Chinese baseball seeks future supporters
(People's Daily)
Updated: 2004-03-21 15:04

Baseball did not and has yet to catch the mass' eyes in China but who can be sure that things will go like that for ever?

With the forthcoming 2004 season of the Chinese Baseball League,the organizers were determined to cultivate young baseball fans from now on in order to put the sport on the map in the soccer crazy country in the future.

The Chinese Baseball Association has selected 12-16 elementary schools, middle schools and universities in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Guangzhou, all of which are host cities of the leaguegames, as the "cultivation bases" during the baseball season.

After the season kicks off on April 2, the association will askthe league players to spend Wednesdays in those selected schools playing baseball with the students.

The organizers will also send people dressed up as the mascot to hand out free tickets and pamphlets to promote the league everyThursday during the season.

On Saturdays, young baseball fans in cities which hold the games can enjoy themselves in training camps.

"We hope that these measures can help school students get to know the sport and come to like it," said an official with the association. "We believe that the future of Chinese baseball lies in those young people."

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