Original title: Popular rural sports help rural revitalization
On the evening of November 15th, the basketball court of Dongpu Village, Yinglin Town, Jinjiang City, Fujian Province, was the venue for the finals of Dadi Liucai·2024 National Rural Basketball (Village BA) Cultural Exhibition. Photo courtesy of the event organizer
On the evening of November 15th, the basketball court in Dongpu Village, Yinglin Town, Jinjiang City, Fujian Province was filled with loud gongs and drums and a sea of people. The temporary 7-story spectator stand was packed with seats. That night, the final of the 2024 National Rural Basketball (Village BA) Cultural Exhibition was held, with the defending champion Guangdong team facing off against the host Fujian team. The two teams came from Shaxi Town, Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province and Baogai Town, Shishi City, Fujian Province. Although the contestants were all farmers from towns and villages in the two places, the excitement of the competition was no less than that of professional events, and the audience was enthusiastic and cheering continuously.
Since the Dadi Liucai·2024 National Rural Basketball (Village BA) Cultural Exhibition kicked off in Jinjiang City, Fujian Province on November 8, the basketball courts in Dongpu Village and Xikeng Village, which are the venues, have been full. According to local village cadres, participating in, watching or participating in various ways (such as serving as event volunteers) in sports activities has become a daily routine for villagers. Gradually, the village basketball court, which is the main venue for sports activities, has also become the center of the village’s cultural and leisure life. After dusk every day, the village basketball court must be the busiest place in the village. Villagers practice and compete here, and basketball training activities for children and teenagers are held here. People who play ball, learn to play, and watch the ball come and go, creating a scene full of fireworks around the basketball court, where snack stalls and small vendors gather.
Wu Xiaodong, secretary of the Dongpu Village Party Branch and Director of the Village Committee, said that local villagers have a tradition of playing basketball together after completing farm work every day for 50 or 60 years. Nowadays, most villagers work in village-run enterprises and township enterprises, but the tradition of playing basketball every day after get off work is still preserved. There are more than 2,800 people in the village, and more than 500 people play basketball together all year round. There are more people who like to watch football, and many children are learning to play basketball. In addition, because the village often holds and hosts various basketball games, many villagers volunteer to participate in the organization of the games.
Yonghe Town, Jinjiang City, Fujian Province is where the Xikeng Village Basketball Court, one of the venues for this competition, is located. Deputy Mayor Xu Daxian introduced that this basketball court with a plastic floor, lights, and temporary stands can accommodate thousands of spectators. , which was built by the villagers raising funds. With the development of the local economy, the conditions of sports facilities are also constantly improving. In the early years, villagers played basketball on dirt courts. After the 1970s, they played basketball on concrete basketball courts built in the village. About a dozen years ago, villagers were able to play on the high-standard basketball courts built with their own funds. In addition to raising funds to build a basketball court, villagers also donated money and materials for various basketball games and basketball activities held in the village. Xu Daxian said that the villagers expressed their love for basketball and their support for the development of rural sports in the simplest way, which is to contribute money and efforts if they have money.
Only by visiting the village BA stadium in person can you feel how popular rural sports activities are now in China’s vast rural areas.
On the evening of November 15, outside the basketball court in Dongpu Village, private cars temporarily allowed to be parked were neatly lined up for one or two kilometers on both sides of a main road leading to the stadium. A seven-story stand was built on the basketball court and was filled with spectators. According to Ji Yihao, Secretary of the Party Committee of Yinglin Town, Jinjiang City, Fujian Province and a cadre of Dongpu Village Bao Village, the temporary stands of the Dongpu Village Basketball Court can be built up to 9 floors. This year, due to safety considerations, only 7 floors were built. When last year’s Village BA Fujian Province Competition and Village BA Southeast Division Competition were held at the Dongpu Village Basketball Court, a 9-story temporary stand was built. At that time, there were as many as 30,000 spectators, and many people watched on the big screen outside the court. race.
