Slam Dunking into History: 20 Years of Unwavering Support for China’s 3×3 Basketball Team as KFC 3-on-3 Basketball Game Tips Off in 2024

On September 25, the national launch ceremony of the 2024 KFC China Middle School Students Three-on-Three Basketball League was held at the Beijing Chaoyang Gymnasium. This year coincides with the 20th anniversary of the founding of KFC Three Basketball. Focusing on the theme of “Twenty is on fire, it always tastes good”, the launching ceremony specially invited star players, international referees, and coaches with national prefixes who have grown and struggled on the KFC Three Basketball platform. Many special guests are expected to attend.

Also invited to attend the launch ceremony were Zhang Lei, executive member of the Chinese Basketball Association and executive director of the China Student Sports Federation, Wang Tao, general manager of KFC China, Chen Qi, chief customer officer of Yum China, and others.

This competition is jointly organized by the China Student Sports Federation and KFC China. It has two categories: junior high school group and high school group. The competition period lasts from September to December. Twenty years after its establishment, KFC Three Basketball has attracted nearly 3 million young people to participate. While promoting the popularization of China’s three-person basketball sport and providing talents for Chinese basketball, it has also contributed to the cause of integrating sports and education for young people.

At the event site, the legendary shining team composed of Lu Tubula, Li Haonan, Xiao Hailiang, and Huang Wenwei and the super-burning star team composed of Zhu Siyu, Chen Wangtunan, Ji Shangjun, and Qiu Zhengwen kicked off the opening match of this event. The Legend Shine team made multiple accurate 2-pointers from outside and finally won 21-18.

Wang Tao, general manager of KFC China, said, “The KFC brand has grown to more than 1,000 stores in 2004. We have used our nationwide restaurant network to build a low-threshold national competition platform and use public welfare methods to popularize sports and health among young people. The concept has continued to provide talents for China’s basketball industry.”

From scratch to one, multiple parties have worked together to create a benchmark event for youth. In 2004, the three-person basketball trend had not yet taken off. In the eyes of most people, it was just a street sport popular among amateurs. Under such a situation, with the mission of cultivating Chinese youth sports concepts and promoting the integration of youth sports and education, the KFC 3X3 Basketball League was born.

Faced with a series of practical problems such as the three-basket sport not being popularized yet and no experience in similar events for reference, a large number of KFC restaurant front-line employees devoted themselves to organizing the event. Wang Tao, the current general manager of KFC China, was the general manager of the Liaoning Jilin market event when the first KFC three-person basketball game was held in 2004, and was responsible for organizing employees across the market to host the game. Zhu Guiqin, who was responsible for KFC’s Liaoji market at the time, still remembers the situation 20 years ago. At that time, they would “go to the amateur venues around the restaurant to recruit players whenever they had time, and they would also go to many schools to commission sports teams.” The teacher did the school recruitment, and almost all my relatives and friends were mobilized to promote it.”

Limited by the outside world’s understanding of this sport and the inherent impression formed by traditional five-a-side basketball, one of the biggest challenges faced by the organizers in the process of promoting the event is that most fans are confused about the three-basket rule. . Referee Zheng Lei, who has many years of work experience, first refereed a three-basket event on the stage of the first KFC three-basket event. At that time, he often had to face endless questions from the contestants, but Zheng Lei also saw the love and passion of basketball teenagers. “The precious thing about KFC Three Basketball is that it brings together the best young players from all over the country in one place.” On the stage, it is very helpful for campus sports or cultivating high-level athletes.”

Advocated by the concept of “exercise every day, healthy for life”, KFC Three Basketball has covered 172 cities in 30 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions since its establishment, attracting more than 48,000 basketball teenagers to participate. After twenty years of development, the organizers of KFC Three Basketball now no longer have to worry about finding venues and popularizing rules. From the initial cooperation with the Chinese Basketball Association around restaurant registration, to joining hands with the China Education Society to launch the campus model for the first time in 2015, and then in 2019, we cooperated with the China Middle School Students Sports Association (now merged and renamed the China Student Sports Federation), the Chinese Basketball Association Working together to form a cooperation model in which the education system and sports system are closely integrated and social forces actively participate, KFC’s focus has gradually shifted from the restaurant side to the campus side, and it has continued to expand its coverage by setting up women’s groups and covering remote cities.

The passionate arena witnesses youth and love and helps basketball teenagers develop in a diverse way. Among the first KFC three-basket championship team, there was a name that was often mentioned by fans in the future – Liu Xiaoyu. To this day, the star guard who has represented the Chinese men’s basketball team in international competitions many times said, “This is the place where many people first met me. It symbolizes happiness, original intention and persistence, and is like an old friend on the road to basketball.”

Lu Tubula, the “Xinjiang Big Eyebrow Brother” who won the championship with him that year, was seen by more people because of this experience. Now he has become a professional player as he wished and has been playing in the CBA for many years.

As the theme of this year’s event “Twenties is on, always good”, the concept and spirit of three-person basketball to advocate healthy life, use the ball to make friends to promote communication, and strive for endless passion and youth are in the hands of generations of basketball enthusiasts. inheritance. The KFC three-person basketball game will also adhere to the public welfare concept of “easy public welfare, focus on practical results, long-termism, and diversified development”, continue to expand the boundaries of influence, cover more cities and regions, and create a stage for more young people to achieve their dreams. (Xiaoyue)