On September 25, the national launching ceremony of the 2024 KFC China Middle School Student 3-on-3 Basketball League was held at Chaoyang Gymnasium in Beijing. This year coincides with the 20th anniversary of the establishment of KFC Three Baskets, and around the theme of "20 is burning, always good", the launching ceremony specially invited star players, international referees, national coaches and other special guests who have grown and struggled on the KFC 3 Basket platform to participate.
Also invited to attend the launching ceremony were Zhang Lei, Executive Committee Member of the Chinese Basketball Association and Executive Director of the Chinese Student Sports Federation, Wang Tao, General Manager of KFC China, and Chen Qi, Chief Customer Officer of Yum China. Under their witness, the new event logo was unveiled, officially announcing the start of the new season.
Jointly organized by the Chinese Student Sports Federation and KFC China, the tournament has two categories: junior high school group and high school group, and the competition period lasts from September to December. In the 20 years since its establishment, KFC Triple Basketball has attracted nearly 3 million young people to participate, promoting the popularization of 3x3 basketball in China, continuing to provide talents for Chinese basketball, and making strong contributions to the cause of combining sports and education for young people.
At the launching ceremony, the legendary shining team composed of Lu Tubula, Li Haonan, Xiao Hailiang and Huang Wenwei and the super-burning new star team composed of Zhu Siyu, Chen Wang Tunan, Ji Shangjun and Qiu Zhengwen started the opening game of this event. The Legends Shine made a number of accurate 2-pointers from the outside to take the lead and eventually won 21-18. After the game, the representatives of the two teams exchanged jerseys to pass on their love for basketball in each other's hands.
Wang Tao, General Manager of KFC China, said at the launching ceremony, "The KFC brand has grown to more than 1,000 stores in 2004, and we have built a low-threshold national event platform by using the national restaurant network to popularize the concept of sports and health to young people in a public welfare way, and continue to provide talents for China's basketball industry." Thanks to the referees, coaches and other professional basketball people who have worked together on the platform of KFC Three Baskets for 20 years, as well as KFC employees across the country, it is everyone's joint efforts to build a platform for children who love basketball to play their talents from scratch. ”
From zero to one, all parties work together to create a benchmark event for teenagers
In 2004, the trend of 3x3 basketball had not yet fallen, and in the eyes of most people, it was still only a popular street sport among amateurs, and it was difficult to find a systematic and large-scale event around the world. In such a situation, carrying the mission of cultivating the concept of Chinese youth sports and promoting the combination of sports and education for young people, the KFC 3X3 Basketball League was born.
The process of going from zero to one is never a smooth road. Faced with a series of practical difficulties such as the lack of popularity of the three-basketball sport and the lack of experience in similar events for reference, a large number of front-line employees of KFC restaurants devoted themselves to the organization of the event without hesitation. In the early stages of the need to expand its reach, most of KFC Triple Basket's work revolved around KFC's large number of restaurants.
Wang Tao, the current general manager of KFC China, was the general manager of the Liaoning Jilin market when the first KFC 3x3 basketball tournament was held in 2004, and was responsible for organizing the employees of the whole market to hold the competition. Zhu Guiqin, who was in charge of the relevant work at the KFC Liaoji Market at the time, still remembers the situation 20 years ago, when they almost "would go to the amateur venues around the restaurant to recruit players whenever they had time, and they would also go to many schools to entrust physical education teachers to do school recruitment, and almost all the relatives and friends around me were mobilized by me to promote it." ”
Given the perception of the sport and the stereotype of traditional futsal, one of the biggest challenges organizers face in promoting the event stems from the confusion of most fans about the rules of the three baskets. From the length of the game to the transition between offense and defense, explaining the rules to basketball teenagers has become a compulsory course for many front-line staff every week. Zheng Lei, who has been engaged in refereeing for more than 20 years, made his first three-ray game on the stage of the first KFC three-basket. At that time, he often had to face endless questions from the contestants, but Zheng Lei also saw the love and passion of basketball teenagers, "The atmosphere is very good, everyone is very devoted, and that is the first time I have experienced the charm of 3x3 basketball." The preciousness of the KFC Triple Basket is that it brings together the best young players from all over the country on the same stage, which is very helpful for both campus sports and training high-level athletes. ”
Under the advocacy of the concept of "exercise every day, healthy life", KFC Three Basketballs has covered 172 cities in 30 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in the first year of its establishment, attracting more than 48,000 basketball teenagers to participate. After 20 years of development, with the expansion of influence and the accumulation of experience and resources, the organizers of KFC Triple Basketball no longer have to worry about finding venues and popularizing rules. From the initial cooperation with the China Basketball Association to sign up for the competition around the restaurant, to the first campus mode opened in 2015 with the Chinese Education Association, and then to the China Middle School Sports Association (now merged and renamed as the China Student Sports Federation) and the Chinese Basketball Association in 2019 to form a cooperation model that closely integrates the education system and the sports system and actively participates in social forces. It has become an unforgettable memory in the growth process of many teenagers, and even rewrote the lives of some basketball teenagers.
The enthusiastic court witnesses youth and love, and helps the diversified development of basketball teenagers
After 20 years of sweat and travel, the KFC 3x3 Basketball Tournament aims to build a stage for all young people who love basketball to show themselves and harvest growth.
In the championship team of the first KFC triple basketball, there is a name that is often mentioned by fans in the future - Liu Xiaoyu. To this day, he is still full of gratitude for this experience, "This is where many people first met me, symbolizing happiness, original intention and perseverance, like an old friend on the basketball road." ”
And the "Xinjiang Thick Eyebrows" Lutubula, who won the championship with him that year, was seen by more people because of this experience, "KFC has built a good platform for us, and after winning the championship, we participated in a series of competitions, and the professional club found me and hoped to recruit me into the team, everything is like a butterfly effect." Today, he has become a professional player and has played in the CBA for many years.
With the popularity of the Three Baskets sport and the improvement of the level of the competition, the demands of the participants have become more diverse, and the KFC Three Baskets has also become a new channel for many basketball teenagers to broaden their basketball dreams, which also provides a new idea for the cultivation of Chinese basketball talents. From awarding athlete grade certificates to athletes who have achieved certain results, to hiring national coaches to set up training camps for elite athletes, the event has broadened the development path of basketball teenagers in different ways, and thus attracted more people to participate.
As the theme of this year's event "20 is burning, always good", no matter in the past or in the future, the concept and spirit of 3x3 basketball advocating a healthy life, promoting communication with friends, and working hard are being passed down from generation to generation of basketball enthusiasts. The KFC 3x3 basketball game will also adhere to the public welfare concept of "casual public welfare, practical results, long-termism, and diversified development", and constantly expand the boundaries of influence, cover more cities and regions, and create a stage for more young people to achieve their dreams.
Source: Xinhuanet client