According to the Vietnam Volleyball Federation, the number of foreign players on local teams has decreased considerably this year.

Thai player Kitsada (green) of the Vietnamese Steel club.

There are 16 foreign players participating in the first round of the National Volleyball Tournament for Strong Clubs 2009, most of whom are female players.

As a distributor of foreign players for volleyball clubs, Nguyen Thi Nhat Thanh, PR manager of the Vietnam Volleyball Federation, said that there are two major reasons for the reduction of foreign players this year: restricted financial sources and clubs only signing short-term contracts.

Coach Nguyen Thuy Oanh of the High Command of Information team, agreed, saying that top volleyball players of Thailand have signed with Turkish and Indonesia teams instead of Vietnamese teams because they were able to get long-term contracts, though the pay is lower than in Vietnam.

This year, foreign players in Vietnam are elderly or very young players from Thailand. The most outstanding player is Kitsada Somkane, 19, of the Vietnamese Steel club in HCM City.

One year ago, Kitsada, 1.92m, helped Vietnamese Steel enter the top six clubs in Vietnam. Kitsada currently has a short-term contract with this club with monthly pay of $2,000.

VietNamNet/TT