her feelings on the day she returned to the field.
Throughout the time the VTV Binh Dien Long An women's team was preparing professionally to be ready for the second phase of the 2024 National Volleyball Championship, Ngoc Hoa was the one who closely followed the players. Because she is a member of the coaching staff and in the role of a professional, Ngoc Hoa regularly went to the field to do exercises with the players.
When asked if Ngoc Hoa was shy because she was in her late 40s and had been out of competition for a while before suddenly returning to compete in top-level volleyball, she just smiled and said that at first she was shy, but given the team's mission and the encouragement and trust of the coaching staff, she was ready to take the field. We witnessed the preparations of the VTV Binh Dien Long An women's team when they went to the North (the team practiced at the Bac Ninh University of Physical Education and Sports) before participating in the second stage of the tournament. There, after each training session, coach Ngoc Hoa continued to prepare physically.
One day before the second stage of the tournament started, Ngoc Hoa was registered in the official list of VTV Binh Dien Long An women's team. The player and coach Ngoc Hoa herself shared that it was not the team that wanted to create a surprise, but because everyone did not want pressure, but wanted to have the most comfortable mentality to be ready to compete.
In fact, in the matches played in the second stage of the 2024 National Volleyball Championship (held in Lao Cai), Ngoc Hoa played a key role, regulating the tempo for her juniors and being the spiritual support for VTV Binh Dien Long An players to score points. With Ngoc Hoa by her side, the young player became more confident and VTV Binh Dien Long An team won all three group stage matches.
I am saving a lot for training.
2024 is a memorable year for Ngoc Hoa. Earlier this year, she was officially appointed by Long An Sports Department as head coach of Long An Youth Women's Volleyball Team. More significantly, Ngoc Hoa and her students won the 2024 National Youth Volleyball Championship (June 2024). This is the first achievement of coach Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hoa as the "captain" of a team.
“For me, coaching always requires a lot of accumulation and I always learn from many of my previous teachers. I have to focus on following tournaments to better grasp the coaching expertise to serve my work. When I am a player, the athlete's mindset is different. When I become a coach, the mindset of a teacher and a professional is even more important and I am the one responsible for the expertise of a team, so I always have to try my best,” Ngoc Hoa once confided.
Also this year, Ngoc Hoa was first recruited to the coaching staff of the Vietnam U20 Women's Volleyball Team. For Ngoc Hoa, the Vietnam Women's Volleyball Team is like her second home because during her playing days, this coach was a national player for many years. However, now, Ngoc Hoa is for the first time a member of the Vietnam U20 Women's Volleyball Team.
The third important turning point for Ngoc Hoa is professional preparation for the second phase of the 2024 National Volleyball Championship, the VTV Binh Dien Long An coaching staff added her to the coaching staff. This was the first time Ngoc Hoa was a member of the coaching staff of a team participating in the National Championship. Evaluating Ngoc Hoa, head coach Thai Quang Lai (VTV Binh Dien Long An) once shared that professionalism in coaching and high discipline are the things that coach Ngoc Hoa always puts first.
“We see that even though she is a coach, Ngoc Hoa is like an older sister to the young players, has a friendly and understanding attitude towards the young players, thus creating a very good mentality and solidarity for the team. That is what any team wants to have,” coach Thai Quang Lai commented.
Volleyball gives me everything
This year, Ngoc Hoa is 37 years old. Her career has been evaluated by experts as one of the most successful players. Before her junior Tran Thi Thanh Thuy went abroad and made a name for herself through her expertise, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hoa was the first to do so. She is currently the only Vietnamese player to have won the national volleyball championship in Vietnam and Thailand.
When playing for hire abroad for the Bangkok Glass team, Ngoc Hoa won the national championship in Thailand in 2014. Next, this middle blocker joined Bangkok Glass to participate in the 2015 Asian Women's Club Cup held in Vietnam and surprisingly, the team won the championship. That result made the Vietnamese volleyball community recognize Ngoc Hoa as the only Vietnamese player who has ever played for a foreign team and won an official tournament in Vietnam.
In 2019, Ngoc Hoa officially retired to focus on her duties as a wife and mother in the family. Many people regretted when she left the field. Surprisingly, in 2022, Ngoc Hoa returned for a short period to compete for VTV Binh Dien Long An. However, at that time, she expressed that she was focusing on her coaching career and not returning to competition. This year, Ngoc Hoa marks her return.
On the evening of November 10, at the stadium in Lao Cai, the entire VTV Binh Dien Long team was filled with joy and laughter after the match because right on the field, all of her teammates (who can also be considered Ngoc Hoa's students) sang a song to wish her a happy birthday.
“It is meaningful to have my birthday right at the time of competition. I would like to thank everyone. Volleyball is inseparable to me and volleyball has brought me many things, most of all the love and support of fans and having many teammates on the field,” Ngoc Hoa confided.
Ngoc Hoa and her partner Le Thai Binh both grew up playing volleyball in Long An. Now, they are both coaches working in Long An's teams. Last year, coach Le Thai Binh was the head coach of the VTV Binh Dien Long An women's team, which won third place in the 2024 National Volleyball Championship. This year, Mr. Binh switched to working in the youth men's team, but their family still has player and coach Ngoc Hoa in the VTV Binh Dien Long An team.
