Fifteen years after the implementation of the campaign “All the people practice physical training following great Uncle Ho”, the northern province of Quang Ninh has achieved a number of successes in both the public and professional sports arenas.

The campaign was launched in Quang Ninh province in 2000 on the occasion of the Vietnam Sports Day (March 27th) with the participation of nearly 1,000 officials, labourers, armed forces, pupils and representatives from the working class and people as well as ethnic minorities across the province, according to Pham Manh Son, Deputy Director of the Provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism. “The launch created an impetus to encourage people to exercise and improve the level of their health and build up a healthy and spiritual life,” he said.

Nguyen Thi Ly, an official from the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism said that in 2014 alone, the number of people who exercised regularly accounted for 26% of the province’s population, the highest level compared to the whole country. There are currently over 1,300 sports clubs in the province. Each year, thousands of sports competitions are organised with a capital of tens of billions of VND.

More and more facilities have been built rapidly for sports, mainly from private investors. Notably, 22 sports facilities have been built in coal companies alone, with an estimated capital of nearly VND500 billion. So far the province has 1,475 badminton courses, 226 volleyball courses and 295 football grounds.

The sports and physical training movements have not only been developed in enterprises and central areas, they have also reached to mountainous, border, coastal and ethnic minority-inhabited regions. Throughout 15 years, 8 sports ethnic minority campuses have been built in Hoanh Bo, Ba Che, Tien Yen, Dam Ha and Binh Lieu districts. Furthermore, the province successfully organised 7 ethnic minority sports festivals, attracting hundreds of Tay, Nung and Dao ethnic minority athletes, contributing to raising the spiritual lives of those living in remote areas.

In professional sports, athletes from the province have gained 6 world gold medals, 4 gold medals from Asia – Pacific competitions, 9 gold medals in the Southeast Asia and SEA Games, and hundreds of medals in national competitions.

As a result, a first-class Labour Order has been granted for the provincial post-office female volleyball team, which took the top prize from the national championships in 3 successive years, a second-class Labour Order for Pencaksilat athlete Le Thi Hang who was the world champion for 3 years. There were also many third-class Labour Orders for volleyball, chess, football and athletics together with a number of other different merit awards from the Prime Minister.

The period also witnessed the participation of thousands of athletes and tens of thousands of people in provincial sports games./.

( Complied by VNF )