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MLB is keen to foster game among Tibetans

(China Daily)
Updated: 2011-05-24 07:57

Sanandaj (right) poses with Xie Long, managing director of MLB China. Photo provided to China Daily

BEIJING - Chinese Tibetan student Sanandaj recently took a step towards realizing his baseball dream when the 13-year-old joined the MLB baseball development center in Wuxi, Jiangsu province.

Sanandaj is a member of the baseball team of Hainan No 1 Minzu Senior Middle School in the Hainan Tibetan autonomous prefecture of Northwest China's Qinghai province. Since the establishment of the team in 2006, the baseball side from the Tibetan Plateau has performed well in national junior tournaments, and that drew the attention of MLB (Major League Baseball) China.

MLB China has been giving assistance to the team in terms of equipment, coaching and training. And Sanandaj is the fifth team member recruited to the development center in Wuxi to receive education and baseball training.

"Tibetan youngsters' talent and fortitude has impressed me very much," said Xie Long, managing director of MLB China. "The MLB development center had recruited four Tibetan student-athletes before and they have made tremendous progress with hard work and persistence both on the field and in the classroom."

MLB formally opened a baseball development center at the Dongbeitang High School in Wuxi on Sept 23, 2009. It is China's first MLB baseball training facility and provides baseball training for junior and senior high school-aged students within an academic environment.

The development center, which can accommodate more than 100 players aged 12 to 18, has an international team of baseball instructors.

According to Xie, two previously recruited Tibetan students, Huadeng Danzeng and Xianba Cairang, traveled to Singapore for continental baseball exchange events last October.

"It was their first overseas trip and helped them expand their horizons and gather experience. We are fostering these hopefuls with patience and expect some of them to grow into a Yao Ming of baseball," Xie said.

Although baseball has lost its Olympic status, the MLB is still aiming to boost the popularity of the sport in China, especially among youngsters.

"We have two major goals for China. The first is to boost the popularity and participation of the game among young athletes, and the second is to help raise the level of China's national teams as well as cultivate potential junior players," said Xie.

MLB launched its grassroots youth baseball program, Play Ball!, in five cities across China in 2007. The program has been incorporated into the physical education curriculum for students aged 8-12 in 120 elementary schools in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Chengdu and Wuxi.

Play Ball! China has reached more than 400,000 people since its launch. The participating students have been introduced to the rules of the game and instructed on developing their baseball skills as part of their in-school physical education program.

According to the Chinese Baseball Association (CBA), there are more than 4 million people playing baseball in China and more than 60 Chinese universities and colleges and 1,000 high and primary schools have their own teams.

Xinhua

(China Daily 05/24/2011 page23)