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2010-1-2614: 25: 44 font: large, medium and small.
This is probably the most embarrassing national sports team in China.
In the words of Cui, director of the Third Sports Department of the Small Ball Sports Management Center of the State General Administration of Sport (hereinafter referred to as the "Small Ball Center") and secretary-general of the China Bowling Association, this national bowling team, which is composed of "non-professional" athletes and is preparing for the 20 10 Guangzhou Asian Games at the Kunming Haitang Training Base, is a team that "uses millet and rifles to fight against other people's plane cannons".
The monthly salary is only 600 yuan, the training venue is scarce, the equipment is outdated, and it is even difficult to bear the training expenses. Almost all the players are "part-time" and "voluntary" ...
Behind the embarrassment of the national team is the depression of national bowling. From the end of 1990 s to the beginning of this century, the bowling craze and the extremely hot bowling market that once swept the country have disappeared, leaving only a few people who are still persisting.
Sad national team
The player's monthly salary is only 600 yuan.
As a national sport, bowling managers regard the upcoming 16 Asian Games in Guangzhou in 20 10 as an unprecedented opportunity-because it is the first time to hold the Asian Games bowling competition in China, and it will also be the highest-level international competition in China. They hope that through their achievements in this competition, they can arouse the attention of the country and the whole society to bowling and change the reality of bowling.
"Going all out to prepare for the Asian Games and strive for good results is the primary task of the Small Ball Sports Management Center of the State Sports General Administration and the China Bowling Association." Cui told China Economic Weekly that bowling, as a non-Olympic sport, has been very limited in manpower, financial resources and material resources for a long time, which greatly restricted the development of this sport.
Even with unprecedented attention, investment seems to be still insufficient. At present, members of the China bowling team are preparing for the 20 10 Guangzhou Asian Games at Kunming Ridge Training Base. For 8 men and 8 women 16 athletes, Cui said with a wry smile that this team came from all corners of the country, ranging in age from 18 to 40 years old. They used the Red Army to fight millet and used rifles against other people's aircraft cannons.
The four-curve ball among the eight female players is also the only four-curve ball that can be found in China at present. "Whether China bowling can achieve results depends on these people, just like a process of' gambling stones', there is no choice."
Yang Suiling, winner of the 2005 World Women's Championship and now a member of the national team, told China Economic Weekly: "At present, most players who are easy to make achievements in the world are curveballs. However, due to the high restrictions on the training venues of curveballs, the most important thing is to grease the fairways, so it is impossible for ordinary bowling venues and bowling enthusiasts to practice normally. "
However, the cost of the tanker is very high. At present, the two machines used to refuel the fairway during the training of the national team were bought in 2004, which have been repaired and are about to fall apart, four generations behind the international professional level. I just bought a new oiler to prepare for the Asian Games this year.
Moreover, in the past two years, there are only three domestic organizations that can provide training venues for the China bowling team: Yancheng National Youth Bowling Training Base in Jiangsu, Anhui Bowling Association and Kunming Haigeng Sports Training Base. "According to the training cost standard of each athlete per day 130 yuan, including accommodation and transportation, our management center sometimes can't pay the training cost of these bases." Cui said:
The only good thing is that this competition is in China. Cui said that before going abroad to play games, because the economic situation was already tight, and international flights were charged more than 30 dollars for each overweight 1 kg, so each member of the China team could only take two balls at most, or each female player could take the balls on the plane. In the same game, Korean athletes brought 8 to 12 balls, and some people checked them into the whole box, which made the players envious. Sometimes after the game, players will pick up the ball that others don't want, take it back to China to fill in the hole, and then press their hands to serve.
The problem of "money" not only bothers managers.
"Sometimes, people will ask me how I am treated in the national team. I am embarrassed to tell others, just saying that it is ok. " Yang Suiling told China Economic Weekly.
600 yuan is the salary of the national team bowlers every month. As a supernumerary (non-Olympic events are not officially compiled by the national team), 600 yuan's salary is raised from other income-generating projects in the Golf Center. Speaking of the hard work of these athletes and coaches, Cui once choked and wept.
"I think now I play ball as a hobby and pursue my dreams. I usually work in Foshan Safety Production Management Association, and the leaders of the unit are very supportive of me, so every time there is a national team competition, I go back to the team to join the training. Unlike countries such as the United States, there are no professional bowling professionals in China. " Yang Suiling told China Economic Weekly.
Wang hong, the head coach of the national bowling team, earns 2400 yuan a month, which is definitely a "high salary" in the team. Talking about the 40-year-old coach and private entrepreneur, Cui said: "The national team training lasts as little as 2-3 months. During the training, people are not allowed to turn on their mobile phones, but they still have their own careers. The salary we give is simply not enough to pay for their long-distance telephone calls. "
And coach wang hong doesn't want to be interviewed. According to his own words, "no matter how many difficulties there are, it will not change the status quo." I only hope that the China team can achieve some good results in this Asian Games. "
"This situation is very common in the national team now. Many coaches and old players are old and young, and they have to put down their business from time to time for this sport. " Wang Jiaxin, director of the bowling program at the Small Ball Center, told China Economic Weekly.
"Declining Aristocrats" in Sports Market
There are less than 1000 fairways left in China.
Behind these embarrassing realities, bowling, a popular sport, has almost disappeared in China. This happened after bowling was once brilliant.
/kloc-in the 1990s, bowling, which just entered the China market, was called "noble" together with tennis and golf, and was sought after by people. From 65438 to 0998 to 2002, bowling entered its heyday in China. In almost every noisy city, people can find a nice shiny bowling alley. The tinkling of the firing pin was accompanied by cheers day and night. Young people brag about their high scores in front of girls they like. Families think bowling alleys are a necessity for holiday parties. ...
