Striker Bui Thi Hue city (No. 14) of the Vital Thai Binh Club and the national women’s volleyball team is known as “The Hammer”

Bui Thi Hue is a powerful striker for the Vital Thai Binh Club and the national women’s volleyball team.

Hue burst into laughter when asked why she had that nickname and offered no explanation, only saying, “I didn’t care for the name at first. Now I’m used to it.”

Her 1.74-meter height is not ideal for a striker, but Hue is one of the few female volleyball strikers that can blow their opponents away, yet defend well at the net too.

Hue spends a lot of time exercising to make up for her relative lack of height.

She can reach 2.95 meters in the air when she leaps from the court, making it possible for her to fire shots over the stretching hands of the tallest opponents.

“Hue is as good as the best strikers in the region, including the Thais,” coach Tung said.

“However, she needs more practice to minimize her habit of using too much strength, which can be less effective than a light touch. She should be more tactical.”

Hue, who is well aware of her weaknesses, is a big fan of Thailand’s No. 14 Tatchiree and believes her counterpart is very clever.

Thanks in no small part to Hue, her northern club won three championships in 2007 for the first time in 30 years. As her reward, she was offered the captaincy.

The highlight of the year was her team’s 3-2 victory over the mighty Binh Dien Long An in the final of the VTV Cup.

Volleyball vies with track and field

“Hue has exceptional qualities for an athlete,” coach Tung said. “When I took over the provincial club, Hue was training there already, but she was still competing for her school in track and field events.

“I was told that Hue would have been chosen for Thai Binh’s track and field squad had the province not fielded a women’s volleyball team.

“She was just an amateur, but she won a dozen gold medals and one silver medal in her three years of track and field competition,” Tung said.

“I was still going to school (Le Hong Phong High School), which I represented in track and field,” Hue said.

“I was happy to win medals in track and field but I was more interested in volleyball. The track and field coach at the time, Bui Trong Phuc, asked me to switch back, but I was determined to stay with the volleyball team.

“Nobody in my family plays sports. When I was 12, my parents suggested I try out when they saw an announcement on television that the provincial sports center was seeking promising athletes for training.

“I was 1.63 meters tall at the time and thought I would stop growing if I played sports, so I decided to apply.”

Hue began training in 1997 and won a place in Thai Binh’s first team in 2000. Over those three years, every member of the youth team strived to earn a spot in the province’s top side.

“When I was chosen for the national team at the age of 16, I was delirious with joy,” Hue said.

“These days I take it in stride but I remember how back then all of us at the club were so eager to get into the national team.”

Baby must wait

“I got married to a volleyball player five months ago. He’s also from Thai Binh but he plays for the police team of Vinh Phuc Province,” Hue said.

“We plan on having a baby but first we have the Southeast Asian Games in Laos late this year. For now we live in different places. Sometimes I feel disappointed because we don’t get to quarrel like other couples!”

It was volleyball that found Hue a husband and it’s volleyball that will keep the pair of them busy at least until the end of the year.

Said Hue with a smile, “We will start a family after the SEA Games!”

Reported by Thanh Luong