Cangnan 'Village BA' Champion Wins a Cow

On the evening of July 23rd, amidst the rhythmic drumming and cheers, the first"Village BA" Basketball Tournament of Cangnan County in 2024 came to a successful close. This competition, which lasted for about a month, ignited the passion for sports among the people of the entire county, adding a strong flavor of life to Cangnan's image as"the city that knows life best."

This was an interesting event

The championship match took place at the central lake square in Cangnan County. After the warm-up performance of"Heaven, Earth, and Man Harmony" martial arts by Laizhou Chinese Martial Arts School, the game started. Although it was later moved indoors to the stadium due to rain, the enthusiasm did not wane."Boom, come on! Boom, come on!" Cheering groups chanted in rhythm with the drums;"Great shot...""Three-pointer! That's awesome!" Every beautiful goal was met with the audience's exclamations. The players dribbled with the wind, dunked stylishly, and played with full vigor; the organizers also arranged a wonderful dunk show during the halftime break; under the court, the stands were full, and there were a large number of people around the big screen watching the game, about 3,000 spectators sometimes held their breath and watched nervously, sometimes clapped and cheered passionately, enjoying the game to the fullest.

After fierce competition, the Lingxi Chengdong team, Qianku Nancheng team, Lingxi Duiwu team, and Huayuan Zaoxi team won the top four places. The award ceremony was eye-catching, with staff holding KT boards with"yellow cattle,""goats," and carrying poles with local specialties such as big yellow croaker fish,"parading" into the venue, causing a burst of laughter. It is reported that the championship prize for this competition is local yellow cattle, the runner-up prize is three black goats, the third place prize is several live big yellow croaker fish, and the winning prize includes Fan Mountain meat swallows, pork fat residue, edible raw eggs, etc., making the competition full of fun.

Mr. Tang from Xiangtan, Hunan, who was visiting relatives in Cangnan in the past few days, has been watching the game with his 11-year-old grandson in a red basketball uniform for several consecutive days, sitting on the steps of the square and enjoying family happiness."Cangnan's culture and tourism are diverse, interesting, and have a strong atmosphere, which is very good!"

This is a carnival for the masses

The first "Village BA" Basketball Tournament of Cangnan County, with the theme of"Strengthening the City and Prospering the Villages, Heading for the Future Together," was hosted by the Cangnan County Government. Since the start of the competition on June 21, it has attracted 54 teams and more than 800 basketball enthusiasts to sign up in the form of communities (areas)."The participation of the masses far exceeded our expectations." Chen Zongzao, the Party Secretary and Director of the Cangnan County Agricultural and Rural Bureau, introduced that players came from all over the country to support and participate in the competition, some even came back from abroad; the fixed stands for the venue were increased again and again but still could not meet the demand, so they set up large screens and long benches outside the venue for the masses to watch the live broadcast. According to statistics, over the past month, the event has attracted more than 100,000 spectators.

At the third place match on July 22, Ye Zhikun, a player from the Huayuan Zaoxi team, said that he works in Hengdian, Jinhua City, and has been fond of basketball for nearly 20 years, and has participated in"Village BA" events in Guizhou, Hunan, and other places. To participate in the Cangnan competition, he spent 6 hours going back and forth between Cangnan and Hengdian whenever his team played."Our cheerleading team and audience are very powerful, the momentum of shouting and the atmosphere of cheering are very similar to Guizhou's'Village BA', which has given me a lot of motivation for the competition."

It is reported that Cangnan is a traditional basketball powerhouse in the southern part of Zhejiang. The local party committee and government are vigorously promoting the construction of a"city of sports, a city of events." In terms of basketball alone, the overall situation is good, with"a basketball court in every village, a match every month, and everyone loves to watch the game." Last year, the Cangnan men's basketball team won the"Gongfu Cup" Zhejiang Province Assisting Mountainous 26 County Basketball League.

This is a promotion of agriculture, culture, and tourism

The competition attracted people and gathered popularity, and Cangnan took this opportunity to promote the development of agriculture, culture, and tourism. Around the venue, the famous Cangnan market"Shanhai Da Ji" also opened at the same time. A series of non-legacy performances and special product sales took place in turn, allowing the audience to enjoy both visual and taste pleasures. Chen Zongzao introduced that they have integrated Cangnan's characteristic agriculture, rural tourism, and other resources, adopting offline booth sales, online live broadcast gifts, and other forms to promote Cangnan's agriculture, culture, and tourism, and help the people increase their income. Among them, four live broadcasts sent out nearly 1,000 welfare prizes such as agricultural and special products, scenic area tickets, and home stay dining vouchers.

At the scene, 48 booths in the market were selling local specialties such as meat swallows, braised goose, pork fat residue, flower tea, and four-season pomelo juice. Wang Xiaoli, Secretary-General of the Cangnan County Agricultural Entrepreneur Development Federation, introduced that their association alone organized nearly 20 member units to sell at the market and also arranged special prizes for the competition."The competition has provided a good platform for the promotion of Cangnan's agricultural and special products, especially the new deep-processed agricultural products developed by our member companies have been promoted. We hope that similar sports events will be more and more exciting, and give more opportunities for agriculture, culture, and tourism to'join the fun'."(ZhongXin)