Under the guidance of Coach Quoc Ninh, Vinh Linh district has won first place for many consecutive years at the Cross Country Race "Running with Sacombank for community health" - Photo: DC
Exercise to...go to school
Born into a poor family in the red land of Vinh Linh, like many of his peers, Quoc Ninh had a difficult and arduous childhood. Although he had to drop out of school to earn a living, his dream of going to university never stopped burning within him. It was also those difficult days that helped him train his will to rise up, have good health, play many sports well and change his future.
He said: “When I was a student, I played track and field, soccer, and volleyball and played well. In addition to playing sports to improve my health and satisfy my passion, I also played sports for a very special reason: to... go to school. I say that because at that time the distance from my house to high school in Ho Xa town was more than 10 km. Because I didn't have a bicycle and it took a long time to walk, I was determined to wake up very early, put all my books and clothes in my bag and run to school.”
Every day, rain or shine, Quoc Ninh still persistently ran more than 20 km from home to school and back. Those runs nurtured in him the dream of becoming an athlete and then an athletics coach. In Vinh Linh at that time, Quoc Ninh was known by many people for his 6,000 m running. When he was in high school, he competed for Vinh Kim commune (now Kim Thach commune) and won second prize in the 6,000 m running event at the Vinh Linh District Sports Festival.
Recognizing Quoc Ninh's talent, the Provincial Sports Training and Competition Center invited him to train with the provincial athletics team, but he refused because he wanted to focus on his studies and spend time working to help his family.
Determined to go to university to study in a comprehensive training environment, develop abilities in many subjects and have good job opportunities after graduation, Mr. Ninh determined to review, practice health and passed the athletics major exam of Bac Ninh University of Physical Education and Sports in 2002.
In 2006, after graduating, although he was invited to work as a coach in Dak Nong province with many preferential policies, he chose to return to his hometown to realize his dream of developing Vinh Linh sports. During this time, Ninh was happy when he was accepted to work at Vinh Linh District Sports Center.
Grasping the strengths and weaknesses of local sports at that time, he advised the center's leaders on plans to develop grassroots sports to high-performance sports. In addition to doing well professionally, he actively participated in many sports competitions in and outside the province, bringing home many high achievements. Notably, he competed for the Provincial Military Command at the 2009 National Defense and Militia Sports Competition, winning first prize in the men's triathlon and was awarded a certificate of merit by the Commander of Military Region 4.
From 2005 to 2016, the name Quoc Ninh has always maintained the championship position at the Cross Country Race "Running with Sacombank for community health". With his strength in athletics, Mr. Ninh directly went to localities and schools to select talented children in running, high jumping, long jumping... for training, with the aim of building a core force for Vinh Linh athletics in the future. "For the training to be effective, I always accompany the children not only as a teacher but also as an older brother, a senior athlete.
From my own competition experience and acquired expertise, I meticulously pass on to the students, at the same time giving them the spiritual fire to overcome their own limits and confidently conquer high achievements," Mr. Ninh shared.
Teacher of many national players
Mr. Duong Quoc Ninh is always dedicated to youth volleyball training - Photo: DC
From 2010 to now, Vinh Linh district has affirmed its position in provincial athletics competitions, in which for many consecutive years the team has won first prize in provincial athletics and cross-country competitions. Contributing to that overall achievement is a significant part of the dedication and silent efforts of Mr. Duong Quoc Ninh.
As Deputy Director of the Center for Culture, Information and Sports of Vinh Linh district, Mr. Ninh has spread the movement of training in sports such as athletics, volleyball... throughout the district. Especially, he has nurtured and given wings to many talents to develop, and they have been called to the Quang Tri provincial team, the youth team and the national team.
Typical examples are national track and field athletes such as: Nguyen Khanh Ly, Bien Van Anh, Nguyen Thi Quynh Trang... In addition, many of Mr. Ninh's students are professional athletes after retiring from their competitive careers, graduating from Sports Universities and are currently teaching physical education in schools, making many positive contributions to Quang Tri sports and the education and training sector.
Realizing that volleyball is developing widely throughout Vinh Linh district, but when participating in provincial sports competitions, the achievements are not commensurate. Therefore, he began to focus on nurturing and training young talents by opening volleyball teaching classes at Vinh Linh District Sports and Training Center and some other localities. Besides, every summer, he also opens free volleyball training classes for about 40 children. These are the future seeds for Vinh Linh district volleyball.
The efforts of Mr. Ninh and his students were duly rewarded when the young talents, after many years of nurturing and selecting for the district women's volleyball team, won the Second Prize at the Volleyball Tournament - Provincial Sports Festival in 2018. With his coaching skills, inspiration as well as building a united team, Mr. Ninh and the district men's and women's teams continued to win 2 First Prizes in the men's and women's categories at the Volleyball Tournament - Provincial Sports Festival in 2022; 2 First Prizes in the men's and women's categories at the Quang Tri Provincial Volleyball Championship in 2024.
Coach Quoc Ninh is also the one who discovered, encouraged and supported athlete Nguyen Van Nam to have the opportunity to pursue his passion and join the national volleyball team. Through his training, many athletes have competed successfully in provincial volleyball tournaments, the Department of Education and Training and continue to work with him to train and nurture young volleyball players to build a successor force for Vinh Linh volleyball.
In addition to athletics and volleyball, Mr. Ninh also demonstrated his talent in coaching and leading sports teams to compete in football, tug of war, pole pushing, petanque, boat racing, etc., achieving many impressive achievements. Notably, Vinh Linh boat racing won the first prize for the entire team at the Traditional Boat Racing Championship "National Reunification Festival" in 2025.
This summer, Mr. Ninh continues his journey to develop Vinh Linh volleyball through youth training with 2 volleyball classes for students at Vinh Linh District Sports and Training Center and in Kim Thach commune with over 60 students; teaching free advanced classes for about 40 students in Ho Xa town.
“In the coming time, there will certainly be many changes in working positions, agency names or human resources and cadres of localities. However, no matter where I work, I will still devote all my heart to building and developing the sports movement, especially focusing all my efforts on better training young athletes to build volleyball and athletics teams to participate in the newly organized sports tournaments of Quang Tri province to achieve high results,” Mr. Ninh affirmed.
Hoai Diem Chi
Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/nguoi-tam-huyet-voi-the-thao-194322.htm
Comment (0)