This summer, a Guizhou folk football tournament called "Village Super" has become the top of domestic football. In the lonely era of Chinese football, the small city of Rongjiang in Guizhou Province made a name for itself with football.
The official name of the "Village Super" is Rongjiang (Sanbao Dong Village) and the United States Country Football Super League, and after its opening in May 2023, the event quickly became popular on the Internet and was affectionately called "Village Super" by netizens.
Due to the phenomenal popularity of the "Village Super" this year, many people also regard 2023 as the first year of the "Village Super", a grassroots football event.
"Village Super Ball King" Dong Yongheng teaches children to play football in a local kindergarten. Photo/Jiupai News Dong Zineng
Entering the public eye with "Village Super", there is also the "King of Balls" in the first year of "Village Super" - Dong Yongheng.
As a grassroots player, his experience is enough to be the envy of countless football lovers. Engaged in the roll flour business with his relatives, he led the Loyal Village to the final in the village super, and finally fell to the runner-up in the penalty shootout. He played 12 games, scored 15 goals, and was known as the "King of Powder Shooters".
Later, in the match with the Hong Kong Star Team, he represented the Rongjiang team as the captain, and he led the Rongjiang team to win the championship in the first county football match in Guizhou.
If there is also an annual "Golden Ball" selection in the amateur football world, Dong Yongheng may be the most popular player.
[1] Crowned "King of the Ball"
At the end of the "first year of the village super", the streets of Rongjiang seem to be able to see the locals' memories of summer.
In December, in this small western city, a hotel named "Village Super" is about to open, and the commentary of football celebrities on the scene of the Village Super is posted at the entrance of the commissary.
He Wei's on-site commentary on the village supermarket was posted at the door of the store. Photo/Jiupai News Dong Zineng
Football is a frequent feature in people's daily lives – it has become a decoration at the front desk of a hotel, a sign in a hotel, and even used to fix the ducts of air conditioners. If it happens to be a temporary match on the course, the East Riverside Bridge will be congested again.
On December 20, Guizhou Rongjiang "Village Super" once again entered the field of vision of fans after the excitement of summer.
The Organizing Committee of the New Weekly 2023 China Annual New Talent List has decided to award the "Guizhou Rongjiang Hemei Country Football Super League" as the 2023 China Creativity of the Year. Dong Yongheng went to receive the award on behalf of the "village super".
More and more people call Dong Yongheng the "village super ball king". In Loyalty Village, he is the idol of the children, and the street shops will unconsciously prefix his name with "Ball King".
On the field, when a "little fan brother" saw him coming to play football, he would take out his mobile phone to take a sneak peek, and then show off with his friends.
Dong Yongheng is bound to the "village super" and Rongjiang, and the people in the county, but anyone who has seen the "village super" knows this "ball king".
Dong Yongheng on the wild field. Photo/Jiupai News Dong Zineng
The Rongjiang football in the memory of this "football king" is a little different from now.
He attended a school in Rongjiang during his secondary school years. At that time, there were only two soot football fields in Rongjiang County, and there were often too many people playing football to occupy the space. He and his friends can only play on the basketball court, using the bottom space of the old-fashioned basketball hoop as the goal and the three-point line as the restricted area.
After going to college in Guiyang, Dong Yongheng stepped on the plastic football field for the first time. Now he can discuss with his teammates whether Mizuno sneakers are comfortable in Nissan or Vietnam, and at the time he could only play in old-fashioned canvas sneakers like Double Star or Stone Forest.
After his skills improved, he was selected for the varsity team to participate in the collegiate soccer league, and his best result was a fourth-place finish in the country.
After graduating from college, Dong Yongheng said goodbye to campus football. In most cases, the youth of domestic football lovers is basically over. And he was not reconciled, after hearing that Qiandongnan was going to hold a state-wide competition, he decided to return to his hometown to represent the Rongjiang team, and make a living in his hometown.
[2] 60,000 people watched the game
Now the conditions of the football field in Rongjiang have been significantly improved, and the stadium where the "Village Super" is held is open, as long as there is a team reservation, you can come to the game, and the local public welfare referee will also be arranged to blow the penalty.
In addition, some schools in the county are equipped with plastic football fields, and even schools like Rongjiang No. 3 Middle School, which are built on the mountain, will find a way to build a rare highland field by raising the foundation.
Rongjiang No. 3 Middle School is a highland course built on the mountain. Photo/Jiupai News Dong Zineng
Visitors joke that they have to go up a few steps to warm up before they go to kick a game. Opposite the village super football field, some futsal fields have also been built, and the county's staff football match is being held in the near future.
