The amateur team plays professional

The "Fire Phoenix" ice hockey team took a group photo after the event. With the popularity of ice and snow sports, the team has also welcomed more and more young members. Photo by Gao Jiawei

Core reading

In Yinchuan, Ningxia, an amateur ice hockey team has made frequent appearances and gained fame in local competitions. This team of ice hockey enthusiasts from all walks of life, from homemade clubs to full equipment, from frozen lakes to indoor ice rinks, from self-amusement to participation in competitions, has witnessed the development of local ice and snow sports and the deepening of national fitness in many years of growth.

Yinchuan, Ningxia, the spring breeze is light. In a shopping mall in the city center, a duel on the indoor ice hockey rink attracted many customers: helmets shined, protective gear was neat, players stepped on ice knives and quickly paddled on the ice, and the clubs swung left and right, and the battle situation changed rapidly. It was just a practice match, but the competition was fierce. Accelerate, swing, swing, ball in! The final whistle sounded, and the players of both teams cheered for the wonderful duel, at which point the audience realized that there were both childish teenagers and silver-haired old men.

This is an amateur ice hockey team that has been established for more than 40 years and has a resounding name - "Fire Phoenix". The players are all local hockey enthusiasts, the oldest is 68 years old, and the youngest is only 5 years old. In the process of preparing for and holding the Beijing Winter Olympic Games and the Winter Paralympic Games, ice and snow sports in various places have set off a boom, and the "Fire Phoenix", which has accumulated strength for many years, has frequently appeared in local events and has gradually gained fame, becoming a business card of Ningxia ice and snow sports.

The fitness needs of the masses are becoming more and more diverse, more and more people playing ball, and the equipment is becoming more and more professional

"Who says there is no ice and snow sports in Ningxia?" The 86-year-old veteran captain who has long been "retired" told reporters that when he was young, as soon as Yinchuan entered the winter, people played on the frozen lake in the park, and adults and children loved to skate on the ice and play with ice cars. Located in the northwest of Ningxia, there is Helan Mountain in the north and Liupan Mountain in the south, the winter temperature is about minus 10 degrees Celsius, and there is a 4-month ice and snow period every year. In addition, there are many lakes in Yinchuan City, which is "plugged into the lake city", and the lake surface freezes every winter, providing a natural place for ice hockey, skating and other sports.

The sport of ice hockey in Ningxia has a long history. In the 1950s, the newly graduated Park Zhenhuan responded to the call of the state to support the Great Northwest and came to Yinchuan on a green-skinned train, becoming the first batch of sports workers in Ningxia. "At that time, ice hockey was still a 'fashionable', and I and some young people from Heilongjiang, Hebei, Beijing and other traditional areas of ice and snow sports brought this sport to Yinchuan. By the 1980s, the ice hockey team was taking shape. Park Jin-hwan said.

The 45-year-old current captain Park Yang has played ice hockey with his father Park Zhenhuan since he was a child: "At that time, the most anticipated thing was winter, as soon as the lake was frozen, there was a place to play. ”

In Park Yang's memory, the equipment was very poor at that time, there was no helmet, the ice knife shoes were sewn from cowhide, fixed with bamboo boards, there was no professional club, and could only be replaced by wooden sticks. "Every time a game is played, many people first have to find a branch with a bend, drag it down, and use a knife to cut the bend to make a club. Even so, every time the snow is swept and played, everyone's enthusiasm for participation is very high. ”

At the beginning, only three or three people played ball, with the development of the economy and the improvement of life, the fitness needs of the masses became more and more diverse, more and more people played ball, and the equipment became more and more professional. Nowadays, many of the team's ice knives have been upgraded from less than 100 yuan of basic models to carbon steel materials of several thousand yuan, and there are more complete sets of protective gear, and some people also use professional-grade full-protective masks.

As the participants gathered, the team also had its own name, logo and uniform. Yinchuan has a nickname "Fengcheng", so the team got the name "Fire Phoenix", which means to rub sparks on the ice rink and show the fiery energy of the sport. The team members came from all walks of life, including policemen, doctors, workers... The team is very strong, and has represented Ningxia in national ice hockey competitions and achieved a good result of seventh place.

