BEIJING: With more teams involved and greater enthusiasm expected, China’s village soccer league will kick off an intriguing new season as the burgeoning sports scene keeps benefiting rural vitalization.
Building on its sensational success in 2023, the Village Super League, or cun chao, in Rongjiang county, Southwest China’s Guizhou province, will have a bigger and better season that will involve more participants, promote fitness and boost local tourism across more areas, according to organizers.
The amateur competition, with players from all walks of life, including farmers, vendors and drivers, will start its 2024 campaign’s preliminary stage on Saturday with 62 teams, up from 20 last year. The teams, to be placed into 10 groups, will compete in a total of 162 round-robin games before each group’s top two teams advance into the knockout stage, which will be held from March to May, the organizing committee announced on Wednesday.
“The 2024 tournament, for the first time, has participants representing almost all villages of the county. The involvement of new teams will, for sure, bring new dynamics this year,” said Lai Hongjing from the organizing committee, who is also a physical education teacher at Rongjiang No 1 Middle School.
Dong Yongheng, who represents the runner-up team from Zhongcheng village and was the tournament’s top scorer in the 2023 season, said he expects nothing but fiercer and more fun competitions in the upcoming season.
“New teams and new opponents will bring more suspense that will take greater depth and commitment from us to stay competitive. I am just so excited about the new campaign,” said the 34-year-old player, who owns a snack bar in Rongjiang.
All the players, coaches and team staff members involved in the tournament are from villages in the county. Their common interest in soccer, and sports in general, has helped them shine on the playground and draw the national spotlight.
Thanks to its unique blend of grassroots sports participation, strong ethnic culture and local flavor, the tournament has attracted phenomenal attention at home and abroad since last year, drawing an increasing number of visitors, who have contributed hugely to local tourism and related businesses. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
