HOHHOT: At the mass competition of China’s 14th National Winter Games, the team from Shandong Province performed with stability and smoothness, even though they had never been on snow before.
The members were all students and teachers from a school in Yangxin County, Binzhou City. The youngest member was only nine years old.
Their coach, Wen Mingjian, also a physical education teacher at the school, said that compared to China’s northeastern regions with abundant ice and snow resources, his hometown lacks in the tradition of snow sports, and there was also a lack of suitable training venues. They typically relied on roller skiing to train.
Roller skiing serves as a non-snow season training method for cross-country skiing. Athletes are able to improve their skills and abilities on the skis by using their roller counterparts.
Wen said that roller skiing provides an effective way to bring winter sports to schools in most areas with little snow and ice, and it can assist children in laying a foundation for snow-related sports.
He remarked, “I used to teach roller skating. As for why I later switched to teaching roller skiing and became involved in ice and snow sports, there is a story behind it.”
In 2010, Wen came to a local school to teach roller skating. Seeing only a few figures on the playground made him feel a little sad.
At that time, roller skating was not a popular activity in the small county town. Parents were not very supportive, and children’s interest was also lacking.
But Wen remained undeterred. He founded the school’s first roller skating club and used his spare time to teach children how to skate. Transitioning from not being able to balance to gliding gracefully, the children’s joy gradually ignited Wen’s hope.
Among Wen’s first batch of students, a boy named Wang Ye impressed him. Recalling his experience, Wen said, “The boy was in the third grade at the time. His academic performance was average, but he was very hardworking and dedicated.”
Wang Ye followed Wen’s training until he graduated from elementary school, and later he was admitted to a sports school. –Agencies
