Voluntary activities selected to boost national fitness

127 projects on the list, covering winter sports, youth soccer, and sports services

A total of 127 projects across the country were added to the 2022 national fitness voluntary sports service project library of the General Administration of Sport of China, in recognition that these projects are playing important roles in boosting national fitness.

According to the GASC, the 127 projects were selected from 323 voluntary sports-service programs of 43 organizations. They covered a wide range of sports and related services, including grassroots winter sports, youth soccer, baseball and sports services for senior citizens.

This is the second year that the GASC has selected quality sports voluntary services and added them to the project library. The aim is to make these projects examples to encourage more people to start various voluntary sports activities and boost national fitness. In 2021, a total of 116 projects were added to the library.

Among the projects is the Guangdong sports bureau's "Meeting with the Champions". Stars from different sports were invited to meet with schoolchildren and residents in Guangdong province. Apart from discussions and sharing sports stories, the champions took the students and people who joined in the activity into training sessions.

China's legendary sprinter Su Bingtian, for example, joined in the activity in October visiting Zhixin High School in Guangzhou, Guangdong province. The 33-year-old Asian record holder in the men's 100m sprint shared his growth and career stories with the students, before he led them in sprint lessons.

Also in October, members of the Chinese women's basketball team were invited to visit the Affiliated High School of South China Normal University. Players including Yang Liwei and Li Yueru and the team's head coach Zheng Wei shared their story of winning silver medals at last year's FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup with the students.

"Do not be afraid of being defeated, as we should learn how to rise up again from the defeats. And we should use that experience in our daily training and lives," head coach Zheng said, encouraging the students with a speech that was themed on "Being Fearless".

Yang also encouraged the students by saying: "As athletes we could encounter challenges not only from our rivals but also injuries. I suffered injuries and the recovery process was hard. But my secret is to keep my dream, so I could have the confidence and courage to keep fighting."

Another example of these projects is the "Cure the children with water sports and love" activity organized by Wutaishan Sports Center in Jiangsu province. The activity specially invited children with hearing impairments and intellectual challenges to experience water sports with their parents at the sports center.

The organizer provided the children with coaches, sign language interpreters and quality facilities to experience water sports. After the training sessions, the children visited the local sports museum to learn about sporting development.

"Such activity aims to encourage schools, families and different organizations of our society to work together to build a sports charity platform. Through our action, love and voluntary spirits, we hope to help these kids find the direction and dreams of their lives," said Chen Li, who's in charge of the Wutaishan Natatorium.

According to the GASC, the standards of selecting these projects include public benefit, creativity, social influence and organization ability. Compared with 2021, more organizations across the nation, including local sports bureaus, sports universities and grassroots sports associations, showed interest and made efforts on these projects to encourage more people from all backgrounds to embrace sports.

"Despite the challenges brought by the pandemic, we managed to have many activities this year," said Sports Minister Gao Zhidan during a meeting with the sports bureau directors from across the nation in December.

"We also had a nationwide online sports meet, which attracted the participation of more than 13 million people, which greatly boosted people's enthusiasm to join in the national fitness campaign."

The minister added: "We need to strengthen people's accessibility to sports services and balance the resources. We need to provide the people with quality facilities, well-organized grassroots tournaments and scientific fitness guidance. That's how we can boost the development of mass fitness."