Looking at the Flourishing Development of Rural Sports in Zhejiang Province from the Perspective of Rural Basketball Tournaments
Hangzhou, September 7th (Xinhua News Agency) - Villagers who closely monitor the schedule and arrive early to occupy the position, are working hard and competing fiercely for every goal, echoing the cheers of attack and defense. After 9 days and 25 matches of competition, the Huzhen Town Basketball League reached its climax on the evening of August 24th, winning the championship.
On September 5th, in Donghua Village, Donglin Town, Wuxing District, Huzhou City, players layed up in the rural basketball league. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Xu Yu
The basketball league in Huzhen Town, Jinyun County, Lishui City, Zhejiang Province has been successfully held for fourteen sessions. This basketball game held in the village is a sports event that local villagers are passionate about and eagerly anticipating.
Wang Songjie, Secretary General of the Huzhen Basketball Association, introduced that there are basketball courts in all 50 villages in the town, with a total of 96, including 35 standard light courts. In addition, there are four basketball training institutions in the whole town, and many kindergartens and primary and secondary schools also prioritize basketball as a key course to develop basketball from a young age.
On August 5th, at the basketball court in Sanxing Village, Tangqi Town, players competed in a carnival match. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Xu Yu
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Xiangxian enthusiastically invested in organizing competitions, and team members returned to their hometowns to participate in the competition regardless of weather. The competition was held in the "authentic" countryside... Summer and autumn are the peak season for sports activities, and Zhejiang rural basketball games bloom in many places throughout the province. The strong atmosphere of the Asian Games further promotes the continuous heating up of local rural sports.
A basketball carnival featuring 29 village communities, 36 basketball teams, and nearly 200 local residents recently kicked off in Tangqi Town, Linping District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province. Taking the Hangzhou Asian Games as an opportunity, Tangqi Town has built a high-level public service system for national fitness. It has built national training venues, provincial-level leisure sports squares, provincial-level community multifunctional sports fields, and 107 basketball courts, football fields, badminton courts, etc.
The booming rural basketball game is a microcosm of the flourishing development of rural sports in Zhejiang. In addition to basketball, rural sports and events in Zhejiang have emerged comprehensively in recent years, continuously meeting the diverse needs of men, women, and children.
On June 13th, in Shan'an Village, Pingqiao Town, Tiantai County, Taizhou City, villagers were practicing softball. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Junlu
In rural areas of Tiantai County, Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province, "Sports Commissioner" is a busy public welfare position. Jiang Meixian, the sports commissioner of Shan'an Village in Pingqiao Town, Tiantai County, introduced that there are over 300 elderly people in the village. Originally, they could only dance square dance. In recent years, the village has built a multi-functional sports field, and 70% of the elderly have their own sports interests.
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Utilizing idle land, Shan'an Village has built more than 20 venues, including a goal court, a softball court, and a ground hitting court. It has started hosting events such as goal and ground throwing exchange matches, attracting nearly 20000 sports enthusiasts from across the country to participate each year, driving the surrounding villages to increase their income by more than 1 million yuan.
The reporter learned that currently Taizhou has achieved full coverage of various industrial platforms such as national sports industry demonstration bases, demonstration projects, Zhejiang Province sports and leisure bases, boutique routes, excellent projects, and sports and leisure towns.
From improving the quality and expanding the scope of competitions, to accelerating the development of industries, and then to cultivating lifestyles, the development of rural sports in Zhejiang has entered a virtuous cycle.
On August 30th, the traditional sailboat slowly passed by the river in front of Shipu Village, Jinshuitan Town, Yunhe County, Lishui City, Zhejiang Province. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Xu Yu
In 2017, Zhejiang Province introduced local standards for sports and leisure characteristic townships, and began to create sports and leisure townships with the sports and leisure industry as the core. As of now, Zhejiang Province has officially recognized 11 sports and leisure towns, which play a prominent role in attracting sports and leisure crowds, promoting the construction of beautiful rural areas, and driving stable employment.
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Li Hua, deputy director of Zhejiang Provincial Sports Bureau, said that the construction of sports and leisure villages and towns played a positive role in the process of rural revitalization, provided important support for national fitness, and effectively widened the channel from "green water and green mountains" to "golden mountains and silver mountains".