Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hoa is a member of Viet Nam’s national team, which recently won the 2007 VTV Women’s Volleyball Cup held at Ho Chi Minh City’s Phan Dinh Phung Stadium.
Ngoc Hoa’s performance during the event impressed both USA’s St. John team and Japan’s Shikoku team, each subsequently inviting her to play for them.
A national player at just 16 years old
“Viet Nam’s number 9 inspired me very much,” said Ms. Joanne Persico – Smith, coach of the USA’s side, after her team lost to Viet Nam in their VTV Women’s Volleyball Cup final match.
That number 9 is 20 year old and 1.83-meter tall hitter Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hoa, who has played for the national team for four years.
“Ngoc Hoa is a special talent. She can perform difficult moves that most players struggle to make”, recounted Ngoc Hoa’s Japanese coach Shimizu of the Binh Dien Long An Club.
During the VTV Cup, Ngoc Hoa demonstrated beautiful coordination between herself and setter Ha Thi Hoa. She also performed a dazzling display of defense that helped her win the event’s “Best Blocker” title.
A US $39,000 a year scholarship
“Ngoc Hoa will become an international-level volleyball player if she is trained methodically” the St. John University’s coach said to Coach Shimizu, before offering a scholarship worth US $39,000 per year to Ngoc Hoa, asking her if she wanted to play for the university.
Aside from Ms. Joanne, Coach Yoneda Kazunori of Japan’s Shikoku club also asked Mr. Shimizu to help them invite Ngoc Hoa to play for their club in Japan for two months.
The young Vietnamese talent replied to both foreign teams’ interest, stating that she was very happy to be offered a chance to study and play volleyball in a foreign country but she affirmed that she had to wait for her club’s approval.
“I cannot decide anything alone because I belong to the Binh Dien Long An Club” she said.
“This is really good news for Ngoc Hoa in particular and for Viet Nam’s women’s volleyball in general. Japan and the USA have world-level volleyball, so if Ngoc Hoa was to play at one of the two countries, she will gain a lot of good experience”, Coach Luong Khuong Thuong of the Binh Dien Long An Club said proudly.
Born in Long An, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hoa is 1.83 meters tall, ideal for playing volleyball. When she was 12 year olds, she was 1.60 meters tall, so she easily passed in the volleyball class for gifted student of Long An Province’s Department of Sport and Physical Training. “My parents were worried at that time when they knew I had chosen volleyball. But now they support me as they understand that I love this sport very much” Ngoc Hoa recounted. |
