We talk a lot about the desire to reach the big sea. We dream of the stadiums filled with the audience, the tournament with the copyright of million dollars, the athletes living on the profession and living well. But, as the story wants to win the lottery, you have to buy lottery, dreaming, you need to act. Action is ... scared again.
Fear of commercialization will lose "quality" of sports. Fear of calling for investment will have to change the old way of making familiar capital. Fear of opening the door, it will have to accept the market's rules, where the achievement is not necessarily measured by a wall medal but equal to practical effect, by numbers, by profit.
Therefore, Vietnamese sports have long been around in a closed circle: the state budget granted - competing to take achievements - and then back ... Report achievement. The national championships from football to athletics, volleyball, badminton ... are still only around a few old sponsors, even sometimes it is their own "home" business.
Meanwhile, the sports economy in many countries has become an industry, where athletes are "special workers", where the club is an enterprise, where the tournament is commercial products. And the state, if present, is in the role of creating rather than nurturing for a lifetime.
Sports economic development is not just a direction. It is the only way for sports to escape the dependence, so that the "main characters" can live by the profession, so that talents are not unfinished dreams just because of difficulties.
But to go that path, need to be brave to do what you are afraid: Open the door. From mechanisms, policies to management thinking and how to see the role of sports in modern life.
Want market, must accept competition. Want to be valuable, must put sports in the right position: as an economic sector, not just a medal to show off.
Maybe it will initially stumble. There may be losses, paying. But if not started, for fear of surrounding, restraint, dreams will always be a dream.
