From Famous Former Athlete to Passionate Teacher Nurturing Football Talents

Teacher: The Profession Chooses the Person

Before coming to the teaching profession, Mr. Canh Nam was a professional football player – a highly regarded defender in the Vietnamese football scene. With his intelligent playing style, abundant physical strength, and good balance between attack and defense, Mr. Canh Nam was selected for the official squad of one of the strongest clubs at that time, the Ho Chi Minh City Police Club (later the Dong A Bank Club) when he was only 19 years old.

From 2001 – 2008, Mr. Canh Nam was a mainstay of many clubs such as Hoa Phat Hanoi, Vinakansai Ninh Binh, Dong Nai, Quang Ninh and competed with famous names of the time such as Le Huynh Duc, Vu Nhu Thanh, Nguyen Viet Thang, Mai Tien Thanh... Throughout his career, he and his teammates "fought" in many tournaments and won awards such as the Silver Medal of the National Cup in 2003 with the Dong A Bank Club, the Gold Medal of the National First Division in 2008 with the Vinakansai Ninh Binh Club...

After retiring from top-level competition, like most other players, Mr. Canh Nam was oriented to follow the path of coaching the national team. However, with a special love for children's football, Mr. Canh Nam and some other former famous players such as Quoc Trung, Thanh Luong, Phong Thu... opened a class teaching basic football for students called TNT Football Club.

"In 2013, when TNT cooperated with Greenfield School to open an extracurricular club for students, I received an invitation to become an official Teacher from the School. I chose the teaching job and have been working at the school ever since.

Everyone has different circumstances and reasons, maybe due to injury, family, or changes in the operating environment... which lead to different choices. I have been gắn bó with young players for many years and until now, I still feel happy with my job." – Mr. Canh Nam shared.

Never Punish Students

Switching from top-level competition to teaching and coaching, Mr. Canh Nam still retains his professional style, coupled with passion every time he goes to the field with the ball, so the students are extremely excited about this special "teacher."

Mr. Canh Nam happily recounted: "In the early days of teaching at the school, many homeroom teachers called me to say that I should reduce the amount of learning for students. Students are too passionate about practicing, after Physical Education class, they have to take a break before going to class."

For Mr. Canh Nam, teaching at a club and teaching at school have more or less differences.

"At the club, students practice, live strictly and according to a framework. After a period of practice, they will be assessed to divide classes according to their level. The students also have to make efforts and look at each other to strive.

At school, students only have 45 minutes/period. The class has both boys and girls, both those who are passionate and those who are not passionate. Therefore, when teaching, I have to choose according to the ability of each student.

Children often like to play more than they like to learn, so Teachers must create a feeling of excitement for them first. I often apply games or set challenges for them such as shooting the ball into the goal, kicking the ball across the bar... Students will be excited to participate and determined to practice if they lose."

Nearly 10 years of teaching students, Mr. Canh Nam believes that the most difficult thing for a teacher is to maintain love for the profession, love for children, and know how to control emotions.

"It took me a while to overcome and get used to that. Students learn to improve their health and basic knowledge. Teachers cannot force them to complete the requirements like professional athletes.

While teaching, I always strive for harmony, not strict discipline. With children, only when they are comfortable, encouraged, and motivated, can they phát huy their full potential. Of course, rules and regulations are necessary in educating children, but teachers must also be close and understand them better."

Mr. Canh Nam (in red) used to be a professional football player competing for famous clubs such as Ho Chi Minh City Police, Hoa Phat Hanoi, Vinakansai Ninh Binh, Dong Nai, Quang Ninh...

Passion for Nurturing Football Talents

As a teacher, besides imparting knowledge and skills to students, Mr. Canh Nam hopes that with his many years of training and teaching experience, he can find and nurture football talents, helping them realize their dreams of becoming professional players, thereby creating generations to follow for the country's football.

"Some students who want to pursue a professional sports career have come to me for advice. I always share with them that they need to clearly define whether it is a momentary hobby or a passion.

To become a professional athlete, in addition to natural aptitude, children need to make efforts to practice and persistently pursue their goals to the end. The road to glory not only has sweat but also blood and tears.

At Greenfield School, the School always values physical education and extracurricular sports activities. That is a great advantage for students. In fact, over the years, many talents have been discovered. The school's football team also won championships in major and minor tournaments.

However, I also always remind the children that winning or losing, winning awards or not winning awards is not important. The most important thing is the process of striving to practice and train to progress, the meaningful time that they share with their teammates and get up after failure. Those are the priceless things."

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