Community sport an invisible gold mine in China

One year ago, Sun Chuifeng, a Beijing native in Tongzhou District, founded a community sport club, which aimed to promote the development of teenage sport. Sun wasn’t always a professional coach, but he is good learner of physical education. 

“Kids just don’t have access to sport,” said Sun showing his worry over the lack of physical exercise among Chinese children. Part of the reasons, he believes, lies in the inefficiency of community sports systems. To improve students’ health, China has made physical education a compulsory course. However, that’s far from enough.

Most Chinese parents expect their children to have fun, but the fact is, they are too busy to play with their children. Some sports, swimming for example, are necessary skills, added Sun. That’s why he has decided to focus on children’s community sports.  

With the recent boom in the Chinese sports industry, more and more attention has been paid to the likes of  sports social networks and sports platforms. Unfortunately, community sport is a neglected gold mine.

At the national level, decision makers have been aware that community sport is an important base for the national fitness program and the sports industry. 

Community sport will provide job opportunities in terms of venue operation, event scheduling and coach training. For example, Beijing’s Dongcheng District Stadium has seen a dramatic revenue increase since it opened to the public. 

Teaching staff are another necessity for a successful community sport projects. In some countries, most teachers come from the community itself. 

For example, the English School’s Football Association (ESFA), the governing body for schools’ football competitions in that country, currently facilitiates 17,000 teams taking part in local, regional and national competitions, providing a unique and fun experience for every boy and girl that participates. In the past 10 years, ESFA have trained about 400,000 community coaches , 80% to 90% of whom are parents.

As Liu Peng, director of China’s sports governing body, suggested, modernized sport facilities and public areas should be set up within communities. Efforts should be made to encourage people’s engagement. That said, China will uncover the charm of the industry when community sport flourishes.

Source: Tencent

Proofread by John Devlin