Xinhua News Agency, Yinchuan, January 20 Title: "Ice and Snow Dream" in the Fish Pond
Xinhua News Agency reporter Ai Fumei
During the winter vacation, every 10:00 to 1:00 noon, the Four Seasons Fish Pond Ice Skating Rink on the outskirts of Pingluo County, Shizuishan City, Ningxia, is particularly lively, and more than 70 primary and secondary school students are conducting short-track speed skating training under the leadership of coaches, and small figures are speeding on the ice. This summer, the fish pond where people fish for leisure has become the starting point for children's "ice and snow dreams".
Su Rujia, a 12-year-old girl, is one of them. More than two years ago, by chance, she saw a coach leading a group of students skating in the square, and she thought it was particularly fun, so she begged her mother to let her learn.
The coach, named Li Xu, is the founder of the Chunya Ice and Snow Sports Club in Pingluo County, who studied athletics but was obsessed with roller skating. In the beginning, he just wanted to give a club activity class to the students at the school where he taught, so that they could exercise and relax after studying. Later, in order to help the Beijing Winter Olympics, he used the "rotation ice" method to drive more and more primary and secondary school students to participate in ice and snow sports.
However, as a small northwestern town, there is no ice rink in Pingluo County that allows children to train all year round. In the spring, summer and autumn, they practice roller skating in parks and squares, and even in winter, due to temperature, they can only train short track speed skating on natural ice for at most one month. Sometimes, Li Xu would charter a car to take the children to the ice rink in the capital Yinchuan City for training, but the time and economic cost were much higher.
"Every winter vacation we open a short track speed skating winter camp, this year is the fourth time, the Beijing Winter Olympics are about to open, the children are very excited, training is also very serious." He said.
In the past two years, Su Rujia has participated in roller skating and short track speed skating competitions many times, and has achieved good results. This winter vacation, although the "little ascension" is imminent, she still participated in the winter camp. Yuchi is four or five kilometers away from home, and when her mother has time, she will ride an electric car to take her, and when her mother is busy, she will ride it herself.
"It's really cold, but it's ok to wear a thicker one, and it feels really cool to be able to 'run' on ice!" Su Rujia said. She still remembers the feeling when she first put on her skates, she couldn't stand steadily, she didn't dare to skate, and after ten days, when she learned to skate, she felt "I'm free"!
The ice surface of Yuchi is not a standard venue for short-track speed skating, and some places are still potholed, and children especially need to pay attention to avoiding when sliding.
"Although the conditions are difficult, the content and intensity of our training are not 'discounted'." Li Xu said that the first hour is mainly to warm up, explain the sliding posture, etc., and after the children change into skates, they will keep practicing repeatedly, and master how to glide, how to enter the bend, how to bend, how to cross the line after sliding, etc. in the practice.
The three-hour training was very tiring, and sometimes when she returned home, Su Rujia didn't want to move, and she told her mother that she didn't want to practice, but the next day she was full of blood and resurrected. "Skating can enhance physical fitness, in the past two years I have had fewer colds, and I have met a lot of friends, which is much more fun than staying at home." She said.
From the earliest three or five dolls to now more than a hundred students, Li Xu was very pleased to see that the children had grown taller, sensible, and slipperier.
"I believe in the concept of 'sports people', if you want to practice any sport well, you need to make efforts, and children have cultivated a strong and hard-working will in perseverance, which will naturally affect their learning, life and other aspects." He said.
Li Xu's work was also supported by the local Education and Sports Bureau. They actively encouraged the club to team up to participate in competitions at all levels, and also invited the short track speed skating world champion to come to the scene for technical guidance. For more than four years, some children have been promoted to better junior high schools with this specialty, and some children have been recommended to Beijing to receive more professional training.
"The feeling of flying is very good, the more the children like it, and the more they like it, the more they can persevere." Li Xu said.
Because they practiced short track speed skating, these children paid more attention to the Beijing Winter Olympics. They will watch the world cup competitions of short track speed skating, and regard famous players such as Wu Dajing and Ren Ziwei as idols. "I open my mother's mobile phone now, basically watching short track speed skating videos, Wu Dajing, they skated fantastically, looking very energetic!" Su Rujia said.
At the end of every day's training, Li Xu, who returned home, still could not be idle. The children's skates need to be polished and maintained for a while to keep the ice blades sharp, and he basically brings back a dozen pairs of skates every day.
"In the past three or four years, I have no winter, summer vacation and weekends, tired and tired, but everyone will insist on something, and to make children healthy and happy is success." Li Xu said. (End)