Grand plan to boost sporting prowess of millions of juniors

To promote the integrated development of junior sports, Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province have strengthened their cooperative endeavors in the field of junior winter sports and its related training.

In the wake of the Beijing government's plan to encourage 8 million locals to participate in winter sports by 2022, the sports authorities of the three regions signed a framework agreement on Dec 22.

Qi Jingting, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sports, said that the agreement would pave the way for the sports resources of the three areas to be better shared and would stimulate the vitality of young people, enrich their sports lives and boost their physical abilities.

According to the agreement, the three regions will organize training camps over the summer and winter holidays and share their professional training venues.

They will also expand exchanges of coaches and young players, providing opportunities for them to learn from each other.

The three sports authorities announced that they will initiate a national sports event in the form of competitions, exhibitions and forums - to launch training, exchanges and scientific research on winter sports for the younger generation in the three regions.

Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei will take turns to host the event every year.

"Beijing has a responsibility to lead the sports development of Tianjin and Hebei, and improve the athletic ability of junior players," said Su Jun, head of the Junior's Office at the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sports.

"In the future, sports authorities in the regions will regularly communicate and launch additional competitions and sports events in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei," he added.

To make full use of the venues of the 2022 Winter Olympics Games, the co-host cities of Beijing and Zhangjiakou in Hebei will build a Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei junior activity space to promote junior winter sports.

Tongzhou district in Beijing as the subcenter of the capital, and Xiongan New Area in Hebei as a national new area, will hold sports events to promote sports exchanges and deepen their cooperation over winter sports for juniors.

Joint teams from the three regions will participate in national competitions and international sports exchanges, in such sectors as winter sports, athletics, swimming and ball games.

Hosted by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sports and the Beijing Municipal Education Commission, the first Youth Skiing Competition in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei regions kicks off on Friday at the Yuyang International Ski Resort in Beijing. It is expected to attract 700 professional young players and amateurs aged from 7 to 26.

"We will launch winter sports events in campuses, including the International Paralympics Winter School Day and winter sports knowledge classes," said Tian Jiangong, deputy director of the Hebei provincial sports administration.

"We will select 100 schools to launch 100 demonstration classes, involving 10,000 students and their families in Hebei every year," Tian added.

(China Daily 12/29/2017 page7)