HO CHI MINH CITY (Vietnam) – Basketball was the last thing on Linh Le’s mind growing up in the heart of Vietnam.
Struggling with poor health, Linh was terrible at sports.
Turns out, that same limitation would become her driving force as a FIBA Foundation Youth Leader.
“My game has always been about overcoming my own physical limitations by creating the infrastructure for healthy and passionate youths to shine,” Lihn said.
The beating heart of basketball
“I grew up in Ho Chi Minh City, the beating heart of Vietnam’s modern basketball movement. In my early years, the local basketball culture was entirely grassroots—confined mostly to schoolyards and a handful of outdoor courts, heavily overshadowed by football,” Linh said.
According to Linh, the last decade has seen a massive culture shift, with basketball exploding into a vibrant urban lifestyle in ‘HCMC’.
Through her career in sports entertainment and management, Linh has worked as a Project Manager for pivotal platforms like Jr.NBA Vietnam, the 3x3 Vietnam University Games (VUG), the 5x5 National University Basketball Championship, and the Vietnam Pro Basketball League (VBA).
Being a female promoter
“I am incredibly grateful to the FIBA Foundation, VBF, and MSE Group for their trust and support in my early days. To be a female promoter and a part of the Vietnamese basketball community right now is incredibly inspiring. Personally, I don't consider myself a leader—I see my role strictly as a supporter and connector behind the scenes. There are so many talented women actively driving the grassroots ecosystem forward,” said Linh, who was nominated by the Vietnam Basketball Federation to attend the FIBA Foundation Youth Leadership program in 2019.
“The experience in beautiful Singapore was truly eye-opening. I had the wonderful chance to meet and connect with amazing Youth Leaders from all across the region, and I deeply value that I still maintain strong connections with many of them today,” Linh observed, highlighting how the program provided her the rare opportunity to learn how basketball could be utilized as a tool for social impact rather than just a competitive sport.
The FIBA Foundation Youth Leadership program advocates the adoption of basketball to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). Since its launch, it has trained nearly 200 youth leaders to design and implement Basketball For Good initiatives within their local communities.
Pushing for gender equality
Basketball is a universal language, and the FIBA Foundation program teaches you how to use that language to drive real social change.
UN SDG 5 on gender equality particularly resonated with Linh, who immediately pushed for the inclusion of female divisions within existing popular local 3x3 tournaments.
Thereafter, Linh took part in the 2021-22 FIBA Foundation Global Youth Leadership program, with the goal of learning how to sustain Basketball For Good efforts.
Now, as a graduate Youth Leader, she has matured into a role of mentorship and paying it forward. She is providing strategic guidance to the next generation of positive change makers, most notably the 'Saigon Brothers'.
Mentoring Gen Alpha
Comprising five young Vietnam national team players aged 14 to 16, the Saigon Brothers are running ‘Hoops 4 Hope’, a basketball tournament that also doubles up as a fundraiser for various social causes.
“It is important to highlight that the 'Hoops 4 Hope' project was entirely their own brilliant idea. They came up with the vision to create a charity tournament to give back to the community. Since I had the operational experience and the network, I stepped in behind the scenes to help structure their framework, advise them on fundraising and communication, and also connect them with the FIBA Foundation for support. Meanwhile, my partner backed them up with the technical aspects of the tournament,” Linh explained.
Her message to other prospective young leaders is simple: "Step up and go for it. You don't need to be the star athlete on the court to make a profound impact. Basketball is a universal language."
Learn more about the FIBA Foundation Youth Leadership program here.
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The FIBA Foundation is the social and legacy arm of FIBA that addresses the role of sports and particularly basketball in society, preserving and promoting basketball’s values and its cultural heritage.
The FIBA Foundation believes that basketball has the power to empower, educate and inspire youth and facilitates this by implementing Basketball For Good projects around the world.
FIBA