"Village Competition" Launching National Friendship "Village Super" Spreading Football Spark Football | Rongjiang | Spark Football

Guiyang, August 20th (Xinhua) - The Hong Kong Star Team and the Rongjiang Villagers Team teamed up to kick off the "opening game". The Nanchang Mixed Powder Team and the Rongjiang Roll Powder Team jointly presented the "finale". Since August 13th, the Guizhou Rongjiang Food and Football Friendship Tournament started in Rongjiang County, Qiandongnan Prefecture, Guizhou Province. This "village competition" not only launched a "national friendship", but also spread the "football spark" nationwide.

Football, food, performances

On the 13th, at the North New District Athletics Football Stadium in Rongjiang County, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province, with tens of thousands of spectators shouting, the Hong Kong Star Team and Rongjiang Villagers Team teamed up to stage the "opening battle", marking a new chapter in the history of Rongjiang football.

From leading 1-0 at the beginning to losing 3-4 in the end, Yang Bing, a player from the Rongjiang Villagers Team, still spoke with emotion about this game. "Chen Baixiang and Luo Jiaying, who are in their 70s, and Huang Rihua and He Jiajin, who are in their 60s... There are many elderly players in the Hong Kong Star Team, whose spirit of hard work and tenacious struggle is admirable!"

On August 13th, a player from the Hong Kong All Star team lifted a pig's trotters as a prize for the competition. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Xu

The three matches after the "opening game" were Guizhou University Ecological Tea Team vs. Guangxi University Sugar cane juice Team, Qiandongnan Prefecture Kaili Sour Soup Team vs. Foshan Nanhai Guicheng Bamboo Shoots Team, and Rongjiang Roll Powder Team vs. Nanchang Mix Powder Team.

"The players of the Rongjiang Roll Powder Team are full of vitality, hard work, skills, and experience. We were able to fall behind 0-2 at the beginning and equalize 2-2 in the end, and we really did our best." Zhang Wenxin, the coach of the Nanchang Roll Powder Team, said that the "Food Football Friendship Competition" at the "Village Super League" stadium is a fierce collision of football cultures in different regions.

In addition to the football collision, the participating teams also presented folk songs and lion dance performances, which were cultural collisions with strong regional and ethnic characteristics, and also made the on-site audience exclaim in excitement.

On August 13th, when the staff entered, they displayed local cuisine. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Xu

Eating Yusheng and glutinous rice from Guizhou, tasting mixed flour from Jiangxi, and playing with cultural and creative products from Guangdong... The comprehensive satisfaction of vision, hearing, taste and touch made Wu Mingfei, a resident of Rongjiang, exclaim, "It's like the 'big integration' of the World Cup, the Spring Festival Gala, and the food carnival."

National Friendship "Sample"

The "Food Football Friendship Tournament" in Rongjiang focuses on happiness and is progressing on a quarterly basis. The first season's schedule will feature 6 rounds of 21 matches, lasting until October 28th.

Previously, during the "Village Super" event in Guizhou, Rongjiang invited the whole country to participate in the "Food Football Friendship Competition". With the popularity of "Village Super League", the number of registered teams across the country continues to increase. Before July 20th, Rongjiang received 798 registered teams, with 297 confirmed to be able to participate, including 83 teams from Guizhou Province and 214 teams from outside the province.

On August 13th, actors performed during the break of the competition. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Xu

When a "village competition" evolves from only 20 village teams participating to a "super competition" involving nearly 300 teams nationwide for communication and competition, how to organize teams and arrange the schedule becomes a major project.

The first season of the "Food Football Friendship Competition" consists of a home team formation and an away team formation. The home team formation is composed of food football teams registered within Guizhou Province and Rongjiang County food football teams, while the away team formation is composed of food football teams registered from all over the country outside Guizhou Province. Except for the 4 matches on the day of the opening match, which were specially invited by the organizers, the other participating home and away teams were selected from the home and away teams respectively.

The first season is a "sample" competition mode. The organizing committee will convene a team selection meeting for the participating teams, taking into account various factors such as competitiveness, performance, fun, and culture. From the dimensions of team organization, cultural display, food exchange, and the support of experts, 17 teams will be selected from the home team formation to face the top 17 teams in the away team formation. After the end of the first season, it will be upgraded and optimized according to the situation, and subsequent seasons will be gradually launched.

Football Spark Broadcast

For registered teams across the country, the "Food Football Friendship Tournament" is a "exchange event" for folk football, while for Rongjiang, it is a broadcast of the "football spark" symbolizing purity and love to the whole country.

Football is a team sport that requires communication and exchange. Including cheerleaders, family and friends, the Nanchang Mixed Powder Team's Rongjiang tour had 300 members. Zhang Wenxin said that stepping onto the highly anticipated "village super stage" and experiencing the fiery passion of football can better inspire players across the country to love and engage in this sport.

On August 13th, spectators dressed in ethnic costumes watched the competition. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Xu

"As an amateur player, my biggest dream is to play football in front of tens of thousands of spectators, accepting their cheers and cheers, even boos." Huang Yuan, a 43 year old player from the Foshan Nanhai Guicheng Bamboo Shoots Team who has played for more than 30 years, said that his trip to Rongjiang has fulfilled his dream. He and his teammates will uphold the pure and loving spirit of "village football" and play football better.

The football spark broadcasted by the village supermarket is constantly spreading. Taking Guangdong as an example, the popularity of the first "Demingxuan" Cup football tournament in Zhuhai, the 17th Foshan "La Liga" football league, the Shanwei Luhe Rural Football Tournament, and multiple township football leagues in Meizhou has sparked a wave of folk football fever.

Lin Tao, Deputy Director of the Culture, Sports, Radio, Television and Tourism Bureau of Rongjiang County, said, "With the continuous promotion of the 'Food Football Friendship Tournament' and the active preparation and participation of teams from various regions, the 'football spark' initiated and broadcasted by the 'Village Super League' has gradually formed a prairie fire."