How do you evaluate the overall picture of Vietnamese sports in recent years?
After the 2003 SEA Games, Vietnam has always been in the top 3 of the SEA Games until now. We have also gradually reached out to Asia and the world with Olympic medals in taekwondo, weightlifting, shooting, etc.
This is the effort of the State, the sports industry, coaches, athletes, social organizations and people.
However, Vietnamese sports still have limitations in training and coaching, leading to unsustainable development.
Can you elaborate on this?
Currently, the number of coaches and athletes at the grassroots level is still thin, the number of successor athletes is small, which significantly affects the quality of human resources in management, coaching and training.
The selection of athletes is based on national competitions, because many localities have talented athletes but do not organize training and competitions (no funding), limiting the force contributing to the country. Currently, only Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are two large cities that train many sports.
The system of facilities from the national to the units has not met the requirements for selection, training, and advanced training. In addition, the sports industry still has some shortcomings such as investment is still scattered and not focused; has not attracted the attention of society (socialization is not effective); limitations in facilities and financial resources; the state's training and competition budget has not met (especially training and competition abroad)...
Another factor is the ever-changing organizational structure, from a branch under the Government (General Department of Sports) to a Sports Committee equivalent to a Ministry, then the General Department of Sports and Physical Training under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and later the Department of Sports and Physical Training.
In localities, the sports industry is merged into the culture and tourism industry. This change more or less affects the psychology of sports people in their work, quality and efficiency.
The Prime Minister has just issued the Sports Development Strategy to 2030, with a vision to 2045. In your opinion, what should the sports industry do to develop sustainably and comprehensively?
First, it is necessary to select strong sports to develop in the Asian and Olympic arenas. In recent years, the sports industry has selected suitable sports such as shooting, archery, gymnastics, and weightlifting. However, to build a strategy for training and educating athletes to compete in the continent and the world, there must be a different approach.
Through many years of management, monitoring, and exchanging with colleagues and organizational apparatus of several countries in the world, I have realized that the sports industry should have an organizational apparatus established as the Ministry of Youth and Sports or the Ministry of Education and Sports. Because these two industries have elements of physical education and social education, which are very suitable for the Sports industry.
In addition, it is necessary to improve the quality and effectiveness of physical education in schools, continue to effectively implement the "Overall project for the development of physical education and school sports"; strongly develop sports activities of students, thereby finding many sports talents to select for youth teams and national teams.
In addition, continue to expand the scale and modernize national sports training centers; innovate the organization and management of high-performance sports in a professional direction; mobilize social resources to support athlete training facilities, especially in key sports.
Currently, there are differences in accommodation, training conditions, and treatment of different sports, especially in ensuring the future of athletes after retirement. Is it true that the sports industry needs a clearer strategy?
I think that as society develops and economic conditions improve, changing policies to suit the sports industry has brought about positive results. However, in reality, a person working in sports or a coach or athlete without doing other jobs will not have enough income, let alone surplus.
Therefore, it is necessary to have good policies to attract social resources to promote the development of sports economy, creating momentum for the development of mass sports and high-performance sports.
The sports industry also needs to select highly qualified planners, managers, scientists, coaches, and athletes to meet professional needs in the new period. Athletes selection needs a new approach, which is to classify athletes to participate in the Olympics, ASIAD, SEA Games, and invest in a specific training environment and treatment regime.
In addition, it is necessary to ensure investment in training and competition funds abroad for athletes; invest in building a force of young athletes through national target programs for provinces, cities and sectors (which have been implemented well in the past); build a mechanism for selecting experts, coaches, and athletes to manage and train appropriately to ensure effectiveness.
Currently, only men's football creates a high effect of good social investment, players can get rich from their profession, while other sports have not received much attention, and social resources are few. Like other industries and professions, Vietnamese sports can only develop when there is a good policy, a good organization, and receives the attention of society, then it can develop sustainably and reach new heights.
