Xinhua News Agency, Fuzhou, August 29 Title: Women's Volleyball Mother's Home, Those Ordinary Stories
Xinhua News Agency reporters Lin Deren and Zhao Xuetong
Next to the champion building of the Zhangzhou Sports Training Base, five mango trees are lush and reflect the white walls of the building next to them, outlining a quiet and leisurely landscape of southern Fujian.
This base is known as the "women's volleyball mother's home", the Chinese women's volleyball team has been to this training camp 48 times, the glorious history of the Chinese women's volleyball team, and this place is inseparable.
The age of the mango trees is no longer known, and at the beginning of the establishment of this site, these trees have grown here, witnessing the magnificent history of the past half century, and witnessing the ordinary stories of ordinary people who come and go here.
The bamboo shed became the cradle of the world champion
In 1972, it was deserted. That winter, Yu Kezhao, former commander of the Zhangzhou Military Sub-district and director of the Sports Committee, received a special task - to build 8 to 12 volleyball winter training venues within 28 days. Faced with a wasteland, Yu Kezhao mobilized all the forces that could be mobilized, invited more than 60 bamboo masters, and built a "bamboo shed hall" with 6 flat sites within 28 days.
These "bamboo shed houses" are made of local bamboo poles in Zhangzhou, "guda" (a kind of bamboo mat), linoleum felt as the top, and the ground is a combination of loess, lime and brine (commonly known as "triad soil").
Soon after the completion of the base, the members of the first national key provincial, autonomous regional and municipal volleyball teams came to this winter training as scheduled, and the women's rankings such as Cao Huiying, Chen Zhaodi, Yang Xi, Zhang Rongfang, Sun Jinfang, and Chen Yaqiong, who are known to people in the future, will be in the team. Nearly ten years after this winter training, they have jointly created the glory of the Chinese women's volleyball team on the top of the world.
At that time, 16-year-old Yang Xiuxia also participated in the training as a member of the Fujian team. On that piece of triad soil, she had practiced 120 tumbles in one breath, and the flesh on both sides of her thighs was blurred, and the sand was mixed into the flesh.
"When I went to the bathhouse at night, everyone screamed in pain when they got wet." Yang Xiuxia said that on the second day after practicing, the bleeding place and pants were stuck together, and then, a sponge was placed on the wound and continued to practice.
Bitter during the day and crying at night, these girls in the flower season challenge their limits again and again. When asked about the reason for perseverance, Yang Xiuxia was very indifferent, she said: "At that time, I really didn't think too much, that is, everyone practiced compared to each other, you practice 80, I have to practice 90." ”
"Can't be worse than others" is the simple idea of Yang Xiuxia when she was young, as an athlete, not accepting defeat and competing for the top is a necessary quality, and it is in this training atmosphere that you catch up with me, the girls have honed their steely will and accumulated strength for future take-off.
However, Yang Xiuxia, who fought to the limit, still regrettably failed to be selected for the national team. After playing in the provincial team for a few years, she went to shanghai sports institute to study, and then returned to Zhangzhou to become an amateur sports school volleyball coach, which she has been working until today. A wave of children were enlightened by her for volleyball, including Shen Jingsi and Zheng Yixin, who had won the world championship.
The 66-year-old Yang Xiuxia is very emotional, from childhood to retirement, she has played volleyball for a lifetime. Speaking of the future, Yang Xiuxia wants to stand on the last shift for youth volleyball and strive to bring up a group of young coaches, she said that she is also very happy, at least in this life, to do a good job.
Dig up a bag of dirt to take home
Yang Shandong, an 88-year-old man, is still in good health. Climb up three floors in one breath without stopping and not gasping. During the initial construction of the Zhangzhou base, he was responsible for coordinating the vehicles in the management section of the local troops, and the bamboo used for building the bamboo shed was pulled to the base by car.
What impressed Yang Shandong the most was the land of the bamboo shed hall. "At the end of the women's volleyball training, the land was bright, mixed with blood, tears, sweat, and the yellow soil was like soaked in oil." Yang Shandong said.
