How basketball is changing lives in a Hebei community

Less than 30 minutes before lunchtime, six Chinese people playing basketball can be seen concentrating on a tense three-on-three matchup amid spontaneous bursts of applause.

The players, along with fascinated spectators, are residents of Gezhuang, a small community of 1,700 residents in Suning county, Hebei province.

Almost everyone, from 7-year-olds to seniors in their 70s, plays basketball, Li Haibo, the village chief, told Xinhua News Agency in a recent interview.

The beginning

Gezhuang's basketball story began as early as 1973, when a primary school teacher working there assembled a team of students.

"Back then, they had only a wooden board hanging on a tree with an iron hoop and a secondhand basketball for practice," Li recalls.

With no money to buy jerseys, the young players were bare-chested in summer and wore sweaters in winter for practice, but the tough going did not prevent them from having fun while developing their skills.

The Gezhuang team won the county's student basketball tournament only months after its establishment. In an even more inspiring feat, it became a grassroots dream team by taking three consecutive titles in Cangzhou's biennial tournament from 1975 to 1979, and winning the provincial championship in Hebei a year later.

Since that time, basketball has gradually spread in popularity across the community, Li says. "Villagers adopted a positive attitude toward basketball, and playing the game has become habitual."

Grassroots development

Gezhuang has come a long way since basketball's early days. It now boasts a standard court with a plastic floor, 320 seats and six bright lights. Ge Jiamai, 66, who has played basketball for more than 40 years, says he never thought there would be such a great court only steps away from his house.

"I often go to the court to shoot some balls after finishing my farm work, or join others to play four-on-four," Ge says as he took a break after a shoot-around.

Since the court was completed in 2014, it has served local demand and hosted invitational matches three years on a row that brought together Gezhuang's team and squads from neighboring counties and cities.

Wu Wanjie, 53, who lists California's Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry as one of his favorite players, appeared on court last year as a substitute point guard for Gezhuang.

"Though it was a village game, it was attended by strong competitors and overseen by national-level referees, attracting thousands of spectators during the six-day event," Wu recalls.

"It felt like half of Suning county came to watch our matches, and there were far too few seats to accommodate visiting fans."

Wu says he will resume training next month and hopes he can "make some good passes this year".

Li, the village chief, says the 2017 season is scheduled to kick off in May.

"The event is now a big deal for our whole county," he says.

New destiny

The decades-old grassroots basketball culture in Gezhuang has made its villagers more than just a part of the story: They have been its direct beneficiaries.

In 1979, Gezhuang was honored by Hebei as a provincial "Village of Basketball" for its achievements in basketball education, training and promotion. Since then, it has kept a senior team and a youth team amid ongoing efforts to facilitate the sport's development.

Because of this, many young residents with athletic ability are offered valuable opportunities to leave the village to do things like serve in the military, work in government institutions or private enterprises, or embark on other careers related to basketball.

There are fewer villagers who gamble or drink as a result of playing basketball, while many have installed cable TV at home in order to watch NBA and CBA games, says Li Zongqun, a 66-year-old player for Gezhuang's senior team.

Basketball unites the whole village, he says: "Many tough issues were tackled because senior players stepped forward to take the lead."

As the village chief, Li believes that basketball is the key to Gezhuang's development. He says a basketball museum and a basketball theme park will be built in the village in coming years.

He says: "Gezhuang is also planning to build a basketball school so that future generations can have more access to this fascinating sport."