High hopes for grassroots hoops
With Yao Ming dominating the NBA and exciting prospects like Yi Jianlian dazzling in the domestic league, grassroots interest in basketball has never been stronger.
Late last month the Chinese Basketball Open (CBO), a nationwide grassroots hoops league, tipped off for a second season, with organizers confident of success.
"Basketball has a very good grassroots base around China. Before the CBO there were numerous local competitions in different corners of the country. But the CBO links them together and gives local teams the chance of a broader range of competition," said Li Yuanwei, director of the Chinese Basketball Administrative Center (CBAC), in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.
Last year's edition attracted participants from all walks of life - farmers from Anhui Province, Shandong police officers, college students, hoop nuts from Hong Kong and Macao and minority teams from Qinghai Province in the northwest.
More than 30,000 amateur players from 2,000 teams participated in the event with 8,000 competitions staged over the year.
"The big success of last year's CBO boosts our confidence to further develop the sport at grassroots level. In the meantime, we want to make sure the CBO helps inspire more people and enrich more lives."
Alongside competitions, basketball fiestas will be held including shooting and dunking contests, skill challenges, basketball cultural exhibits, streetball and hip-hop dance shows.
Li believes the CBO has set up a solid base for an overall league system.
"We will develop the CBO into an elementary league," he said
A hoopster tries a lay-up during the national finals of CBO's first season last year. The CBO is a grassroots league for China's amateur basketball players. Courtesy of 51CBO.com |
"Apart from the premier pro league, the China Basketball Association (CBA) and the youth pro league, we have a series of amateur basketball leagues - the high school basketball league, China University Basketball Association (CUBA), and China University Basketball Super League.
"All of the leagues need a basis, where everyone young or old is eligible to join in."
Media exposure
The success of the CBO is also pushing officials to attempt deeper reform of the sport.
"We have learned lots of lessons and also benefited a lot from the reform of the CBO," said Xu Minfeng, director of the CBAC's Development Department.
"In the new season we will try to adopt more rules from the CBA to manage the CBO. Only by taking the amateur league forward can the pro league keep aiming high."
Wide media exposure and the huge number of participants has benefited the league's marketing development.
"Lots of companies have showed interest in sponsoring different CBO competitions," said Xu. "Some of them have joined us while some other deals are still under discussion."
"But we are confident the CBO will get bigger financial support this year. We had very successful cooperation with some big companies last year. I am sure more will get involved in the second year."
Carl Men Ky Ching, former president of the sport's governing body FIBA, was positive about the role of the CBO.
"I am so glad to see a new and hugely popular league in China. From the CBO we see there is so much potential in Chinese basketball.
"Of course, we have to do more work on introducing high-level coaches for amateurs. Rome was not built in a day. We have to improve the level of the league as soon as possible in order to get some of them into pro leagues."
Xu said the CBO will ask some retired players to join in and help encourage players, but the number of retired pros will be limited in each team.
Apart from regular matches in every province, some showpiece tournaments will be introduced to make the CBO more competitive.
"We will continue last year's popular competitions like the Beijing Basketball Match for Chinese of the World and the National Rural Residents' Invitational."
"Also we will invite a number of high-level amateur teams to a Grand Prix series. We will hold CBO Youth Competitions and a Basketball Championship for the Armed Forces this year.
"Sport is not only about winning. It can be about entertainment, something everyone can join in.
"We will help every community set up clubs and host various activities. I am sure in the near future, basketball will be played in every corner of China.
"The CBO will reflect how popular the sport is."
China's interest in basketball has soared in recent years, especially after Chinese superstar Yao joined the NBA's Houston Rockets as the top draft pick in 2002 and China won a record-equalling eighth place at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.
"I am sure it will not be long before basketball surpasses football as the No 1 sport in China," said Xu.
The CBO has also appointed Juan Antonio Samaranch, former president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), as a senior consultant.
The Spanish sports supremo said basketball was one of his favorite sports and that he was willing to contribute to the development of the CBO.
(China Daily 02/07/2007 page22)
