Socialization of sports:

The Vietnamese Esports team won the gold medal at the 32nd SEA Games. *Photo: VIRESA*

Financial independence is key when participating.

Given the limited investment resources for high-performance sports , which cannot be spread across all disciplines in the Olympic and Asian Games programs, promoting the socialization of newly developing sports in Vietnam becomes even more necessary. With resources primarily from businesses, associations, and dedicated individuals, these sports promise to offer many opportunities to affirm the position and quickly integrate Vietnamese sports into the global sports arena, especially in modern sports.

According to the preliminary list registered by the Vietnamese Sports Department with the SEA Games 33 Organizing Committee, the sports participating under the socialized funding model include: skateboarding, ice skating, bowling, mixed martial arts (MMA), baseball, sport climbing, Teqball (a sport using feet, head, and chest to pass the ball over the net), esports, tug-of-war, and jetski. These are all sports that have been and are developing in Vietnam, including new sports making their first appearance in the regional arena such as MMA and Teqball. Among these, Vietnamese esports is showing the ability to quickly integrate into the regional competition system. Information from the Vietnam Entertainment Esports Association indicates that 60 officials, coaches, and athletes will participate in SEA Games 33 in esports. The funding for participation will come entirely from socialized funding.

Meanwhile, MMA is also making steady progress in Vietnam's national competition system. This aligns with the sport's development across the continent, as MMA has been included in the Asian Indoor Games, the Asian Youth Games, etc. The 33rd SEA Games will be the first time the Vietnamese MMA team participates in all events. Mr. Mai Thanh Ba, General Secretary of the Vietnam MMA Federation and Head Coach of the Vietnamese MMA team at the 33rd SEA Games, said that the team's professional training program was systematically developed by the Federation, and the participation costs were entirely raised by the Federation.

The reintroduction of sport climbing to the 33rd SEA Games has also motivated the sport to receive greater attention and is the reason for establishing the Vietnamese sport climbing team. Athletes are selected from the rapidly developing sport climbing movement among urban youth.

Hoang Quoc Vinh, Head of the High-Performance Sports Department (Vietnam Sports Administration), once shared that the valuable aspect of the socialized sports group is its high degree of autonomy, from training and competition funding to equipment and venues. Importantly, the teams participating in the SEA Games 33 under the socialized model all have clear and specific goals; they are not just there for the experience or to "stroll around."

The inevitable direction

Many Vietnamese sports teams participating in the 33rd SEA Games, funded through social contributions, have set specific medal targets, even aiming for gold medals.

The Vietnam Esports and Entertainment Association announced that the Vietnamese Esports team's goal at the 33rd SEA Games is to win at least one gold medal, while also consolidating its position in the region. This goal is not unrealistic, considering that at the 31st SEA Games, the Vietnamese Esports team won four gold medals, while at the 32nd SEA Games, the team won one gold medal.

The Vietnam Mixed Martial Arts Federation has also set a target for the six Vietnamese MMA fighters (three men and three women) participating in the SEA Games 33 to win one gold medal. This target was assigned to the MMA team by the Federation during a recent meeting in Hanoi .

Many other Vietnamese sports teams participating in the SEA Games 33 under a socialized model also aim for medals. Although they don't aim for gold medals like Esports or MMA, they still hope to create surprises.

This is evidence of the increasingly prominent position of these sports in Vietnam's high-performance sports system. The 33rd SEA Games is expected to help these sports maintain their development momentum, and even create breakthroughs to spread their positive impact throughout the community.

For the sports sector, the success of these disciplines at the 33rd SEA Games will reinforce the investment direction of previous years, while opening up opportunities in major competitions such as the Olympics and the Asian Games. This is noteworthy, as MMA and Esports have been included in the Asian Games program, and sport climbing is on the Olympic program, with Vietnam drawing on the experience of Indonesia, which 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 is clear that socialization is not just 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 relying solely on a few key sports that have received significant investment over the years.

Vietnamese sports' expectations for the 33rd SEA Games, as well as subsequent SEA Games with socially-oriented sports, extend beyond medals to include deeper integration into the international sports community, opening up opportunities to win medals at the ASIAD and Olympic Games, affirming the direction of the sports sector, and encouraging social participation 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