At the end of the training, some of the team members would dig up a bag of soil to bring back, because the soil not only had its own blood and tears, but also a memory that will never be forgotten.
In 1977, Yang Shandong transferred from the army to the Zhangzhou Municipal Sports Committee, and his fate with volleyball continued.
The hard work of the women's volleyball girls' training, Yang Shandong is in the eyes, and they can't make it strong in training, so they should make more efforts in guaranteeing. For him, there is only one rule: the needs of the players.
Yang Shandong still remembers that in order to replenish protein for the team members with large physical exertion, they specially went to catch the green crabs cultivated at the confluence of brackish water at the mouth of the sea and sent them to them. "The women's volleyball team came back to her mother's house and said what she wanted, we had to work hard to give something." Yang Shandong said.
From life to training, Zhangzhou spares no effort to support this team from all aspects. For service and support, Zheng Qiang, deputy director of the Zhangzhou Sports Training Base in Fujian Province, who came here in 2005, has a deep understanding.
In Zheng Qiang's view, the support of the base is different from ordinary hotels and training grounds, and on top of the "standardized" service, there must be a "personalized" temperature. For example, hotels generally provide two bottles of water per room per day, and one box is provided directly in the base; There are more buffets outside, but the portions are small, and the buffet portions of the base are sufficient to ensure that the athletes can fully replenish their energy; There is a fixed time for hotel cleaning, and the cleaning time of the base is based on the training rules of the athletes, and they cannot be disturbed when the athletes are resting.
"Athletes are not easy, long-term away from home, so here should be like home, we use this perspective to think and work, let them reach a fuller state, cope with the pressure of training and competition." 」 Zheng Qiang said.
Why Zhangzhou?
The origin of the Zhangzhou base is closely related to the overall grand strategy. According to the "History of Volleyball in China" compiled by Yuan Weimin, in 1972, in order to develop the cause of volleyball, the State Sports Commission decided to establish a volleyball training base in the south of the mainland to conduct volleyball training conferences. In order to choose a suitable training base, the Volleyball Department of the State Sports Commission assigned Zhang Ran, who was working in the volleyball research group at that time, to go south to investigate.
As an expert of the research group of the State Sports Commission, Zhang Ran went all the way south to visit several regions, and finally selected Zhangzhou, Fujian. In the report, he mentioned that Zhangzhou as a volleyball training base has four advantages: the leadership attaches importance to sports, the masses love volleyball, the winter climate is pleasant, and the material products are abundant.
Qian Jiaxiang, then director of the Volleyball Department of the State Sports Commission and secretary general of the Chinese Volleyball Association, listened to Zhang Ran's report and decided to go to Zhangzhou to check it out. Back in Beijing, Qian Jiaxiang reported to the leaders on the situation of the selected points and the views of himself and experts. After careful study, the State Sports Commission officially approved the plan to establish a volleyball training base in Zhangzhou.
Chen Jigong, a writer and then head coach of the Fuzhou Military Region men's volleyball team, believes that Zhangzhou's strong volleyball culture and strong talent base are also important reasons for the base to settle in Zhangzhou. Chen Jigong recalled that in the 1970s, there were more than 800 amateur volleyball teams in Zhangzhou, in order to help the women's volleyball team improve its actual combat ability, Zhangzhou Organized a number of open competitions, and also organized a number of men's volleyball teams to train with the women's volleyball team, such an environment is rare in other places. He co-authored with Xie Yusen in "The Cradle of World Champions" has this record: "During the Spring Festival in 1973, the teams went to Longhai, Changtai, Zhangpu and other townships and garrison points in Zhangzhou, visiting and studying, and reporting on performances, which lasted for six days, with a total of 41 matches and an audience of more than 100,000 people (times). ”
All his life, Chen Jigong has also been dealing with volleyball. He played volleyball since childhood, and in 1972, he was selected as the captain of the Fuzhou Military Region men's volleyball team. In 1985, he was appointed as the commander of the men's volleyball team of Fujian Provincial Military Region. In 1986, he was appointed as the commander of the men's volleyball team of the Second Artillery Corps of the People's Liberation Army. As an "insider", Chen Ji shared a pen to record that unforgettable era, since the women's volleyball team won the championship in 1981, there are countless communication features and reportage, and almost every Chinese women's volleyball player has written it, including "Laughing at Life - Chen Zhonghe" and other masterpieces co-authored with Chen Zhonghe, the hero of the women's volleyball team.
