It is not surprising that a professional basketball game has more than 10,000 spectators. Unexpectedly, the live audience of a village basketball game exceeded 10,000 people, and a wave of high traffic was "swept" on the Internet.
This summer, in Taipan Village, Taijiang County, Guizhou Province, what is hotter than the temperature is a hot "village BA" that is all over the Internet. The stadium is an open-air venue in the village, the game does not charge tickets, the players, referees and spectators are mostly local farmers, and the atmosphere is comparable to a professional basketball game. Even Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian posted recommendations and likes on overseas social media.
Why is this kind of competition so attractive in the countryside, with a rudimentary venue and no stars? Why does a village hold basketball games? When the village basketball game is "on fire", what kind of "chain reaction" will it produce? With these questions, the reporter decoded the "out of the circle" password of the "village BA" in Taipan Village.
The audience was nearly 20,000 people
On the evening of August 9th, on the basketball court of Taipan Village, Taijiang County, Guizhou Province, a new round of competition was ushered in, and Taijiang County specially invited Shunde District of Foshan City to organize a men's and women's basketball team to carry out the Chinese "Village BA" trip - Foqian Cooperative Basketball Exchange Tournament.
Previously, the "June Six Eating New Festival" basketball game organized by Taipan Village, Taijiang County, Guizhou Province, had 176 teams participate, with an audience of nearly 20,000 people, and the network was popular. After the explosion of the village "BA", the village ushered in the semi-final of the 4-day Guizhou "Beautiful Countryside" Basketball League Qiandongnan Division, the scene was full, and the cumulative number of online viewers of the live broadcast of major media platforms reached hundreds of millions of people.
"Village BA" is really "fire".
Taipan Village is not a large village, the basketball court is at the entrance of the village committee, with an area of 700 to 800 square meters. There was an old stadium in the village, which was cement floor. In 2016, the village built a new basketball court. At that time, the basketball court had only four floors of stands, and later one of the stands was built up to the top of the slope.
On weekdays, Taipan Village is quiet. When it came time for the "June 6th New Festival" to hold basketball games, people from ten miles and eight townships and even outsiders came. Restaurants and hotels in Taipan Village are full every day, and the business of restaurants has doubled several times.
During the day, some villagers watch the water in the rice fields, some villagers water vegetables in the yard, and some villagers go to work. At five or six o'clock, they put down their farm tools, put down their bags, had dinner, and rushed to watch the game with the old people and children.
Grandpa Long, who is in his 60s, came from the county seat at 11 a.m. and sat in the stands all afternoon, waiting for the basketball game to start at five o'clock in the afternoon. The village staff wanted the old man to go to the village committee first to cool off for a while, and the old man said, "I have an umbrella and water, and I want to take a good place for my partners and children here." ”
The front row of steps is full, the back row of spectators sits on the matza, and then stands behind, and the people who come late have bought out all the ladders in the village, and people can watch the game through the gaps that can be squeezed out. Those who have not had time to eat will also take their meals with them, sit on the matza and eat while waiting. When the stadium opened, the "basketball chasers" in the stands set off a wave of people.
"Farmer" basketball player
From July 30 to August 2, the basketball court in Taipan Village welcomed the Guizhou "Beautiful Countryside" Basketball League. It's a truly amateur event. The rules of the game, the qualification examination of the players, and the atmosphere of the venue are all organized by the local people themselves. In 1 city and 15 counties under the jurisdiction of Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, each city and county sent 1 team, and 16 teams were divided into four groups by lot, and each group won the first place and then held a cross-qualifying match. 27 matches in four days, no home and away games, but with professional referees. As with the CBA, the single game is also 4 quarters.
However, the participants must meet two conditions at the same time: 22 years old or older, local rural hukou.
Most of the people who play basketball are "farmers". Age, occupation and ability are not the criteria by which "Village BA" judges the qualifications of players, they only care about basketball.
For Cen Jianglong, there is a "native joy" in playing basketball. Cen Jianglong is a farmer in Taipan Village, but when he changes into a jersey, he is also a basketball player in the village. He has loved playing basketball since he was a child, and playing basketball has almost become a kind of "muscle memory". Now, it has passed the busy agricultural season, and Cen Jianglong has more time to train. Teammates are busy during the day and usually meet at night to train, often until late at night.
Yang Xiong is in his 30s and works in Fujian, but every year when it comes to the basketball game, he takes a leave of absence to return to his hometown. He always felt that this was the closest connection between himself and the village every year. Basketball has always grown up with them, and even if they are scattered everywhere later, basketball has become a special memory for them.
The young people of the village formed several teams. They continue to fight if they win, and when they lose, they cheer on the side. It is hard to imagine that in such an ordinary village, there are 6 villagers holding basketball referee cards in the village.
