On the distant African continent, there is also a football league called "Village Super", which is in full swing: fierce players, enthusiastic shouting spectators, singing and dancing cheerleaders, energetic competitions and creative singing and dancing are staged in turn, attracting much attention.
The "village super" in Benin, Africa, has learned from the experience and model of Guizhou, China, and has developed its own characteristics. Thousands of miles apart and like-minded, the two "village supers" both show the vitality of the local people's lives.
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Africa's "village super" kicked off
In the city of Parakou, Benin, in the site of the China-aided Benin cotton technology project, the first African "village super" football match was recently launched. Villagers from various local villages will form 12 teams to participate in the competition, which will be held on weekends and will last until the end of May.
On April 13, local village players in Benin were playing in the "village super" field in Africa. Photo courtesy of the interviewee
Shou Xiaoyong, head of the China-aided Benin cotton technology project team, said that the African "village super" has learned from the experience of the "village super" in Guizhou. "At the beginning of the year, I took a vacation to return to China, and I saw the 'village super' in Guizhou, which continues to be popular, from the Internet. After returning to Benin, I immediately introduced the proposal to the local villagers to hold the competition there, and received an enthusiastic response. ”
From May to July 2023, in Rongjiang County, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province, the "Village Super" event named "Guizhou Rongjiang (Sanbao Dong Village) and the United States Rural Football Super League" will be popular with 20 village teams with passionate and pure competitions and colorful ethnic culture.
Like Guizhou's "village super", Africa's "village super" will be interspersed with theatrical performances every time before the game or at halftime, and everyone sings, dances, and shows passion.
On March 31, local village players in Benin fought in the African "village super" competition. Photo courtesy of the interviewee
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Popularity comes from love
"The popularity of the 'village super' in Africa has greatly exceeded expectations," said Shou Xiaoyong, which stems from the local people's love for football.
Among the 12 teams participating in the competition, except for the Paraku University team, the rest of the teams are composed of villagers from six local villages. "The local courses are very simple, most of them are 'run-out' earthen courts, the goals are built with a few wooden sticks, and there are no nets." Shou Xiaoyong said.
The dry season from November to May is the slack season, and the villagers have more time to play football. There are no uniform jerseys, no professional sneakers, and many villagers are even barefoot, and they are happy to run on the field.
This is similar to the situation in Rongjiang, Guizhou. At that time, the young villagers were also playing football in a sandy wasteland. Around 2001, they transformed this wasteland into a stadium with cedar doors and lime lines, and started a football match staged by villages and village teams and a league mechanism, which was the predecessor of Guizhou's "Village Super".
On July 1, 2023, tourists buy silver jewelry at a cultural and creative booth next to the "Village Super" football stadium in Guizhou. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Yang Wenbin
In March 2023, the old football field at the project site was requisitioned by the local government, and the project team decided to build a new simple stadium for the villagers. The project team worked with local villagers to create a football field using agricultural machinery and waste materials. In commemoration of the deep and friendly relationship between the two sides, the stadium was named the "Friendship Football Stadium".
After the stadium was built, there was a steady stream of people coming to play, especially after the rainy season, when teams from nearby villages came to play every weekend.
Since the beginning of this year, the stadium has become more lively, more and more like the atmosphere of Guizhou's "village super", and signs with the words "village super" written in Chinese have been erected on the side of the stadium. At the end of March, representatives of 12 teams reached an agreement to hold the first African "Village Super League".
On March 30, at the opening ceremony of the African "Village Super", local villagers performed a dance program. Photo courtesy of the interviewee
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The future of Sino-Beibei exchanges is promising
"The event was exciting!" Beninese villager Barchilo and his family are full of praise and look forward to every game. Villager Akilu is grateful to the project team for providing a place for recreation and relaxation, "Everyone gathers here every week to communicate, which brings the villages closer together."
According to Shou Xiaoyong, the China-aided Benin cotton technology project has been carried out for more than 10 years, and the project experts have promoted cotton planting technology, trained agricultural technicians, provided equipment maintenance guidance and agricultural material assistance, and led the local people to increase their income and become rich.
In the past two years, he has earned money to build a house, married a wife and had children, and his living standard has improved significantly.
People watch a "village super" football match in Guizhou on July 1, 2023 (drone photo). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Yang Wenbin
Now, local villagers hope to go to Guizhou, China, to compete with the local "village super" team.
"We have brought new farm tools, new agricultural materials and new technologies to the local people." Shou Xiaoyong said that the next step will be to help the two sides strengthen people-to-people exchanges between China and Beibei through football events in the future.