Da Nang Newspaper’s reporter Nguyen An recently interviewed the Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr Nguyen Phuc Linh, about the adjustments to the city’s high-achievement sports development strategies towards 2020.

Deputy Director Linh stressed the need for the city’s sports sector to adjust the above-mentioned strategies.  The main reason is that the city is facing a shortage of capital, sporting facilities, and skillful coaches.  In addition, some of the city’s existing professional athletes will have retired in the years ahead due to their age, but younger ones have yet to meet the requirements of their coaches.

Retired hammer thrower Nguyen Ngoc Ly

He affirmed that the purpose of the adjustment was to make the city’s high-achievement sports development strategies towards 2020 suitable for the current local situation.  This will help Da Nang to become the best culture - sports, education - training, and science - technology centres in the central region, as well as one of Viet Nam’s 4 leading sports centres.

In an attempt to reach the targets above, the local sports sector’s focus will be on improving the quality of coaches and management staff at the city's Athlete Training Centre.  Special attention will be paid to signing contracts with professional coaches from both home and abroad, and issuing more preferential policies to local talented athletes and their coaches.

In addition, importance will be attached to expanding the enrolment of athletes into other localities, developing more training facilities, and ensuring sufficient supplies of sports clothes and equipment for local athletes. 

Apart from promoting science and technology applications in training, heed will be paid to creating more chances for local athletes to participate in national and international competitions in order to help them and their coaches accumulate more experience.