On December 10, Dong Yongheng played a "wild ball".
On the field of play, Dong Yongheng received a long pass from his teammates, smoothly unloaded the ball with his chest and completed the volley, which attracted the praise of his old teammates on the bench: "This ball is a bit of the shadow of him when he was twenty years old!" After falling behind in several physical confrontations with young players, his teammates sighed again, "After all, he is in his thirties, not as good as he was back then." ”
The 34-year-old Dong Yongheng is not a sports student, he passed the college entrance examination and entered the labor and social security major of Guizhou University for Nationalities Xi.
After graduating, he competed in various football fields in Rongjiang. Before coming out of the circle with "Village Super", Dong Yongheng participated in the regional ball tournament in Rongjiang for 10 years and was a well-known local kicker.
He proudly said that when he was younger, as long as he passed the ball to his feet, others basically didn't have to do anything.
As the "first gear" player in the "village super" field, the huge number of spectators is the most difficult part for him to adapt to, because he has never played in front of so many people before.
According to him, the situation is completely different between more and less fans, both more excited and more nervous.
At the final of the village super, the audience area was full. Photo/Jiupai News Dong Zineng
The fans of Rongjiang "Village Super" are not crazy, a football field, surrounded by spectators on the inside and outside of the three floors. On the day of the finals, there were even more than 60,000 people watching the scene, and if you didn't take a seat early, even going to the scene to watch the game would have become a luxury.
West Ham United player Antonio of the English Premier League also said of the "village super", "Now they [the village super players] have experienced playing in front of so many people, which is one of the most difficult challenges of being a professional athlete. ”
[3] Out of the Rongjiang River
"Village Super" is special for Dong Yongheng.
For the sake of competition, he rarely sells roll powder, and wants to focus more on football. During that time, he also felt a little sorry that his teammates in the Loyal Village, who were in all walks of life, could not ensure full training because of their work.
On the day of the finals of Loyalty Village, Dong Yongheng left his sneakers at home. The scene was full, and it was impossible to go home to get shoes after arriving at the venue, so in the end he had to put on his teammates' shoes and go to the finals.
Witnessed by 50,000 people at the scene, the players of Loyal Village did their best and fell in the penalty shootout. After the game, some teammates shed tears.
Recalling the finals, Dong Yongheng thought that the runner-up was also a good result, and the team was regarded as the favorite to win the championship before the game, which meant that it had been recognized by everyone, but there was still some unwillingness between the words, "Then it took me a day or two to decide to accept this result." ”
Dong Yongheng once again stood on the village super football stadium where he "became famous with one goal". Photo/Jiupai News Dong Zineng
After the "village super", Dong Yongheng got more opportunities.
He represented the Rongjiang team with the "Village Super Star Team" as the team, and after playing the Rongjiang National Food Invitational Tournament, he went to Hong Kong to play against the Hong Kong Star Team.
For the players, playing in a high-class stadium like the Hong Kong Stadium has never been a luxury before. Dong Yongheng said that most of the people in the team stepped on the real grass field for the first time, and their teammates felt a little uncomfortable during the game, they felt that the real grass football field was very sticky and it was difficult to run.
In the subsequent Guizhou Provincial Regional Football Match, Dong Yongheng became the key Mr. in the final and helped the Rongjiang team win the provincial championship.
"At my age, it's unrealistic to go into a career." Asked if he thought about what level he would have reached if he successfully applied for the athlete qualification at that time and everything went smoothly on the career path, the confident Dong Yongheng seemed a little hesitant, "I think maybe I can only go to a relatively low level, and I should be able to play in the Chinese Second League." ”
[4] Developing youth training
After the game is played, the players go to a nearby restaurant for dinner. The main course is a plate of pork knuckles.
The winner of each game of the "Village Super" will get two pig's feet, Dong Yongheng and his teammates save these pig's feet, put them in the restaurant, and let the boss make one every time they come.
The prize won half a year ago has not been eaten yet.
Dong Yongheng and the players ate the sour soup version of "Village Super Pig's Feet" after the wild ball game. Photo/Jiupai News Dong Zineng
As more and more games are won and more and more events are participated, Dong Yongheng rarely appears in the roll shop. There are a few photos of him on the walls of the shop, "When I can't get busy, I have to use these photos to tell everyone that this is my family's roll flour shop." ”
The reason why Dong Yongheng has reduced his visits to the roll noodle shop is also because he now has a new identity: a growing football coach. He got a D-level football coaching certificate and set up a youth sports company, and at the age of 34, he finally turned his hobby into a career.
