Seventh time and maybe more
Although the contract has not been officially signed, the Japanese team has posted a picture of Thanh Thuy with the number 16 on the official website. It is expected that if all procedures go smoothly, Thanh Thuy will go to Japan in September 2025 to prepare for the season starting on October 10.
A representative of Binh Dien Long An Sports One Member Co., Ltd., the parent company of the VTV Binh Dien Long An women's volleyball team, where Thanh Thuy is playing, also confirmed that they are aware of Thanh Thuy's desire to compete abroad. The company also affirmed that it will always create conditions for her to develop her expertise by competing abroad so that this leading talent of Vietnamese women's volleyball can fully develop her professional qualities.
Over the past year, Thanh Thuy's international career has had many fluctuations. After leaving PFU BlueCats (Japan) in April 2024, she went to Turkey to play for Kuzeyboru, then continued to move to Indonesia to play for Gresik Petrokimia. However, these trips abroad did not last long as Thanh Thuy could not play until the end of her contract with the two clubs above. Injuries and fierce competition in terms of expertise forced her to say goodbye to these clubs, especially Kuzeyboru.
In early 2025, Thanh Thuy returned to Vietnam, playing for VTV Binh Dien Long An in the first phase of the National Championship. The leading club in Vietnam is where Thanh Thuy was discovered and trained to become the top volleyball talent in Vietnam and is always the place she returns to after each time abroad to practice, compete, and maintain her form.
Thanh Thuy's participation in VTV Binh Dien Long An since the beginning of 2025 is also a way for Thanh Thuy to regain her form. In this tournament, Thanh Thuy continued to affirm her leading position when leading her home team into the top group. Continuing her good form at the National Championship, she also won the AVC Challenge Cup 2025 with the Vietnamese women's volleyball team for the third consecutive time, receiving the title of "Best Striker". That strong comeback is the foundation for a new conquest in Japan.
Gunma Green Wings, the team that Thanh Thuy is about to join, just won the right to play in the Japanese national volleyball championship since last year, and is at the bottom of the table in the 2024/2025 season due to the lack of quality foreign players. This season, they have recruited a series of names such as Türkiye's No. 1 middle blocker Nasya Dimitrova, Thanh Thuy's former teammate at Kuzeyboru, and the main striker of the Polish national team Olivia Rozanski. According to regulations, each Japanese club is allowed to use a maximum of 3 foreign players at the same time (1 Asian, 2 non-Asian), and Thanh Thuy will almost certainly play the main role in the team's tactical scheme.
This will be the 7th time Thanh Thuy has competed abroad – an impressive number for a Vietnamese female athlete. In addition to Japan (twice), she has competed in Thailand, Taiwan (China), Türkiye and Indonesia. And most likely, after this time, Thanh Thuy will compete abroad many more times. Although not every time will go smoothly, the important thing is that Thanh Thuy is always ready to step out of her comfort zone, accept challenges to learn, improve her professional skills and international competition skills.
Go to know where you are
Not only Thanh Thuy, but also a number of other Vietnamese female volleyball players are showing a positive trend of playing abroad. Blocker Tran Thi Bich Thuy is a notable case. In the 2024/2025 season, she played for GS Caltex Seoul Kixx Club (Korea) under a short-term contract and quickly proved her ability. From the bottom of the table, the team had a series of 11 wins after Bich Thuy joined, ending the season with 12 wins and 39 points. She was also twice included in the best lineup of the round, which is very rare for a new foreign player.
However, it is not easy for every player to get a place in international competition. In 2024, some national players such as Le Thanh Thuy, Hoang Thi Kieu Trinh and Doan Thi Xuan registered to compete in the Korean Women's Volleyball Championship (Korean V.League), but were not selected. The main obstacles are their physique, foreign language and international competition experience, which are not competitive enough compared to candidates from Europe, America or South America.
This also shows that the path to going abroad is not smooth. Success requires careful preparation in terms of mentality, physical strength, foreign language, and proper support from the Club and the Federation. Thanh Thuy and Bich Thuy are successful because they have a good physical foundation, a progressive spirit, professional thinking, and especially the will to overcome difficulties. The journey abroad of Thanh Thuy and her teammates is a testament to the change in thinking of Vietnamese female volleyball players. They dare to compete abroad to mature, accept risks in exchange for stature. Not everyone is successful, but stepping out of their "safe shell" to learn is already remarkable.
In fact, without domestic clubs as a support, players will have difficulty returning home before waiting for further invitations to compete abroad. Meanwhile, the clubs themselves are also aware of creating conditions for their players to compete abroad. The representative of VTV Binh Dien Long An admitted that Thanh Thuy may not compete in the second phase of the 2025 National Championship for VTV Binh Dien Long An. That is a disadvantage for the club, but VTV Binh Dien Long An accepts to let Thanh Thuy develop long-term. The club also considers this the most practical way to contribute to Vietnamese volleyball.
In recent years, the Vietnam Volleyball Federation has advocated creating conditions for players to go abroad during the gap between two domestic competitions. Because the domestic competition system only lasts a few months each year, if there is no international competition, players can easily "lose the feeling" of competition and their skills will stagnate. Some clubs such as VTV Binh Dien Long An and Hoa Chat Duc Giang Lao Cai have also proactively sought cooperation opportunities, introduced players to play abroad for a long time and accepted to sacrifice their strength and achievements in some domestic tournament stages.
The story of the desire to compete abroad in the Vietnamese women's volleyball village is also in line with the trend of raising the level that managers are aiming for. Obviously, only by continuously competing in more competitive volleyball regions can Vietnamese players create a strong national team. And in some aspects, it is an inspiration to raise the level of other sports as well as within the Vietnamese volleyball village itself.
Safe choice
While many female volleyball players are looking for opportunities to play abroad, currently, Vietnamese football has not seen any players continue to play abroad after players like Quang Hai returned home at the end of 2023. Currently, playing domestically is still considered a "safe" choice for many top Vietnamese players.
Minh Khue
Source: https://cand.com.vn/the-thao/thanh-thuy-va-co-hoi-xuat-ngoai-cua-van-dong-vien-viet-nam-i775008/
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