Tashkent, Uzbekistan, August 5, 2023: He’s got the moves – on the dance floor. On the ice rink, however, Ha Bao Nguyen is a novice considering he only skated for the first time since arriving in Tashkent five days ago.
But on the dance floor - well, actually, the restaurant floor at the Simma Hotel youth camp HQ - Ha Bao was an Elvis impersonator with his slick moves.
Ha Bao needed no second invitation from the resident musician, who, on his sax, was playing Mark Ronson’s catchy "Uptown Funk" and trying to entice his young audience to dance during the lunch break on Friday - a holiday for the OCA/IIHF U16 Asian Ice Hockey Youth Camp.
“I love music and I just sort of started dancing. It was certainly easier than skating – for the first time,” smiled the 16-year-old Ha Bao, after taking a bow from his much-impressed peers.
There are a few shopping mall ice rinks in Ho Chi Minh City where Ha Bao comes from. Yet, ice hockey is alien to him, and he put on his first pair of skates after arriving in Tashkent for the camp.
“My dad is involved in a big way in field hockey back in Vietnam and I believe they want to start ice hockey too. I believe the Vietnam NOC picked me and another girl from Vietnam to come here and learn about the game,” revealed Ha Bao.
The Form 11 student adds: “I play field hockey back home, but this is something different. The hardest part is to learn how to stop on the ice and, of course, keeping my balance. But it is getting better as I go along.”
While the rest of his team go through game routines and tactics, Ha Bao is learning on his own to find his feet on ice.
“It is amazing to think that one day I could be the first Vietnamese to play ice hockey. This makes me work harder. I hope soon I can skate the way I dance,” he laughs.
It will then be all uptown funk for ice hockey in Vietnam.