To this day, he is still writing about volleyball on the Internet every day. "Writing is good for the brain, and the right should be exercised!" He said.
On the way back to your mother's house, a bowl of hot porridge is waiting for you
In the year when the bamboo shed hall was just built, Liang Mingqin was born. During her primary school years, she also played volleyball, but like most ordinary children, her physical condition was not outstanding, and she eventually did not embark on the road of volleyball, but went to high school and became a pastry chef.
In 1989, 17-year-old Liang Mingqin got the opportunity to intern at the Zhangzhou base, because of his outstanding performance and successfully hired, this work, that is, more than 30 years.
Liang Mingqin said that when she came to the base, she was still a little girl, and the women's volleyball players were all big sisters. As I grew older, I felt different when I saw the groups of players. "I think many of the squad members were born after 2000, and they can almost call me Grandma." Liang Mingqin said with a smile.
The women's volleyball players come from all over the country and have different tastes, which is not a small challenge for the canteen. Liang Mingqin and his colleagues not only make Fujian local characteristics of pot side paste, dry mix noodles, but also to wrap buns, dumplings, there are dozens of types of noodles alone. It turned out that the base had tried the machine for wrapping dumplings, but later felt that the taste was not satisfactory, and finally decided that all the staple foods with filling were handmade.
In the back kitchen, hygiene comes first. In recent years, the "big stars" of the women's volleyball team are not far away, but Liang Mingqin has not had more direct contact with them, but looking at the words "women's volleyball apartment" on her clothes and the red flag on her sleeves, she is proud and proud of her profession.
On the day of the women's volleyball final of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, Liang Mingqin stayed up all night, applauding and cheering the women's volleyball girls while watching the game, and unconsciously his hands were swollen. "With the experience of the Chinese women's volleyball team, we can also see their growth process, we have worked here for so many years, not because of work, but because of the love of this cause and work." She said.
The women's volleyball team sometimes comes to the training during the Spring Festival, in order to avoid the situation that they cannot buy vegetables during the Spring Festival, Liang Mingqin and colleagues will prepare all the materials in advance to be foolproof. Liang Mingqin said that in fact, this is the same mood as her mother before her daughter returned from winter vacation, whether she is returning home or a tired bird returning home, a bowl of hot porridge at home will always wait there.
"Just like the course of life, there are highlight moments and low times, and it is impossible to always be a victorious general. Whether at the top or down, we will always be their family. Waiting silently, this is our most responsible job. Liang Mingqin said.
Today, the base hall No. 1, built in 1973, is rarely used for training, but is open to the public as a badminton court for national fitness, where groups of children chase their dreams. At the entrance of this stadium, there stands the tomb of the elderly Qian Jiaxiang, which reads "A pioneer of Chinese volleyball is buried here."
The door of the champion building is still printed with the names of Yuan Weimin, Chen Zhonghe, Lang Pingping, and the famous Chinese volleyball players, telling people the story of that year.
In the Chinese women's volleyball ascending hall, the pre-match training of the 2022 Fujian Provincial Middle School Volleyball Championship is underway, and on the field, teenage young players serve, pass, pass, pass, slam, block the net, and look like it. In the stands, three young children climbed up and down, and from time to time threw the volleyball they played to the big brothers and sisters.
The spirit is not extinguished, the torch is passed on, in this land, the ordinary and extraordinary stories and legends about the Chinese women's volleyball team will continue to be written.
Source: Xinhua Net