Avoid losing money and getting sick
The Duc Giang Lao Cai Chemicals women's team hired hitter Elena Samoilenko from Russia to compete for high results at the 2024 Asian Women's Club Volleyball Championship in Thailand. However, the Russian main striker sprained her ankle just before the tournament. The Duc Giang Lao Cai Chemicals coaching staff could not effectively use the player because Elena Samoilenko was not in the best health.
Vietnamese volleyball has witnessed many cases where teams hire players who are well advertised and have great strength when competing. But in reality, they are professional duds.
In 2023, the Thanh Hoa women's team hired Croatian foreign player Lara Vakasovic. All the introductions for Lara Vakasovic showed that she was a very powerful hitter with good attacking ability. In fact, when competing, Lara Vakasovic did not leave a professional mark and the coaching staff of this team (at that time) accepted her on the field to avoid criticism that they had hired the wrong person.
Also in the 2023 season, the Kinh Bac Bac Ninh women's team decided to hire Canadian hitter Caroline Livingston right before the opening of round 2 of the National Volleyball Championship. It seemed that this main striker would play impressively, but on the contrary, after only one match, the team's coaching staff had to put her on the bench.
Thai players are still fit
Since the Vietnam Volleyball Federation allowed teams to hire foreign players again to compete in the national championship in 2022, almost all teams have been dependent on hiring players.
Up to this point, only Hanoi men's and women's volleyball teams have not hired foreign players due to lack of funding and sponsors.
In general, volleyball teams in Vietnam are very eager to hire foreign players from Thailand. Many male and female players of the Thai national volleyball team have come to Vietnam to compete. The two important points for Thai players to agree to come to Vietnam are receiving good remuneration and a similar environment and climate.
Statistics from Thai volleyball show that this year alone, about 24 players from the Thai Women's Volleyball Team and the Thai Youth Women's Volleyball Team accepted invitations and went abroad to compete in many teams from developed volleyball countries.
For us, during the 2023 National Volleyball Championship, 16 players (including men and women) went to Vietnam to compete. In the first phase of the 2024 National Volleyball Championship, 13 Thai players were registered to compete at the highest level of Vietnamese volleyball.
When the Thai Women's Volleyball Team went to Vietnam to participate in the 2024 Southeast Asian Women's Volleyball Championship (SEA V.League 2024), many teams also expressed their intention to consider the Thai Team's hitters to invite them to compete in the second phase of the 2024 National Volleyball Championship (held in November 2024) but were unsuccessful. Because the good hitters had signed contracts to compete abroad before.
At this time, 2 representatives of Vietnam are competing in the 2024 Asian Women's Club Championship in Nakhon Ratchasima (Thailand), so it is not excluded that this is also an opportunity for each coaching staff to find suitable foreign Thai players. Certainly, the top hitters of Thai women's volleyball have had a destination since the beginning of the year, so at this time, if Thai players accept to go to Vietnam to participate in the second phase of the 2024 National Volleyball Championship, they are not the most outstanding.
Finding foreign players is difficult. Making them fit the team's playing style is even more difficult. All teams always need time for players to adapt. Therefore, most teams of the 2024 National Volleyball Championship are rushing to hire foreign players because they only have more than a month to prepare before the second phase of the tournament begins.
