On the competition day of August 17, LPBank Ninh Binh youth team had a promising start when leading Ho Chi Minh City women's youth team 11-4 in set 1, but could not maintain the advantage and let the opponent come back to win 25-23. After that, LPBank Ninh Binh played brightly in set 2, taking advantage of the opponent's lack of coordination in attack to win 25-13, equalizing the game.
However, at decisive moments, the LPBank Ninh Binh youth team could not maintain stability. The two teams clashed in set 3 before TPHCM won breathlessly 30-28. In set 4, LPBank Ninh Binh continued to lose 23-25, thereby receiving a final defeat of 1-3. Thus, up to now, the LPBank Ninh Binh youth team has achieved a result of 1 win and 2 losses.
Difficulties from human resources
The biggest difficulty that coach Kim Hue faced came not only from the meager time when Kim Hue was temporarily assigned to take charge of the LPBank Ninh Binh youth team after the second line coach came to perform tasks with the national team, but also because the force was shuffled right before the tournament. The LPBank Ninh Binh youth team lacked two important positions, the setter and main middle blocker, forcing the coaching staff to continuously adjust the squad.
The shortage of personnel makes the training plan also have to be constantly changed. Instead of perfecting tactics, the coaching staff must spend a lot of time consolidating basic skills for each position. According to Kim Hue, the immediate goal is not to achieve results at all costs but to help players play according to their ability and overcome mental pressure.
I just hope the children will boldly show what they have practiced. If we keep putting too much pressure, in the end, the most disappointed people will be the children," Kim Hue said.
Through each match, Kim Hue realizes that the biggest reason is not in expertise but in psychological factors. According to her, in training sessions or internal matches with the first team, young players all perform quite well. However, when entering the official tournament, the pressure of achievement makes many children unable to properly develop their abilities.
Many players train with the first team, but when they enter the official match, they are very tense, it feels like their hands and feet are no longer up to their word," the female coach assessed.
As someone who has experienced many years of top-level competition, Kim Hue understands that the maturity of an athlete is a long-term accumulation process. Therefore, she does not set a goal of creating too big a change after just a few weeks of work. What the female coach aims for is to help her students gradually overcome weaknesses so that the team does not fall into a state of loss of control when entering competition.
Success requires a long process
Coach Kim Hue believes that the success of youth training cannot be measured by a tournament or a season.
More importantly, it is necessary to build a professional foundation, competitive bravery and training awareness so that athletes can develop long-term, becoming a quality successor for the LPBank Ninh Binh first team as well as the Vietnamese women's volleyball team in the future.
Although not achieving the target set at the 2026 National Club Youth Volleyball Cup and not achieving the best results after the matches at the 2026 National Youth Championship, female coach Kim Hue still assesses that the LPBank Ninh Binh youth team has made much progress compared to before, but there are still many points to improve.