Some netizens left a message: what is worn on the body is life, and what is patted on the hand is a dream.
On the field, most of them will not dunk, and they rarely can make four-seat moves, but this does not affect their enthusiasm for participation. Because of love, practice makes perfect. And like physical confrontation, is the local style of playing. The power confrontation on the field is very shocking, even if the team's score is very large, everyone is not annoyed. As soon as someone on the court can dunk, the audience will respond with the warmest cheers. Even across the screen, the audience can feel the atmosphere of the scene, and they are excited and moved by it.
Outside the stands, many children were patting basketballs next to them, and it was a scenery outside the arena.
Raise the strength of the whole village to hold basketball games
The old people in the village recalled that the history of holding basketball games in Taipan Village has been 70 or 80 years, and has been passed down to the present.
Every year on the sixth day of the sixth month of the lunar calendar, the local traditional festival eating new festival is held to celebrate the rice harvest. Every festival, young Miao people who go out will return to the village, and the villagers will sing, dance, blow reeds and fight bulls together. However, compared with traditional customs, young people are more fond of basketball, and basketball games are held. Due to the large number of registered teams, the game is often played until the next morning, and the audience on the stage is still full, thus forming a "dawn culture".
"Everybody loves to play basketball." As for the reason for loving to play basketball, Zhang Shoushuang, secretary of the party branch of Taipan Village, said, "In the past, there were no entertainment activities in the village, that is, basketball games. If you play football, there is no field. Playing table tennis or something, the boys feel that there is a lack of confrontation. So every family will play basketball, everyone began to contact basketball from the age of five or six when they were young, and then passed it down from generation to generation. ”
And a basketball game can be done, almost the strength of the whole village.
In the past, the village organized basketball games, but this year, in order to facilitate management, the village set up the Taipan Village Basketball Association. Cen Jiangnong, president of the Taipan Village Basketball Association, said that the young people in the village are helping the association, and there are about fifty or sixty people.
Over the years, everyone has a lot of experience in organizing basketball games. Ten days before the game, the young people of the basketball association took action. There is a clear division of labor in the association, some people are responsible for docking with the registered teams, some people are responsible for purchasing sporting goods, some are responsible for refereeing, some are responsible for on-site explanations, some are responsible for scoring, and some people are responsible for maintaining order. They all became the protagonists of the event.
"Every year the basketball game is very exciting, so young people are looking forward to it and want to organize the event well." Cen Jiangnong said.
In addition to human investment, it also takes money to hold a basketball game. Cen Jiangnong said, "This year spent nearly 190,000 yuan. These are donations from the villagers, as well as sponsorship from outsiders, and the booth fee will also be used for basketball games. ”
The prizes after the competition, because of the qingqi painting style, are another interesting place of "Village BA" - the first prize huangping yellow cow, the second prize Rongjiang Pagoda stone fragrant sheep pair, the third prize from the jiang xiaoxiang pig two, are local characteristic agricultural products. Zhang Shoushuang said: "The prizes are more grounded, and they are all donated by large farmers. ”
The chain reaction ignited by the village basketball game
Until now, the villagers of Taipan Village could not tell why it was suddenly on fire. They all felt "surprised, surprised." ”
This basketball game caused such a high degree of heat on the Internet, which was also something that Cen Jiangnong, president of the Basketball Association, did not expect. Because in his memory, in fact, every year's basketball game is so hot.
"Village BA" is on fire, bringing many development opportunities to the village. Zhang Shoushuang, secretary of the party branch, planned: "I hope to take this as an opportunity to run basketball games well, and also cooperate with surrounding villages and towns to develop some tourism industries and so on." ”
"Village BA" is no longer just a village basketball game, but also a wave of grassroots sports in the country. Professor Zhou Jiandong of the School of Physical Education of Shandong Normal University analyzed the reasons for its popularity: "First of all, its own village culture and sports culture have been well integrated, and combined with the forms that the people like to hear. Secondly, many basketball people in Guizhou go to the people and to the grassroots. Then there are not so many restrictions on the rules, as long as you play, as long as you are happy, as long as you can play. Therefore, there are many learning experiences in the promotion of these at the grassroots level. ”
Zhou Jiandong said: "This 'village BA' cannot be defined as the net red effect alone, there are many factors in its generation. To run grassroots sports well, in addition to having a good cultural atmosphere and competition experience, the government attaches importance to it, and the participation of the people. 'Village BA' has become popular, and from the perspective of the people, the enthusiasm of the people is still very high. ”
This circle-breaking "village BA" does not know how long the heat can last, but many people fall in love with basketball.