The first nationwide village basketball tournament in China will take place between June and October, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the General Administration of Sport announced on Wednesday.
The idea came from the grassroots basketball competition in Taipan Village, Taijiang County in southwest China's Guizhou Province, which became a phenomenon in 2022. People named the event the VBA (Village Basketball Association) after the NBA and China's top basketball league, the CBA.
"With the organization and promotion of the central government, the VBA is bound to become increasingly fun and enjoyable," 24-year-old Lu Taotao told the Global Times on Wednesday. He is a VBA player and a physical education teacher at a local primary school.
A village basketball game in Taipan Village, Taijiang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, March 25, 2023. /CFP
The nationwide tournament will comprise three stages. The first one is at the grassroots level and will run from June to July, allowing teams to compete in their chosen form. From there, each province will send two team to participate at the regional level, which is split into four divisions: the southeast, the northeast, the southwest and the northwest. The teams will battle out from August and September, with only the top X progressing to the finals in Taijiang County in October.
"I took part in a similar rural basketball game in southeast China in my teen years," Yao Ming, president of the Chinese Basketball Association, said. "This kind of game has been developed for decades, showing basketball is a sport with extensive participation."
"Everything is on the rise here. I'm so glad that the event is now helping the development of the village and motivates more people to embrace sports not only in Guizhou but across the country," a local villager told the Global Times.