He has a clear view of the income, and thinks that it is difficult to make money by relying on youth training, but he can have a stable income to maintain his hobby. The motivation to engage in youth training comes from the continuous emergence of young people who love to play football in Rongjiang.
Dong Yongheng also thought about opening a youth academy before, but considering the local situation, he only felt that his idea was fantastical. After the popularity of "Village Super", the football atmosphere in Rongjiang has become stronger, and there are more and more children playing football. In addition, he has also made certain achievements, Dong Yongheng felt that doing this now might be recognized by everyone, and decided to give it a go.
In fact, Rongjiang has not stopped cultivating youth football.
The match between Rongjiang No. 1 Middle School and Taiwan Yilan High School attracted a large number of spectators. Photo/Jiupai News Dong Zineng
On the evening of December 8, the village super football stadium ushered in a game without too much publicity, and the Taiwan Yilan High School team crossed the strait and the high mountains to play against the Rongjiang No. 1 Squadron. The game, which is known almost exclusively to locals, still attracts a large number of people to watch.
The football team of Rongjiang No. 1 Middle School is the youth team with the best football foundation in the local area, and they have players who represent Xinnakamura in the "Village Super League" and finally ranked in the top four.
On the field field, Dong Yongheng's team is also very happy to play against this group of young people, and it can be said that they are the big brothers who have watched them grow up. "If they're qualified, I hope they can aim for us and see us as a mountain to climb on the road of football. ”
[5] Grab from the doll
In Dong Yongheng's view, the small number of players and low competition intensity are the current problems of Rongjiang youth football.
For this small city, campus football is the focus of youth training, and more often than not, it is a substitute for training. "At present, the strength of Rongjiang No. 1 Middle School has a clear advantage among local peers, and due to the lack of competition and the different starting points between players, it may lead to the slow progress of some players with good talent and foundation. Now the local football association is also making suggestions and actively promoting them to play games against outside teams. ”
As for the issue that the students of Rongjiang No. 1 Middle School will temporarily leave Rongjiang when they are admitted to university, he does not care too much, "I believe that there will be batches of children who will continue to grow up in this land of football." ”
Before going out of the circle, Dong Yongheng worked in the roll powder shop. Photo/Jiupai News Dong Zineng
But he also believes that not only Rongjiang No. 1 Middle School, but also strive to improve the football level of all schools, so that the future of Rongjiang football can be guaranteed.
Dong Yongheng's youth training at this stage is not the players of the middle school football team, but the children in kindergarten. Every week, he calls his teammates to the local kindergarten for soccer lessons, teaching them basic movements such as passing and receiving, dribbling, and shooting. Because the children are too young, it is difficult to concentrate on learning to Xi and play football seriously, and Dong Yongheng has his own way to do this. In the face-to-face passing session, he asked a little girl to treat the child opposite as a lollipop, and then the child who had never passed the ball accurately could kick the ball accurately, and for the child who always used his hands to catch the football, he would stand behind him and hold his hands, often making the children laugh.
Dong Yongheng does not feel sorry for not choosing to coach the middle school team, he believes that learning from the first step is Xi responsible for himself and the players.
He also admitted that it is not his ultimate goal to train Rongjiang football teenagers to become professional players with his own experience.
For him, playing football is more about joy, experiencing the feeling of winning and losing, and team spirit. "In my own words, I may pay more attention to football enlightenment, in my plan, I will not pay much attention to the results of the junior team, cultivate the basic skills of the children, let them develop the Xi habit of playing football, and help them develop physically and mentally, which is more important in my opinion. ”
Dong Yongheng inspected the training results of the young trainees on the side. Photo/Jiupai News Dong Zineng
One of his soccer lessons lasted two hours, with a total of 3 classes and more than 100 children taking turns.
In Dong Yongheng's ideal, even if only 10 of the children in today's class grow up to choose to continue playing, he will be happy, because it means that they have made their favorite choices. As for higher-level professional players, Dong Yongheng didn't think about it so much. He believes that the development of professional players and the atmosphere of football are not exactly the same.
Compared with the more professional youth training system in big cities, Rongjiang's love for football is more spontaneous.
But it is this spontaneous love and enthusiasm that has allowed the "Village Super" to sweep the country in a short period of time, allowing more domestic netizens and fans to witness the charm of grassroots football in China.
Jiupai News reporter Dong Zineng reported from Rongjiang, Guizhou
Edited by Wan Xuan Wu Di
[Source: Jiupai News]
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