Aim for the first phalanx in the country! The future of Hebei rugby can be expected.
On September 24th, China team player Liao Jiuli (second from right) was in the competition. Xinhua News Agency reporter Ren Zhenglai photo
On October 3rd, Liao Jiuli rushed to the China Women’s Rugby Team to report for duty, and began a new stage of training to prepare for the women’s rugby qualifying tournament for the Paris Olympic Games at the end of this year. This young rugby player trained in our province won the women’s rugby sevens gold medal with his teammates at the Hangzhou Asian Games.
Nevertheless, according to Tang Yu, director of the Small Ball Sports Center of the Provincial Sports Bureau, rugby is still in its infancy in our province. As a new sport, the popularity of rugby in our province is not high at present, and there is still much room for development.
It is understood that the provincial men’s rugby team was established in 2011, and this team entered the finals of the National Games for the first time in 2017. In 2015, the provincial women’s football team was established, and the results came from behind. After winning the fifth place in the National Games in 2021, it won the championship in the national rugby sevens championship in 2022.
The formation of provincial teams and their successive achievements have promoted the continuous development of rugby in our province. Especially after the annual provincial rugby championship and provincial rugby championship were held in 2015, some districts and cities in our province, such as Baoding, Shijiazhuang, Handan, Tangshan, Qinhuangdao and Cangzhou, have also set up municipal rugby teams. Baoding, Shijiazhuang, Handan, Qinhuangdao and Tangshan teamed up to participate in all four events in the youth football competition held in the 16th provincial sports meeting this year.
Teenagers are the new force in football. In recent years, some schools in our province have also begun to actively promote the popularization of rugby. At present, more than 10 schools, including Baoding No.7 Middle School, Shijiazhuang No.13 Middle School, Handan Weixian No.1 Middle School, Tangshan Luannan No.4 Middle School, Qinhuangdao Funing No.4 Middle School, Xingtai Shahe No.2 Middle School and Langfang Xianghe No.1 Middle School, carry out rugby training all the year round, and have made their mark in some provincial and national competitions.
"But overall, there are still not many football reserve talents in our province." Tang Yu introduced that at present, there are only more than 800 registered rugby players in our province. Due to the lack of reserve talents and coaches, the provincial women’s football team has only 18 players, which has not yet reached the normal number of players in the same level of football teams in China. Moreover, the provincial football team has not yet established an echelon, which is not conducive to the long-term development of the sport.
How to accelerate the development of rugby in our province?
"Without Bole, there will be no swift horse. How can you choose a good seedling without a good coach?" Tang Yu introduced that even the provincial teams have long faced the problem of lack of coaches because of the small number of domestic football coaches. At present, most grass-roots football coaches in our province are "half-way monks". In addition, the selection of rugby sports is not wide and the requirements for athletes’ various qualities are high, so grass-roots coaches are easy to miss good seeds when selecting materials. In addition, the number of colleges and universities recruiting rugby special students in China is relatively small, which also discourages many students who intend to engage in this sport.
"The development of rugby in China is relatively late, and there are currently less than 10 provinces that carry out rugby all the year round, which has somewhat affected the development of rugby in our province, but it is also an opportunity." Tang Yu said.
Rugby was confirmed to return to the Olympic stage in 2009, and China established the national rugby team in 2013. In 2021, the China women’s rugby team won the seventh place at the Tokyo Olympic Games, which was the first time that the China rugby team made its debut at the Olympic Games.
In order to make a difference in this Olympic project, our province has made efforts to break the bottleneck of development in recent years.
Committed to solving the problem of "who will teach", our province has vigorously carried out coach training and introduced a foreign teacher for the provincial women’s football team. "An important purpose of inviting foreign teachers is to hope that provincial athletes can learn better coaching experience, and it is fundamental to build our own team of coaches." Tang Yu said that at present, several old players in the provincial team have begun to transform into coaches. After the National Games in 2025, the provincial team will also have a group of old players retired, which is expected to become the coaches of the provincial team and the municipal team.
Focusing on strengthening the leadership of the event, our province has continuously improved the rugby tournament system. At present, the Provincial Games, the Provincial Rugby Championship and the Provincial Rugby Championship have two groups, A and B, which are aimed at high school and junior high school athletes respectively. Starting from next year, a group C under the age of 12 will be added to the provincial competitions, so that primary school students can also participate.
The China Women’s Rugby Team won the gold medal in the Hangzhou Asian Games, which will also become a booster for the development of rugby in our province. "Liao Jiuli participated in the Asian Games, and many media came to interview and report, which will greatly enhance the influence of rugby in our province." Tang Yu believes that after the Asian Games, more teenagers in our province will like rugby.
It is reported that our province has set short-term goals and long-term goals in rugby. The short-term goal is that the men’s team will strive to enter the top six in the 2025 National Games, and the women’s team will strive to win medals. The long-term goal is to popularize and lay a solid foundation, and at the same time build a team of athletes, coaches and referees, and strive to make Hebei rugby enter the first phalanx in the country as soon as possible.
(Hebei Daily, Hebei Daily client reporter Wang Weihong)
Pay attention to Hebei Daily for more authoritative information.
Reporting/feedback