Why did Shanghai become the first stop of China’s flag rugby towards the ＂Olympic era＂

Looking back on the "big events" in the world sports in 2023, "adding five major events such as flag football to the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028" is definitely among the best.

Entering the "Olympic era" will undoubtedly make flag football one of the most promising sports in China in the future. At this moment, it has also become a crucial "fate node" for China’s flag football-from the free development of the people to the aim of attacking the international competition stage, the selection of the national team, the establishment of the local youth training system and the preparation plan for the competition are all imminent, which can be described as tight time and heavy tasks.

Happily, an unprecedented flag football match held in Jiading District of Shanghai last weekend made a good start.

The first competition was on such a scale.

? ?Liveliness is the reporter’s first impression of this game.

? ?The "2023 National Flag Rugby Championship", sponsored by the National Olympic Sports Center and the Chinese Rugby Association and hosted by the Shanghai Rugby Association, attracted 83 flag rugby teams from all over China, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Foshan, Ningbo, Nanchang, Wenzhou and Suzhou, and they competed fiercely in the two-day competition.?

There are five groups in the competition: U18 men’s group, U18 women’s group, U20 men’s group, open men’s group and open women’s group. Among the 892 athletes, there are students, white-collar workers, teachers, fitness coaches, hosts and retired athletes. They are all gathered together, which is more like enjoying a long-awaited festival. "I hope that through this national championship, I can learn from the stronger players, constantly improve my skills, and strive for higher achievements in the sport of flag football." Hu Ruijie, a college student player from Anhui, said.

?? ? ?"It’s amazing that the first national flag football championship can have such a scale! Insiders know that this sport has rich spiritual connotation: teamwork, courage, love, unity, respect, discipline, persistence, unity and execution … are vividly displayed on the court. This sport was once hidden in the boudoir, but now it has a considerable mass base. " Chen Yingbiao, director of the National Olympic Sports Center, said.

Chen Yingbiao (front row, right), director of the National Olympic Sports Center, presented trophies to the winning teams.

"The first stop of dressing", Shanghai is the most suitable.

In an interview, Chen Yingbiao thinks that an international metropolis like Shanghai is the best place to become the first stop for China’s flag football to enter a "new era". "Our consideration at that time was that it was urgent to start it in Shanghai at the end of this year." Chen Yingbiao said.

It is no exaggeration to say that Shanghai is "the most suitable".

Generally speaking, the selection process of traditional sports is not only supported by the youth training system and school sports teams that have sunk to various counties, cities and villages, but also has large and small events for athletes all over the country, so that they can further improve themselves in the process of showing themselves and invest in higher-level training and competitions. Specific events such as table tennis and shooting have a relatively sound points system. Based on the principle of "competition for the best", athletes can get the opportunity to play for the five-star red flag on their chests through fair competition. But these measures, flag football seems to have none.

A senior insider told reporters that because of the "barbaric growth" among the people for many years, many athletes who can represent the highest national flag level are "lurking" in these campuses and folk clubs. It is precisely because of this that, unlike other projects with a good foundation, the formation of the national flag team is closely related to the level of mass participation.

Eighty-three flag football teams from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Foshan, Ningbo, Nanchang, Wenzhou, Suzhou and other parts of the country competed fiercely in the two-day competition.?

Let as many folk football players as possible gather together, and through selection, let the outstanding players change their club jerseys into national team jerseys. There is no better "dressing stage" than Shanghai, a "land of rugby".

"We hope to take Shanghai as a starting point and this competition as an opportunity to further increase regional competitions in the coming year, and strive to achieve weekly competitions in various provinces and cities. We hope to release the charm of flag football and let schools, social clubs and even enterprises participate extensively." Chen Yingbiao said.

There are many data that can prove this "soil". From 2020, the first national flag rugby community activity was organized by the Shanghai Rugby Association and called on all member units to develop together. This new outdoor sports mode of sports+socialization, which is widely sought after by young people and commercial brands, has rapidly warmed up all over the country, attracting tens of thousands of young people to participate. At the peak, there were nearly 500 flag football communities in China to popularize flag football and organize events in various places.

The number of teams participating in organized amateur adult equipment leagues in China has increased from 8 in 2014 to nearly 80 in 2023. At most, there are more than ten football teams equipped in Shanghai. There are more than ten national top-level college flag football teams in Shanghai all the year round, which are active in amateur competitions of the Municipal Education Commission and the sports system.

In recent years, with the implementation of the "double reduction" policy, the flag football has officially become the content of the public welfare distribution class of the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission to serve the schools in the city. There are countless non-governmental training institutions operating in the market. As early as 2018, data showed that more than 8,000 primary school students in Shanghai were trained in rugby courses at least once a week; Every year, in the Super Bowl, nearly 10 million China viewers watch the live broadcast of the event on TV and new media platforms, among which Shanghai fans account for the majority. In addition, Shanghai is also the most representative American football town-there are not only many clubs, but also a set of scientific management models, which regularly organize training and competitions.

Rugby is the highlight of Shanghai City Amateur League.

? The year-round folk games have become the core of revitalizing this football hotspot. In the past two years, Shanghai Sports Bureau has promoted rugby to the highest level of Shanghai amateur league-league events. The rugby amateur league, which is created by the Football Association, includes four categories: equipment, flag, English and touch. Only the flag football events are subdivided into: U6U8U10U12U14U16 college group, open men’s group, open mixed group, open women’s group, inter-school group, etc … Even during the epidemic period, more than 30,000 adults and teenagers participated in the games in Shanghai.

? ?The Shanghai sports management department also brought rugby into the city amateur league, and the government set up a platform to promote and popularize rugby with high-quality resources. All kinds of rugby fans with different genders, different ages, different cultural backgrounds and different sports foundations participated in it. As the main body of the competition, the Shanghai Football Association has attracted the "assist" of the NFL, the top professional sports league, with its authoritative and professional style of running the competition. It can be said that many parties have worked together to cultivate the "soil".? ?

Can the "Olympic East Wind" bring more competitions?

It is really urgent for the national flag team to prepare for the upcoming competition from scratch. It is believed that in addition to selecting outstanding social clubs and campus teams, it is very likely that some existing rugby players will be transformed into waist flags, or the logic of rugby will be continued, and athletes with physical conditions suitable for waist flags will be selected from other events such as track and field for training.

However, in any case, the first batch of truly high-level professional flag football players will be ushered in China sports world, and the training mode of flag football talents has also been able to start a new "engine"-it is understood that the Youth Training Center of Shanghai Sports Bureau has started the registration of young athletes in new projects, and some district sports bureaus arranged in advance have also started exchanges with the Shanghai Football Association to seek a new mode of cooperation in training; In addition, we also have every reason to expect that with the blowing of the "Olympic East Wind", Shanghai, as a "land of rugby", can serve as an excellent springboard and platform for China’s flag rugby events to a higher level-from mass events to professional events and international competitions.

Luo Wenhua, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Sports Bureau, told reporters that the enthusiasm shown by all sectors of society and student groups for the waist flag rugby reflects that Shanghai has a mass base for hosting high-standard rugby matches. "The purpose of hosting more top-level events in Shanghai is to enable more people around to pay attention to these projects and participate in them, so as to improve their physical fitness while enjoying sports."

? ?It is expected that the flag football will become a "good card" for Shanghai to accelerate the construction of the international sports capital.