Socialization of sports:

Vietnam Esport team won gold medal at SEA Games 32. *Photo: VIRESA*

Financial autonomy when participating

In the context of limited investment resources for high-performance sports , which cannot be spread across the Olympic and ASIAD competition programs, promoting the socialization of newly developed sports in Vietnam is becoming increasingly necessary. With the main resources from businesses, associations and dedicated individuals, these sports promise to bring many opportunities to affirm the position and rapid catch-up of Vietnamese sports in the world sports community, especially in modern sports.

According to the preliminary list registered by the Vietnam Sports Industry with the 33rd SEA Games Organizing Committee, the group of sports participating in the form of socialization includes: Skateboarding, ice skating, bowling, mixed martial arts (MMA), baseball, sport climbing, Teqball (a sport using the feet, head and chest to pass the ball over the net), electronic sports (Esports), tug of war and Jetski (jet skiing). These are all sports that have been and are developing in Vietnam, including new sports, participating for the first time in the regional arena such as MMA and Teqball. Among these, Vietnamese Esports is showing its ability to quickly integrate into the regional competition system. Information from the Vietnam Entertainment Electronic Sports Association said that it will send 60 officials, coaches and athletes to participate in the 33rd SEA Games in Esports. The funding for participation is entirely from socialization.

Meanwhile, MMA is also making steady progress in Vietnam's national competition system. This is consistent with the development of this sport in the continent when MMA was included in the program of the Asian Indoor Games, Asian Youth Games... SEA Games 33 will be the first time the Vietnamese MMA team participates in all competitions. Mr. Mai Thanh Ba, General Secretary of the Vietnam MMA Federation and Head Coach of the Vietnamese MMA team participating in SEA Games 33, said that the team's professional training program was systematically developed by the Federation, and the participation fee was also completely mobilized by the Federation.

The return of sport climbing to the 33rd SEA Games is also the motivation for this sport to receive greater attention, and is also the reason for the establishment of the Vietnam Sport Climbing Team. Athletes are selected from the sport climbing movement that is growing strongly among urban youth.

Head of the High Performance Sports Department (Vietnam Sports Administration) Hoang Quoc Vinh once shared that the valuable thing about the socialized sports group is the high autonomy, from training and competition funding to equipment and grounds. Importantly, the teams participating in the 33rd SEA Games in the form of socialization all have clear and specific goals, not coming to this playground just to experience or "play around".

The inevitable direction

Many Vietnamese sports teams participating in the 33rd SEA Games under the form of socialization have set specific medal targets, even aiming to win gold medals.

The Vietnam E-Sports Entertainment Association informed that the goal of Vietnam Esports at SEA Games 33 is to win at least 1 gold medal, while consolidating its position in the region. This goal is not too far-fetched as at SEA Games 31, the Vietnam Esports team won 4 gold medals, while at SEA Games 32, the team won 1 gold medal.

The Vietnam Mixed Martial Arts Federation also set a target for the 6 Vietnamese MMA fighters (3 men, 3 women) participating in the 33rd SEA Games to win 1 gold medal. This target was assigned by the Federation to the MMA team in a recent meeting in Hanoi .

Many other Vietnamese sports teams participating in the 33rd SEA Games in the form of socialization also aim to win medals. Although they do not aim for gold medals like Esports or MMA, they still hope to create surprises.

This is a testament to the increasingly clear position of the above sports in the Vietnamese high-performance sports system. The 33rd SEA Games is expected to help these sports maintain their momentum of development, even creating breakthroughs to spread the effects in the community.

For the Sports industry, the success of the above sports at the 33rd SEA Games will consolidate the investment orientation of many years, while opening up opportunities in major playgrounds such as the Olympics or ASIAD. This is noteworthy when MMA and Esports have been included in the ASIAD competition program, and sport climbing is included in the Olympic program, with Vietnam referring to the experience of Indonesia, where it won the gold medal in the men's speed climbing event at the 2024 Olympics. Currently, the sport climbing movement in Vietnam is expanding rapidly, especially in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang and Nha Trang. At the 33rd SEA Games, the Vietnamese sport climbing team will be led by an American coach. From the experience of developing sport climbing in Indonesia, it can be clearly seen that: Socialization is not only a supplementary solution but an inevitable direction in the development of modern sports. This is also a way for Vietnam to expand its opportunities to win medals at the Olympics and ASIAD instead of just relying on a few key sports that have been invested in for many years.

The expectation of Vietnamese sports in the 33rd SEA Games as well as the following SEA Games with socialized sports is not only about medals but also the ability to deeply integrate into the international sports village, opening up opportunities to win ASIAD and Olympic medals and affirming the direction of the sports industry as well as encouraging the companionship of society in sports development.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/xa-hoi-hoa-the-thao-chien-luoc-mo-rong-co-hoi-cho-viet-nam-tai-sea-games-33-723497.html