While Vietnamese athletes are often perceived as purely physical specimens, quite a few have shown the acumen to succeed in sectors outside of the sporting arena.
Dang Hong Anh was one of Vietnam’s best tennis players in 1998 at the age of 18.
He had participated in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in 1999 in Brunei, but after encountering some disagreements with the national tennis squad, abruptly decided to quit the sport at the tender age of 21.
Raised in a business oriented family whose matriarch, Dang Van Thanh, served as Sacombank’s chairman, Anh had dabbled in entrepreneurialism while pursuing his athletic career.
At 18 years of age, he opened a small bistro on Ho Chi Minh City’s Pasteur Street selling noodles with just VND5 million (US$312) in capital.
Upon giving up tennis, Anh decided to join with two friends to open a shop that traded steel and iron in HCMC’s Tan Binh District.
The collaboration was more successful than expected and it imparted him with valuable formative experiences in the world of business.
When he turned 24, Anh’s father asked him to take over and manage a real estate company called Sacomreal.
With a university degree in business administration, he decided to take on the challenge.
Sacomreal was then only six months old with a chartered capital of VND11 billion ($688,000).
Anh subsequently spearheaded the small enterprise with only 11 employees into a well-established real estate company worth VND700 billion ($43.8 million).
Now well-known in the real estate sector, Anh submits that first class athletes are extremely intelligent and versatile in many fields rather than constrained to their sports calling as people may stereotype.
Caddying dreams
While the golf course is often known as the playground for upper class and accomplished people, it is rare to hear a story about a caddie - someone who carries golf clubs and a host of miscellaneous items to serve clients on the course – overcoming obstacles to become a successful golfer.
Nguyen Van Thong is one such caddie who has morphed into a famous Vietnamese competitor through hard work and dedication.
Working as a caddie gave him a chance to hone his skills, which have translated into winning the national gold medal in 2006 and being annually selected to the national golf team.
After achieving considerable acclaim in the sport, Thong now serves in the post of Long Thanh Golf Course’s deputy manager, rounding out a career that witnessed his remarkable transition from a field hand to a respected professional.
Another example of a former caddie who transformed into a distinguished competitor is the 2007 national golf gold medalist Huynh Van Son, who is currently studying in Malaysia to become a professional golf instructor.
Adaptive talents
Tran Tien Dai from the HCMC Police Club is not so well known as other players in football circles, yet he has managed to attain much success after just a short time of doing business in Vietnam’s football transfer market.
With his experience as a footballer who formed strong social networks, Dai adapted his career to become a player transfer manager when Vietnam inaugurated its football league.
At the moment, Vietnamese football is new and the transfer market is not very well-organized.
Sometimes Dai suffers losses from introducing underachieving foreign players to clubs; at other times, he cuts a good deal and profits twice as much from initial investments.
With perseverance and good business sensitivity, Dai has overcome the lack of a strong educational background to build up his firm, Dai Nguyen Sports Company, which serves an important function facilitating transactions in Vietnam’s young football market.
The lesson here teaches that regardless of the backgrounds that athletes come from, the strong will and commitment that they show in sports can translate into life success despite pervasive prejudice about intellectual smarts.
Dang Hong Anh was one of Vietnam’s best tennis players in 1998 at the age of 18.
He had participated in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in 1999 in Brunei, but after encountering some disagreements with the national tennis squad, abruptly decided to quit the sport at the tender age of 21.
Raised in a business oriented family whose matriarch, Dang Van Thanh, served as Sacombank’s chairman, Anh had dabbled in entrepreneurialism while pursuing his athletic career.
At 18 years of age, he opened a small bistro on Ho Chi Minh City’s Pasteur Street selling noodles with just VND5 million (US$312) in capital.
Upon giving up tennis, Anh decided to join with two friends to open a shop that traded steel and iron in HCMC’s Tan Binh District.
The collaboration was more successful than expected and it imparted him with valuable formative experiences in the world of business.
When he turned 24, Anh’s father asked him to take over and manage a real estate company called Sacomreal.
With a university degree in business administration, he decided to take on the challenge.
Sacomreal was then only six months old with a chartered capital of VND11 billion ($688,000).
Anh subsequently spearheaded the small enterprise with only 11 employees into a well-established real estate company worth VND700 billion ($43.8 million).
Now well-known in the real estate sector, Anh submits that first class athletes are extremely intelligent and versatile in many fields rather than constrained to their sports calling as people may stereotype.
Caddying dreams
While the golf course is often known as the playground for upper class and accomplished people, it is rare to hear a story about a caddie - someone who carries golf clubs and a host of miscellaneous items to serve clients on the course – overcoming obstacles to become a successful golfer.
Nguyen Van Thong is one such caddie who has morphed into a famous Vietnamese competitor through hard work and dedication.
Working as a caddie gave him a chance to hone his skills, which have translated into winning the national gold medal in 2006 and being annually selected to the national golf team.
After achieving considerable acclaim in the sport, Thong now serves in the post of Long Thanh Golf Course’s deputy manager, rounding out a career that witnessed his remarkable transition from a field hand to a respected professional.
Another example of a former caddie who transformed into a distinguished competitor is the 2007 national golf gold medalist Huynh Van Son, who is currently studying in Malaysia to become a professional golf instructor.
Adaptive talents
Tran Tien Dai from the HCMC Police Club is not so well known as other players in football circles, yet he has managed to attain much success after just a short time of doing business in Vietnam’s football transfer market.
With his experience as a footballer who formed strong social networks, Dai adapted his career to become a player transfer manager when Vietnam inaugurated its football league.
At the moment, Vietnamese football is new and the transfer market is not very well-organized.
Sometimes Dai suffers losses from introducing underachieving foreign players to clubs; at other times, he cuts a good deal and profits twice as much from initial investments.
With perseverance and good business sensitivity, Dai has overcome the lack of a strong educational background to build up his firm, Dai Nguyen Sports Company, which serves an important function facilitating transactions in Vietnam’s young football market.
The lesson here teaches that regardless of the backgrounds that athletes come from, the strong will and commitment that they show in sports can translate into life success despite pervasive prejudice about intellectual smarts.
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