Mass sports develop remarkably

The mass physical training and sport movement has developed continuously over the past years, attracting people from all walks of life, regardless of age, gender or job. Sports are also very diverse, suitable to conditions of each place such as volleyball, football, badminton, tennis, and table tennis. Currently, the province has more than 500 sport clubs.

The whole province currently has 563 facilities serving sport activities. In addition to those invested by the province, there are also works built at agencies, units, communes, wards, townships, schools, and hamlets with various types such as football pitches; volleyball, badminton and tennis courts; multi-purpose gymnasiums to meet the needs of physical exercise and sports.

The provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has also encouraged activities to develop the mass sports movement. In 2022, nine provincial-level competitions were organised. The 9th Son La provincial Sports Festival was also held with 12 sports and 84 sets of medals, drawing the participation of 750 athletes. Last year, 28.2% of the province’s population said they were doing exercise or playing sports regularly; and 23.2% of local households were recognized as a sport family.

High-performance sports reach national, international arenas

The mass sports movement has helped to select many talented athletes for high-performance sports. The Sports Training and Competition Centre is nurturing and training young athletes and the provincial team to practice and compete in dominant sports such as Muay, pencak silat, taekwondo, women's football, tennis, table tennis, boxing, kick boxing, badminton, athletics, and cycling.

The province's high-performance sports in recent years have gained many achievements. Particularly in 2022, local athletes participated in 49 national, regional and international tournaments, winning a total of 60 gold, 47 silver and 100 bronze medals, including three golds at the 31st Southeast Asian (SEA) Games held in Vietnam last year, one gold and one silver at the World Pencak Silat Championship, and one gold at the Asian Championship. Among the "stars" of high-performance sports in the province is Thai ethnic female athlete Quang Thi Thu Nghia with prestigious medals in pencak silat: four golds at the World Championships, two golds at the Asian Championships and one gold at SEA Games 22, together with many gold medals at national tournaments.

Do The Cong, Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said that the department is simultaneously implementing the project on mass sports development for the 2021-2030 period and the project on developing high-performance sports in Son La province in the 2021-2030 period, towards the common goal of creating a fundamental change in both the scale and quality of mass sports, meeting locals’ needs for entertainment and improving the physical and mental health. It also aims to build a system to train high-performance sports athletes in the province so as to affirm Son La's position in the top mountainous provinces contributing talented athletes to the nation.

From the mass sports movement, many talented athletes have been discovered and trained to bring high results to the province, helping Son La sports reach the international arenas. More importantly, sports help improve health and spiritual life in accordance with late President Ho Chi Minh’s teaching “Each healthy citizen will create the strength of the whole nation”./.