Al Jazeera reporter Zhong Wenting
Rugby is known as the No. 1 sport in the United States, but on a football field in Qingdao Guoxin Stadium, young men and women often play rugby games, and the joyous scene attracts many people to stop and watch. Recently, a reporter from the Peninsula’s “Today I’m You” column felt the heat of 50 rugby training spots being robbed in one minute.
Reporters experience flag football for the first time
Today, there are 80 official members of the Qingdao American football adult equipment group, more than 1,000 fans who often participate in training, and more than 3,000 flag football fans who are relatively easy to get started. Why is this niche sport so popular in Qingdao, from young people to children, from college students to overseas returnees, they all enjoy it? Come and experience with the Peninsula reporters and feel the charming life of this fashionable city!
Sold out in one minute
The reporter grabbed it in a few days
Recently, the reporter came to Guoxin Stadium. Although it was 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday on a weekday, the stadium was in full swing. The Qingdao Conqueror American Football Team organizes rugby activities here. Captain Tong Yi told reporters that rugby activities are becoming more and more popular nowadays. The training of professional teams and the participation of fans have made the stadium lively, even on weekdays. There are different levels and intensities of training going on every night.
Nowadays, whether it is a zero-based “Xiaobai” or an enthusiast who has been training for many years, they can find suitable training teams and teammates in Qingdao. “Whether flag football or American football, everyone’s acceptance is getting higher and higher. Now each press The rugby fan WeChat group by category and rating has filled my top list, adding up to a total of more than 3,000 people.” Tong Yi pulled the reporter into the primary group of enthusiasts a week ago, but it took a week for the reporter to sign up.
Because the registration is so popular, and because the number of people needs to be controlled for each training, the upper limit of each registration is 50 people. At the beginning, the reporter set the information do not disturb mode, and when I remembered to grab the quota, there were already dozens of people in line. Waiting for the next training for beginners, as soon as the registration information is sent out, 50 people have registered in one minute, and there are still people queuing up. Look carefully at the registration information. There is only a second difference between the 50th and 51st people. The 51st person in line is equivalent to the reserve team for this training – if there are regular players who temporarily withdraw, the reserve players in the line behind You can fill up in the queue order. The reporter was amazed at the enthusiasm of everyone. Captain Tong told the reporter that if you want to participate, you must register in advance. Fans understand the basic registration instructions, and the organizer will also buy insurance for the team members. Therefore, the registration process is very strict and will never accept temporary on-site registration to join.
After a few days of focused scrambling, the reporter finally got a place to participate in zero-based training. On the left and right sides of the field, one side is American football and the other side is flag football. The reporter signed up for flag football training.
Many girls are happy in flag football
For the classification of these two sports, in the impression of many people, rugby requires intense physical collision and confrontation, and requires high physical fitness, but flag rugby, as a non-contact and collision-free form of rugby, is The threshold is lower, it is faster to get started, and it is more suitable for beginners to try to participate.
The reporter first entered the football team with the waist flag on the right side of the field. After entering the door, the teammates helped the reporter to tie a belt, and there were two cloth strips about half a meter long hanging on both sides of the belt. This is the waist flag. “Pulling this flag is equivalent to knocking down an opponent in American football. This is the biggest difference between the two categories. Flag football avoids direct collision and plays in a more gentle way,” Tong Yi told reporters The introduction, “You see that the American football on the left needs to wear protective equipment and helmets, but the flag football on the right does not need it. Everyone plays lightly, as long as you wear sneakers, you can play directly.” The reporter found that he was in a training team of 50 people. The ratio of male to female is basically half and half, and most of them are young people in their 20s and 30s, while the majority of American-style men with equipment are in the majority.
Catching the ball is like hitting a sandbag
happier while running
The reporter entered the training team of flag football. First, fifty people were divided into five groups according to the number of times they participated in the training. After the grouping, the coach first organizes exercises to run and catch the ball without the opposing player letting go of the defense.
The coach makes the group of ten people form a line and take turns to train for running positions. After everyone stands on the line, they wait for the coach’s command with their left foot in front and right foot behind. When they hear the word “run”, they move forward quickly. Run, run to the specified position and stop quickly, then turn around and go back. After you are familiar with the basic pace requirements, move on to more complex running route training.
