Revitalizing Khanh Hoa’s volleyball movement

Khanh Hoa volleyball has excelled in domestic high-performance sports with 4 national championships of Sanest Khanh Hoa. However, the volleyball movement of local agencies and localities is relatively weak. The volleyball championship 2024 taking place from August 27 to 29 at the provincial sports arena saw localities making significant efforts in forming and sending their teams to the tournament, aiming to revitalize the province's volleyball movement.

Match between Kim Hoang Phat and Cam Lam and Nha Trang

Nguyen Tuan Thanh, deputy director of Khanh Hoa Provincial Department of Culture and Sports and head of the 2024 championship organizing committee, states that for many years, the province’s sports sector has been keen on maintaining an indoor volleyball competition by organizing the provincial championship. However, the limited number of participating teams has made it challenging to organize the tournament. This year, localities have made significant efforts to form their teams. This year’s tournament also had women's event. This is expected to serve as a catalyst for rejuvenation of the province's volleyball.

This year's championship was joined by 8 teams with 5 male teams and 3 female teams from clubs and localities such as Khanh Son, Nha Trang City, and Cam Lam (women's event); and Hung Bao, King Homestay, Kim Hoang Phat-Cam Lam, Nha Trang, and Dien Khanh (men's event). The teams competed in a round-robin format, with points determining their positions on the rankings. The tournament showed that the localities and teams generally prepared well for the competition. The matches were praised for their quality. Notably, Cam Lam District’s teams excelled, with both male and female teams winning men’s and women’s events. Meanwhile, Khanh Son female team, consisting mainly of office workers, civil servants and teachers, showed their love for indoor volleyball. Participating in the provincial championship for the first time and winning a silver medal in the women's event, Thuy Tien from Khanh Son said, "I’ve been playing volleyball for 10 years, but mostly just for fun and fitness. This is my first time competing in a provincial tournament. I hope that after this event, the province’s sports sector will continue to organize this playground so that female players have more opportunities to play with each other and contribute to the development of local sport."

According to Ha Hai Trung from Khanh Son District Center of Culture, Information, and Sports, the lack of local indoor volleyball playgrounds over the years has led to a decline of local volleyball movement. For a mountainous area like Khanh Son, gathering enough players to form a female team and getting funds for this provincial tournament is challenging. Therefore, the district had made a lot of effort to overcome the difficulties and take part in the tournament. This tournament is expected to serve as a catalyst for revitalizing indoor volleyball in the province in general and in Khanh Son in particular.

After three days of lively and exciting competitions, the organizing committee gave medals and prizes to the teams with outstanding results on August 29.

An Nhien
Translated by H.N