Pham Thu Trang was a member of the victorious women’s national volleyball team at the 2007 VTV Cup

When the Vietnam Television Cup 2007 ended with the volleyball championship going to the Vietnamese national women’s team for the first time after four previous tries, nobody noticed a young girl collapse on the floor.

She was sobbing with happiness.

Pham Thu Trang, who was 18 years old at the time, could not believe she’d come such a long way in so short a time.

The member of the military’s Information High Command volleyball club plays in the number three position, wears the number 6 on her back, and is quick to attack.

With her good looks, she also makes boys turn their heads.

Giving it a try

“When Trang came with her mother to ask if she could try out for the team in 2002, we had already closed the entry list for promising players,” said her club coach, Nguyen Thuy Oanh.

“But I noticed she was relatively tall and decided to give her a chance,” Oanh said.

“I knew nothing about volleyball at the time,” said Trang, who hails from the town of Van Dien in Hanoi’s Thanh Tri District and is the eldest of three sisters.

“A neighbor told me there was a course for promising volleyball players and suggested I join as I was 1.70 meters tall and only 14 years old.

“I asked around and finally found the address of the club, but I was too scared to go by myself to the center of Hanoi to register for the course, so I asked my mum to go with me.

“My parents said it would be good to give it a try as training in a military environment would be good for me mentally and physically. If it didn’t work out, I could always go back home to my parents,” Trang said.

Coach Oanh said the club selected 20 to 30 players every year from the hundreds who applied to join.

Once the selection is complete, the most promising of the youngest players are chosen for the youth team. Trang was among the best five in the 2002 youth team.

“In 2004, our youth team competed in the national under-16 championship. Then they practiced for two more years before moving up to the first team,” Oanh said.

Not out of reach

“Trang is quick on the court but her height is a bit of a handicap. She’s only 1.73 meters tall. And she could do with some extra physical training,” Oanh said.

“Still, she is what she is. As long as she remembers that excellence in sport only comes with great personal effort and determination.”

Trang found it very hard at the beginning. Sometimes, she almost cried because the training was so hard and she felt homesick.

At times she felt disappointed, but Oanh was a very good coach and would often come to encourage the youngsters, or reprimand them if they were lazy.

Trang knew her weaknesses, so she made her own training plans to complement the training dished out by the coaching staff.

“I am very ambitious. I always want to be a winner,” Trang said. was a dream come true.

After four key players had to withdraw, including Pham Thi Yen and striker Kim Hue city, she found herself in the center of the action at the VTV Cup in Ho Chi Minh City.

There were several new faces on the team so they were given little chance of winning the tournament - yet win they did.

Thai Thanh Tung, the national coach at the time, described Trang as “the future of women’s volleyball in Vietnam.”

“They can’t have boyfriends!” exclaimed coach Oanh with a smile.

“We realize they’re old enough to have boyfriends, but this is the military. They practice during the day and rest at night. It’s hard for them to have boyfriends!”

Trang smiled and said, “My father sometimes asks me about it, but I haven’t had a boyfriend. We’re exhausted after training. We have no time for that.

“I have some free time at night, but I have to learn English and how to use a computer. I must prepare myself for when I can’t play volleyball any more.

“When I am lazy, I listen to music. Anyway, I am straightforward and stubborn. No boy would put up with me.”

Reported by Thanh Luong