It’s not just the village BA that’s popular. In the past two years, rural sports activities such as village super (football), village running (running), village volleyball (volleyball), and village table tennis have also been held in great numbers. In 2023, Qu Tian, an associate professor at the School of Humanities and Development of China Agricultural University, led a team to conduct a nationwide rural survey. Data show that the vast majority of villages indicate that the number of villagers participating in cultural and sports activities has increased in recent years. Qu Tian said: “With the victory in the fight against poverty and the in-depth implementation of the rural revitalization strategy, the material living standards in rural areas have greatly improved in recent years. Under such circumstances, villagers’ yearning for a better life has gradually changed from The transformation of material life into spiritual life is an important background for the rise of rural sports, which meets the needs of farmers for high-quality cultural and sports services.”
Basketball, football, running, table tennis, volleyball and other sports activities that are popular among Chinese people and are not difficult to carry out have not only attracted the active participation of the majority of rural people, but also a large number of rural people have expressed their support even if they have not directly participated. manner.
Wu Xiaodong said that because more villagers participate in sports activities, there are naturally fewer people drinking and gambling, and the village is more harmonious. Therefore, many villagers, even if they do not play ball or football, still support the holding of sports activities in the village.
Qu Tian introduced that during interviews with 52 village party secretaries in Fujian, Hunan and Liaoning provinces, it was found that when answering the question “Does rural sports promote rural development and rural governance?”, the village party secretaries without exception gave the following answer: The answer is yes. In the view of the village party secretaries, “the villagers believe that organizing sports activities is a reflection of the government and the village committee doing practical things for the people, and it can increase the villagers’ recognition and support for the village committee and the government. Organizing sports activities can also bring the village committee closer Connect with villagers and improve the cohesion of the two village committees. There may be some conflicts between village groups and family names, but a fight can be achieved. Village BA, everyone works together to win, and conflicts will naturally be resolved. The organization of rural sports activities also helps to change rural customs and play the role of “from the card table to the court”. In addition, by inviting people from outside the village to participate in the village. Rural sports activities can also indirectly help rural economic development. “
Since 2021, the No. 1 Central Document has included “rural revitalization” in its title for four consecutive years. Zheng Jiakun, a professor at Shanghai Sport University, said that the development of rural sports is of great significance to rural revitalization.
Zheng Jiaqun said: “The integrated development of national fitness and rural revitalization can effectively improve the physical and mental health of farmers, prevent rural families from falling into poverty due to illness, and unite rural forces for a healthy China and a sports power.” In the process of China moving towards the goal of building a modern and powerful country , “The nearly 500 million rural population is an important support for the long-term goal of building a healthy China and a strong sports country in 2035.” “Building a modern and powerful country requires us to solve the problems of farmers’ healthy and happy lives and the development of agriculture and rural areas.”
Zheng Jiakun believes that the value of the integrated development of national fitness and rural revitalization in the new era can be reflected in five aspects, including “industrial value: promoting the prosperity of rural industries with national fitness-related industries” and “ecological value: using the green advantages of national fitness to help the rural ecology and livability “Cultural value: Enhance rural civilization with the cultural connotation of national fitness” “Governance value: Consolidate effective rural governance with national fitness governance actions” “Social value: Promote a prosperous rural life with the diversified development of national fitness.”
Rural sports activities have continued to be popular in the past two years, and the significance of rural sports development for rural revitalization has become increasingly prominent. However, there are also areas that need to be improved and strengthened in the development of rural sports. Qu Tian said that first, it is necessary to improve the supply level of rural public sports services. Rural public sports services, including venue facilities, organized activities, talent teams, etc., are all in insufficient supply. The second is the need to further unleash the long-term effects of rural sports activities. Rural sports activities cannot be turned into an “entertainment carnival”, but should become a catalyst to stimulate the enthusiasm of rural people for entrepreneurship and inject strong spiritual power into rural revitalization. (Reporter Cixin)
(Editors: Mu Shengyu, Zhu Hongxia)
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