By Yue Xitong, Liao Hongqing and Du Chenxi
HANGZHOU, Aug. 1 (silubaba) -- Recalling their experience with a rural basketball tournament that concluded in late June, the locals from Tujiawu, a mountain village in east China's Zhejiang Province, were still brimming with excitement.
Some were so thrilled that they couldn't resist standing up and making basketball shooting gestures, reliving the memorable moments of the matches.
"Our players have played to their best level and displayed their competitive spirit," said Tu Lijun, Party chief of Tujiawu Village in the province's Zhuji City.
Tujiawu basketball team won the championship in the first "Village BA," a rural basketball tournament held across Fengqiao Township, where the village is located.
"Village BA" garnered the attention of Chinese netizens as a town or village-level basketball event since its debut in a county in southwest China's Guizhou Province last year. The nickname quickly went viral and has evolved into a nationwide sensation this summer.
Nestled in green hills, Tujiawu was more known to the outside world as an auto parts business center. The relatively affluent economy has ignited the villagers' interest in sports and continues to fuel their passion and love for sports to this day.
The popularity of basketball in Zhuji, a county-level city with approximately 1.2 million population, has a deep root. In 2011, the Shanghai China Records Headquarters recognized Zhuji as a "county-level city with the highest number of standard basketball courts."
Tujiawu basketball team, comprising 12 members with an average age of 30, can be traced back four generations to the 1960s, according to 73-year-old Tu Hongbiao, the current coach of the team and one of the oldest amateur basketball players in the village.
Back then, "educated youth" Tu Hongbiao had helped build the village's first-ever basketball court. "It was built with nothing but several timber tiles and planks. There, I began to teach kids and some villagers play basketball," he said.
Over the decades, more and more people have developed a liking for this sport. What used to be muddy courts have been replaced with concrete grounds, and the wooden ball stands have been upgraded to standard ones.
Today, for the villagers of Tujiawu, few things hold as much significance in their leisure time as basketball. "We all share the same hobby and play for the same goal, and we are a part of the team," said team member Tu Linfeng. He and his teammates are currently preparing for an amateur league match scheduled on Aug. 8, the National Fitness Day.
The shared passion and love for basketball have not only united the villagers of Tujiawu but also brought them closer together. Whenever there is a basketball match, almost all the villagers enthusiastically pitch in. During halftime, women in the village can be seen actively cheerleading, providing players with water and wiping sweat off their faces with towels.
"We would like to share half of the credit for our victory with these ladies and our enthusiastic audiences," Tu said.
Tujiawu villagers also have a common interest in table tennis. "Most villagers used to play mahjong in their spare time, but now they prefer sports and exercises, which is of course more helpful to stay healthy," Tu Lijun added.
"Village BA" is now no longer limited to certain localities, but is on the brink of sweeping the entire country. According to a notice jointly issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the General Administration of Sport in June, a national village basketball tournament has been organized, with the final expected to be held in Guizhou this October.
Rural Chinese are enjoying diverse sports and leisure activities. A grassroots football tournament that lasted for more than two months wrapped up in Rongjiang County of Guizhou on Saturday. This football super league attracted tens of thousands of spectators from across the country.
With rapid economic and sci-tech development, sports are playing a crucial role in bridging the gaps between urban and rural areas in China, and there will be more sports approaching rural residents in the future, said Wang Dong, a professor at Shanghai International Studies University.
While China is striving to realize modernization featuring common prosperity and both material and cultural-ethical advancement, the most challenging and arduous tasks in building a modern socialist China in all respects remain in rural areas.
Tujiawu villagers have set a new goal of building a standard-size indoor basketball court and a fitness center. "When the indoor venue is built, our villagers can play basketball at any time, regardless of the weather. It also enables us to invite more players from other villages to join the fun," Tu Lijun said. Enditem
(Yin Xiaosheng and Jin Yiling also contributed to the story.)
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