Talking about the popularity of bowling in that year, Cui quoted a sentence from Brunswick, a well-known American bowling equipment manufacturer: "Mercedes-Benz in the United States was founded 100 years ago, and working overtime for 24 hours was not enough to meet the huge market demand in China."
As for the reasons for the sudden popularity of this sport, Cui analyzed: "One is the' noble' positioning of bowling when it first entered the China market, and the other is that this seemingly simple and easy-to-use sport has brought people a brand-new experience of' destroying' order with wisdom and technology." As a result, this fanatical bowling wave followed the social trend of thought at that time and the substantial increase in national income and swept the country.
And all these scenes have disappeared, even faster than when they came. According to statistics, in its heyday, Nanjing alone had more than 600 lanes. By 2008, there were less than 1000 bowling lanes in China that met international standards.
When asked about the "big ebb tide" of bowling after 2003, many people in the industry believe that the main reason is the irrational investment in the whole country and the vicious competition that followed, which washed away the title of "aristocrat" on which bowling depends for a living. However, the owner of a bowling alley told reporters that the development of bowling in China is still restricted by several other factors:
First of all, the operating cost of the site is high. If we calculate from the aspects of venue leasing, fairway construction, fairway daily maintenance (oil and detergent), power operation, air conditioning and heating, the unit operating cost per square meter of bowling alley is even higher than that of golf. Secondly, in terms of taxation, bowling venues have levied high business tax according to the cultural and entertainment industry, but they still cannot pay taxes according to sports; In addition, after SARS in 2003, people's pursuit of the "green sunshine" movement and the rise of golf completely broke away from the title of "elegant aristocrat" movement in that year and lost a large number of consumer groups.
Talking about the once hot situation of bowling, Mr. Chen, a former professional bowler, is full of nostalgia in his eyes. He told China Economic Weekly that in the heyday of bowling development, he used to earn money by playing games, earning over 10,000 yuan a month, but now the scenery is long gone. However, when talking about the future of bowling, he still believes that "bowling, like the stock market, has been hovering at the bottom for so long and should soon get out of trouble."
Difficulties in attracting investment
There are no partners in the event.
What kind of future will bowling, which is still popular all over the world, wait for in China?
"After the 2008 Olympic Games, the sports slogan has changed, and we are moving from a big sports country to a strong sports country. Sports powers are also manifested in national fitness, and non-Olympic projects have also achieved good results. " Cui told China Economic Weekly that she thought this change of national consciousness was the ideological guarantee for bowling to take off again.
Among the owners of bowling alleys, there is a strong call for reform. A former bowler told China Economic Weekly: "The Chinese Bowling Association has not played a very good role in promoting this project. The association should be the CEO of this project and realize the development of the project through docking with the market. " "We should learn that basketball is in line with NBA and international leagues, let advertisements come in and seize the position of enterprises in the project."
"A project is nationwide, and there are only three direct managers, including me. What we have to face are international organizations, international and domestic competitions, athlete training, association building and so on. Sometimes it is really a lack of skills. " Cui, secretary-general of the Bowling Association, also expressed helplessness about the current situation of bowling management.
Regarding the idea of attracting investment, Wang Jiaxin told China Economic Weekly: "In fact, the Small Ball Center also wants to attract investment. Moreover, the Chinese Bowling Association cooperated with' Vida' Paper for nearly 10 years from 1998 to 2007. "
During this period, the National Bowling Championship held 45 sub-tournaments in 15 city. It was broadcast 82 times in CCTV * * *, 156 hours. Moreover, in all sports events broadcast, bowling is also a project with high background advertising photo rate, which has great commercial value. Li, general manager of Vida Paper (Guangdong) Co., Ltd. said at the press conference of the 5th National Bowling Championship in 2006: "In China, whenever bowling is mentioned, it will almost always be associated with Vida. This is a real win-win situation. "
But before the market is awakened again, bowling will be difficult to attract investment. Because of the current downturn in bowling, there is no broadcast of large-scale national events, and Vader Paper, once a close partner, has also become a market partner of NBA basketball.
Revive the market
Turn to "fashion" and "quality"?
How does bowling regain the favor of the people?
Wang Jiaxin, director of the bowling program, told China Economic Weekly that he believed that "foreign bowling alleys have three major functions: one is the competitive function to provide training for high-level athletes; The second is the entertainment function, which provides leisure places for the public; The third is business function, which is a place for corporate activities and business negotiations. "
In an interview with TENPIN, the largest bowling club chain in Britain, the reporter learned that the successful management concept of their arena not only provides simple sports, but also provides the functions of "bar, food and party". People can even hold weddings, birthday parties and celebrate housewarming in the arena, which greatly enriches the management mode of bowling alley.
Huo Feng Century Bowling Club, founded in Harbin by Zhang Peng, the scientific research coach and main player of the national bowling team, is also trying to reshape the image of the bowling alley. Zhang Peng, who is training at Kunming Haitang Base, told reporters: "Paying attention to management and fairway quality is the characteristic of Huo Feng."
Zhang Peng's many years' experience as a coach and professional athlete makes him familiar with the operation of bowling techniques, so at present, the fairways in his arena are all "imported from abroad, and then innovated at home to achieve the effect of reducing costs". From the overall decoration style of the arena, he also boldly introduced the fashionable color of black to attract more bowling fans.
Can bowling, which changes from flaunting "nobility" to pursuing "quality", rekindle people's enthusiasm?
Jin, an economics professor at Beijing Sport University, told China Economic Weekly: "Bowling venue operators should segment the market according to the characteristics of bowling and give play to the role of trade associations and market mechanisms. We must know that at this stage, there are not only sports, but also diversified entertainment markets that can compete with bowling. "