Extensive preparation, coordinated programs bear golden fruit<\/p>\n
Vietnam emerged as the winner of the 22nd Southeast Asian (SEA)
\nGames in terms of medals. The success in securing the
\nchampionship for the first time came down to the long, hard
\npreparation of their athletes. Dang Lam Son, the assistant to the
\nMinister of Sports, spoke with The Jakarta Post's Musthofid on
\nthe sidelines of the Games in Hanoi. Below are the highlights of
\nthe interview.<\/p>\n
Question: Vietnamese athletes have performed very well, gold
\nafter gold has been won at almost every venue of the competition.
\nHow long did you prepare the athletes and what went into the
\nathletes' recruitment?<\/p>\n
Answer: Vietnam has been trying to recruit and train the best
\nathletes available for over ten years now.<\/p>\n
Q: How do you work out your training program?<\/p>\n
A: Since Vietnam came back to the SEA Games in 1989, we have
\nbeen preparing for this special event for some time. We called it
\nthe 'Target Program' for the athletes.<\/p>\n
Q: What specific programs have you have laid down to
\nintensively train for this year's SEA Games?<\/p>\n
A: First of all, we have specialized sports schools all around
\nthe country. We have the best teachers and coaches of respective
\nsports that we can find. We pick up most of our potential
\nstudents from the public schools and hold national training
\ntryouts.<\/p>\n
Q: How many sports schools are there?<\/p>\n
A: We have one in every province, plus, in big cities we have
\ntwo or three, and there are a total of 16,000 students at those
\nspecialized schools.<\/p>\n
Q: At what age do they join the specialized schools?<\/p>\n
A: It depends on the sport. For example, chess will begin from
\n6-years-old. In gymnastics, they are normally about 6 or 7, when
\nthey start training. The same goes for swimming.<\/p>\n
Q: Are those schools controlled by the central government?<\/p>\n
A: Yes, they are run and organized by the Ministry of Sports.
\nBut it also depends on the respective provincial authority as
\npart of their own training program.<\/p>\n
Q: What is the next program after athletes 'graduate' from
\nthose schools?<\/p>\n
A: They are then recruited into special national training
\ncenters. We have many training centers all over the country, and
\nin one center there are many kinds of sports. When they reach a
\ncertain level of performance, we push them up further by sending
\nthem abroad to train and compete or bring in top foreign coaches
\nfrom different countries for them.<\/p>\n
Q: What do you expect from the ten-year training program?<\/p>\n
A: The aim of the program is to make Vietnam consistently one
\nof the most powerful countries in the region and to prepare
\nVietnam to become the most challenging country in certain sports
\nin Asia and the world.<\/p>\n
Q: Referring back to the ongoing SEA Games, how long did you
\nhave a focused training program?<\/p>\n
A: The focused training program began in 2000. We began
\nsending athletes to other countries like China, Taiwan, Thailand,
\nSingapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Q: How much did that program cost?<\/p>\n
A: We can't provide the exact figures right now, but we
\nestimated it to be billions of Vietnamese dong to have this
\ntraining program. We set aside a budget of around 500 billion
\ndong (approximately US$32.03 million) to train athletes for and
\nto organize the SEA Games.<\/p>\n
Q: How do you motivate the athletes to perform well in the SEA
\nGames? Are there any cash bonuses promised for successful
\nathletes?<\/p>\n
A: Yes. We provide 15 million dong for gold medalists, 10
\nmillion dong for silver medalists and 7 million dong for bronze
\nmedalists. In addition, the medal winners will get bonuses from
\nsponsors and other companies in the athletes' respective
\nprovinces.<\/p>\n
Q: What was your ministry's first priority when Vietnam was
\nappointed as the host of the 22nd SEA Games?<\/p>\n
A: The first priority of the Vietnamese government was to
\nbuild the infrastructure. We built the roads and constructed the
\nfacilities for the SEA Games.<\/p>\n
Q: Where did the money come from?<\/p>\n
A: The bulk of it came from the state budget. Local people
\nalso made contributions. And a small part of the funding came
\nfrom private organizations.<\/p>\n
Q: What do the government and people expect from the
\norganization of the SEA Games?<\/p>\n
A: We hope that the SEA Games will fully depict the motto:
\nSolidarity and Cooperation for Peace and Development.<\/p>\n
Q: Could you explain what message the motto carries with it?<\/p>\n
A: The 11 countries in the SEA Games will join hands to become
\none of strongest organizations in sports in the world.<\/p>\n
Q: What is your next program after this SEA Games?<\/p>\n
A: We will embark on a campaign called \"Sports For All\".
\nEveryone must be involved in a sport so we can organize even
\nbigger events in the future.<\/p>\n
Q: Do you have another 10-year program after this SEA Games?<\/p>\n
A: We have another 10-year program, a 20-year program, etc.<\/p>\n
Q: That will definitely cost some money. How will you tackle
\nthe financial cost of such large-scale sports programs in the
\nfuture?<\/p>\n
A: We do believe that with our economic development rate of 7
\npercent annually we will be able to pay for it.<\/p>\n
Q: Vietnam has been successful both as hosts and sporting
\nperformers. What do you attribute these successes to?<\/p>\n
A: The success belongs to all of the Vietnamese people.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/extensive-preparation-coordinated-programs-bear-golden-fruit-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }