Hangzhou Asian Games | Torchbearer Zhong Huayan: Planting Sports "Seeds": Children in Mountainous Areas Love to Chase Light | Dreams | Sports
Hangzhou, September 16th (Xinhua) - On September 16th, the torch relay of the Hangzhou Asian Games officially started at the Lishui Station from the front square of the Lishui Administrative Center. Zhong Huayan, a She ethnic sports teacher from Yunhe County, Lishui City, expressed her excitement as the second torchbearer.
"Being able to become a torchbearer and take the torch from the hands of Olympic champions is really exciting!" During the torch handover photo, Zhong Huayan and Tokyo Olympic women's trampoline individual champion Zhu Xueying held hands, and the hand holding the torch naturally lifted and unfolded outward. The posture was extremely beautiful, showcasing the passing of the torch from Olympic champions to grassroots sports workers.
"We are both athletes, so in the design of our movements, what we want to showcase together is the positive and upward spirit of our athletes. Taking over the Asian Games torch from Zhu Xueying, I will also convey the spirit of the Olympic champion's hard work to the grassroots, bring the Olympic spirit to our school, and to the masses," said Zhong Huayan.
Zhong Huayan is a physical education teacher and director of the Moral Education Department at Yunhe County Third Middle School, and also the organizer of the "Cloud Dream" aerobics team at the school. In 2008, at the age of 24, Zhong Huayan graduated from the School of Physical Education at Taizhou University and chose to return to her hometown of Yunhe to become a physical education teacher at Yunhe County Third Middle School. Over the years, she has fulfilled the dance dreams and university dreams of group after group of children in mountainous areas with her own expertise.
"I came out of the countryside and it was sports that allowed me to see a bigger world. I chose to return to my hometown and become a teacher because I wanted to do my best to help more children in the mountains achieve their dreams." In 2011, she led the establishment of the "Cloud Dream" aerobics team at Yunhe No.3 Middle School.
The children did not have a foundation in aerobics, so she started teaching them basic skills such as posture, movements, and facial expressions from scratch; In order not to affect the children's learning, she squeezed out weekends, winter and summer vacations, and led the students to train hard; Without professional textbooks, she researched and developed her own textbooks to promote them in school.
Children with sports and dance dreams work tirelessly and train hard under the guidance of Zhong Huayan. The "Dream of Clouds" aerobics team has won many awards in national competitions, and won 47 gold medals, 43 silver medals and 39 bronze medals in provincial competitions. More than 20 students she has supervised have been admitted to Beijing University of Physical Education, Wuhan Institute of Physical Education and other colleges and universities by virtue of their aerobics expertise. She has also been elected as the 20th representative of the Party, and has been awarded the National Model Teacher, exemplary individual of Mass Sports in Zhejiang Province, and Top Ten Outstanding Youth in Lishui City.
"For some children in mountainous areas, practicing aerobics may be a new way for them to get into better universities and change their destiny. As long as children want to learn, I will do my best to help them walk steadily and well," said Zhong Huayan.
It is with the efforts of many frontline physical education teachers like Zhong Huayan who have nurtured their hometown and rooted themselves at the grassroots level that sports in the mountainous areas of Lishui have flourished, giving wings of dreams to children who love sports in the mountainous areas.
