(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-10-29 11:13

WUHAN - In the Tazihu Sports Center, northeast of Wuhan, eight teams are competing intensely for the title of softball at the 6th Chinese City Games here from October 27 to January 3.

As a multi-sport quadrennial event, most athletes represent their cities of birth and are selected from the local sport teams. However, Nanjing softball team is unique and eye-catching as their players are all university students.

"You can see that the name of our team is Nanjing University of Technology (NUT) but not the city name. That's because the players are all students at campus," said professor Wang Hao, director of the sports department in NUT, after the match between NUT and Dalian here on Sunday.

Established in May 2001, a youthful NUT gave top priority to develop and spread softball as they were asked to build a team to take part in the 10th National Games representing Jiangsu province. Then, a comprehensive plan on it was put into effect. By appointing an experienced coach, choosing potential softball talents from high school graduates, all-around training and exercising, the NUT softball team came into being and gradually attracted people's attention.

In 2005, as the youngest team, NUT (representing Jiangsu Province) finally ranked sixth at the 10th National Games. One year later, they grabbed the silver medal of the national championship. The team's success not only boosts the players' confidence, more and more students at campus are fascinated by softball.

"After watching our team's excellent performance, many students cannot help trying and playing softball themselves. They chose it as an elective course and it gradually became the most popular extracurricular activity  on compus."

"Softball is a sport which combines individual heroism with collective teamwork and is good for students' development," said Wang.

With the growing popularity of NUT softball team, the international exchanges became regular.

"The United States sent a state team to play us while Japan also sent a team," said Wang. "In 2003, the World Junior Softball Championships was held in NUT, attracting traditionally strong teams like the United States, South Korea and Japan .

"The president of International Softball Federation (ISF) also came here and spoke highly of our field and organization, which is a boost for our determination to promote softball," said a beaming Wang.

In order to foster more young players, NUT has built a relationship with dozens of high schools in the country.

"We hope in this way we can promote softball not only in NUT but in  the whole country," said Wang. "Some good players of our team have been selected to the national training camp and we believe there will be more in the future."

While talking about the team's aim at the City Games, Wang Hao said, "At last Games, we were sixth and this time we want to go further."

The NUT team currently ranks second with two wins and one loss.

Tipped as a cradle of future stars, the 6th City Games, being held from October 25 to November 3, features 220 events in 16 Olympic sports and golf, the sole exhibition event.  Athletes under 20 are eligible for the Games.