International Online Report (Reporter Wei Yu): From Laos to Seychelles, from Mongolia to Turkey ... Volunteers from China exert their youth and sweat to provide volunteer services for local people and institutions with enthusiasm and expertise, and pass on love and strength. Global Information Broadcasting specially planned "Young Volunteers Overseas Struggle Dream", which tells the story of Chinese young people who have devoted themselves to overseas volunteer service. Today, we approached Sun Wei, an associate professor at the Shanghai University of Sport, who was the coach of the Lao men's basketball team.
At the end of last year, after the news of the opening ceremony of the China-Laos Railway, a railway connecting China and Laos, Sun Wei's mobile phone rang non-stop. Lao friends kept sending him messages, sharing excitement and joy. This good news also awakened Sun Wei's experience of volunteering in Laos and leading the Laos national men's basketball team to break the record.
Sun Wei said: "I was a university teacher at the time, and I accidentally saw a recruitment announcement, which was an overseas volunteer service program implemented by the Central Committee of the League, corresponding to Laos. In fact, I have always liked to do public welfare, and there is just such an opportunity to appear, so I did not hesitate to sign up. ”
In 2017, as the ninth batch of Chinese youth volunteers to go to Laos, Sun Wei and several other young volunteers came to Laos together. Sun Wei, who has experience as a professional basketball player, was selected by the Lao Basketball Association to coach the Lao men's basketball youth team.
Sun Wei introduced the advanced techniques, tactics and scientific training methods of the professional men's basketball team in China and the world into the Laos men's basketball youth team, and soon the team's performance was greatly improved.
Sun Wei (the center of the back row) was with the players
Sun Wei said: "The (Laos men's basketball) youth team has a big age gap from small to large. When I went, there were very few people, only four or five people, and then there were twenty or thirty people, and later we all knew that there was a Coach grandson from China. ”
Sun Wei led the Lao team members in training
The achievements of the Lao men's basketball youth team have caused Sun Wei to have a wide response in the Lao basketball community. In July of that year, Sun Wei was invited to serve as the head coach of the Laos men's national basketball team and prepared to lead the team to the ASEAN Games in Malaysia. This is a challenge for both Sun Wei and the basketball team members, Sun Wei said: "The members of the Lao basketball team are actually from different industries, there are police, there are university teachers, there are civil servants and so on. Their training hours are only relatively fixed at night. At that time, the training venue was not fixed, it was all on the outdoor basketball court, and there was no basic guarantee, medical care (guarantee), gymnasium, etc. ”
Sun Wei (second from left) is teaching the Lao team technical tactics
While overcoming the inadaptability of diet, language, and housing, Sun Wei formulated technical and tactical plans in detail according to the specific local conditions, and every day was a high-intensity work. Those years of hard training and preparation also allowed coach Sun Wei and Lao athletes to establish a deep friendship.
Sun Wei (centered) trains with the players
Sun Wei said: "Every time I train, everyone will come to my side to say hello before they train, and you feel very kind, which cannot be described in words, but it is particularly kind." Get along with them day and night every day, without any barriers, very harmonious, and every communication increases a trust. ”
Sun Wei said that the popularity of basketball in Laos is second only to football, but it is limited by the level of local economic and social development, and Laos basketball is in the development stage of "amateurization and public welfare". To this end, he innovated a lot of training methods according to local conditions: there is no strength room, he uses the way of stacking people to train muscles; the venue is not fixed, the training ground has no drinking water, he will pay for the team members to buy water. In order to ensure physical strength, he often finds opportunities to supplement nutrition for the team members to go out to eat together. In the small things, everyone's understanding and trust are more and more, and the team's technology is getting better and better.
On August 29, 2017, Sun Wei led the Laos men's basketball team to the first victory in the history of the ASEAN Games, making the Lao national team ranked among the top eight of the ASEAN men's basketball team for the first time, achieving historic results, and the ranking of the International Basketball Association also rose.
The "No. 1 Jersey" representing friendship
In this way, the "coach sun" has been affirmed by all basketball people in Laos, and has also caused wide repercussions from all walks of life in Laos. Before Sun Wei returned to China, the Laos men's national basketball team gave him a "No. 1 jersey" to express gratitude and respect for him. Sun Wei said that this No. 1 jersey was not only given to him personally, but also to the vast number of young volunteers in China, and it is also a small witness to the "people-to-people connection" between the Chinese and Lao people.
Sun Wei said: "When I see basketball bringing happiness to more and more Laotians, I feel very happy. We young volunteers are also non-governmental diplomatic ambassadors, and we represent the youth of China. The people of China and Laos are connected, just like the Lancang-Mekong River, which has a long history. ”