With an indoor professional ice rink, there is no longer any need to wait for the lake to freeze in winter, and there are training places in all seasons

In the past few years of playing, Park Yang feels the most comfortable is that Yinchuan has an indoor professional ice rink, the team members no longer have to wait for the winter lake to freeze, and there are training places in all seasons. Now, every Tuesday night, the fire phoenix team members will assemble at the ice rink on time for a good game.

"Every time I finish playing, I feel like all the pressure is released, which is very relaxed." The 59-year-old Guo Junjun has been playing for many years and has a deep understanding of the fun of this sport, "Ice hockey has a strong competitiveness, fast speed, great strength, and inevitable impacts, but our group of veteran players are competing for ice." Playing on the ice, not only physical exercise, but also bringing a 'main bone' to their amateur life, doing things have the momentum. ”

In the past two years, under the call of "driving 300 million people to participate in ice and snow sports", the public ice and snow sports have been carried out in full swing, more and more teenagers have begun to contact ice and snow sports, and this team has gradually added new faces.

Ding Ping, 29, joined Fire Phoenix the year before, studying roller skating at Beijing Sport University, and came to Ningxia after graduation to teach at universities. Ding Ping's entry into the team brought scientific training methods to the team, and he also became the "coach" of the team. Several old team members are not standard in action, he will take the team members to learn from scratch, from warm-up preparation to technical actions, from strength to flexibility, several times with practice guidance, greatly improving the professionalism of the team. "The team has improved professionalism and I have more opportunities for teaching practice. In class, I also recommend this team to my students, and as time goes on, more and more young people participate. Ding Ping said.

Goalkeeper Xie Haibin, under the influence of Ding Ping, brought his sons, who were only 10 and 5 years old, to the "Fire Phoenix" and became a new member of the team. "Ice hockey not only exercises the children's physique, but also makes them brave, determined and team-minded." Xie Haibin said. After a period of training, the 5-year-old young son has a look, standard movements, flexible body, and won the nickname of "Little Gyro" in the team.

The Winter Olympics will allow more people to appreciate the charm of ice and snow sports, and also attract more people to participate

In August 2020, the "Fire Phoenix" ice hockey team was invited to participate in the Ice Hockey Invitational Tournament held in Qiqihar, Heilongjiang, becoming the only team from the northwest region to participate. For this competition, the "Fire Phoenix" ice hockey team organized a two-month training camp. But when they arrived at the arena, the players were a little nervous: can they win against the traditional strong teams in the northeast region?

In the first game of the group stage, Park Yang's several shots and Xie Haibin's several defenses brought great confidence to the team. After several rounds of confrontation, the "Fire Phoenix" easily won the victory. "This surprised the brothers in the northeast, who were under the impression that there should be no ice and snow sports in the northwest." Park Yang recalled with some emotion.

The victory at the beginning made the players feel better, and the "Fire Phoenix" played well in the following games, and finally won the third place in the project team, leaving a deep impression on the other teams. "Going out to compete has earned us the friendship of the local team and made more people realize that the ice and snow sport is constantly expanding, and there are many people participating all over the country." Park Yang said.

"After that game, there were also Beijing teams that invited us to play together after the Beijing Winter Olympics." In Park Yang's view, the successful holding of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games and the Winter Paralympic Games has provided opportunities for the development of ice and snow sports. In December 2021, the 8th National Mass Ice and Snow Season Ningxia Ice and Snow Sports Series activities were launched. The event lasted for three months and was held with the Beijing Winter Olympics. "The promotion of the Winter Olympics is very important!" Park Yang said that the "Fire Phoenix" participated in the event and attracted a lot of audiences.

"The Winter Olympics will allow more people to appreciate the charm of ice and snow sports, and attract more people to participate." Park Yang is deeply touched, in recent years, new members have joined the team, there are young people who returned to Ningxia to work, there are children and teenagers who were taken to the ice rink by their parents, and the love for ice hockey has been passed down, so that the "Fire Phoenix" maintains the vitality on the ice.

Standing on the sidelines, listening to the shouts of teammates on the field and the friction of skates crossing the ice, Park Yang sighed: "Our folk ice hockey team will also raise the national flag and play the national anthem during the game, because the experience of the team makes us feel the prosperity of the motherland's sports industry and experience the happiness of sports enthusiasts." ”

People's Daily ( 2022.04.12 15th edition)