Familiarize yourself with the route first, then catch the ball. When training the ball on the spot, you need to bend your knees, lean your upper body slightly forward, and keep your eyes on the incoming ball. When the ball comes, reach out with both arms to meet the ball, and fully relax your fingers to touch the ball. Immediately after touching the ball, both hands exert force and recover to catch the ball firmly. Due to the first training, the reporter did not wear protective gloves. When he stretched out his hands to catch the ball, he was a little worried that his manicure would not be guaranteed. It is best to wear protective gloves if there are girls participating in the training.
When the ball comes, open the palms of both hands side by side and face outward, and there is a nearly triangular gap between the two index fingers and the little finger to catch the ball. The coach will show mercy when he sees that the reporter is a girl participating for the first time, but when the reporter sees a ball flying over for the first time, he is still a little bit instinctively afraid. Stretched sound with an “ah” and then watch the ball fall next to you.
Pumba is attacking
This process of catching the ball is a bit like playing sandbags when I was a child. It is “playing the cat’s tail” in Qingdao dialect. Some people are afraid when they see the ball, and some people are excited when they see the ball.
After catching the ball, you can run with the ball. There are two types of holding the ball: two-handed ball and one-handed ball. Holding the ball with both hands is easy to combine with passing, and holding the ball with one hand is convenient for acceleration. When holding the ball with both hands, the five fingers are naturally opened, and the thumb is pressed against the most convex part of the ball; the palm is free, and the fingers are firmly clamped to the ball; the wrist is turned up, the elbow is held in front of the body, and swings left and right following the movement of running. There are two ways to hold the ball vertically and horizontally. To hold the ball with one hand, hold the ball firmly with your hands, arms and chest.
If you can catch the ball, you can either pass the ball to your teammates, or break through the opponent’s defense and dribble the ball to your own camp to score a touchdown. All the opposing defender has to do is to unplug the flag on the receiver’s waist, and the defense is successful after pulling it off. Therefore, when leading players to run, they must avoid the opponent pulling the flag.
When the defender intercepts from the front or oblique side, he can use the arc running to get rid of the opponent. At this time, we should pay attention to mastering the distance with the opponent, too close to the opponent, it is easy to be intercepted. Take the right circuitous run as an example: lower the center of gravity and lean forward to run forward. When the opponent approaches from the front, look to the left to attract the opponent’s attention; push the inside of the left foot hard and turn to the right, the left foot Cross in front of your right foot and accelerate away in an arc. This process of running while protecting the waist flag seems to the reporter a bit like in the game of tearing up the famous brand. While running to the designated position, one cannot forget to protect the famous brand from being torn off.
After learning the basic rules, the coach organized the two groups for a friendly match. On the field, everyone learns skills and encourages teammates. Even if there is a mistake, no one will complain. Everyone pats the shoulders to cheer each other. At this time, losing and winning are not so important. Everyone is happy in running.
From eight student clubs
to the national top four
Tong Yi told reporters that his Qingdao Conqueror American football team was only a football club of Ocean University in 2013, with only seven or eight members at first. By 2018, there will be more than 30 American football players. During the day, they are bank clerks, teachers, doctors, fitness coaches… At night, when they arrive at the training ground, they are rugby players in their gear. Although this sport was relatively small in Qingdao at that time, the enthusiasm of these players was very high.
In order to improve the level of competition and get good results in the national league as soon as possible, everyone often goes to Shanghai to participate in the rugby training camp at their own expense. “Shanghai has always been a city with a relatively good development of domestic rugby. There are more international coaches and a more professional training atmosphere, so the 3-4 days of training camps cost 7,000 to 8,000 yuan per person to learn skills and enjoy it.” In addition to spending money, it is not easy to get a group of adults together for fixed training. “The fixed members are only those people. Everyone has his fixed position. If anyone is missing, it will affect the overall training.” Tong Yi recalled the team In the early days of wanting to improve their performance, each team member overcame various difficulties, pooled money and time, “Everyone is an adult with family and career concerns, and it seems that everyone is working hard for the collective honor as if everyone has returned. As a boy, I should also thank the family members of each team member for their support.”
Jerry poses with Super Bowl champion Russell Wilson
In addition to the fixed training at least three times a week and going to Shanghai every six months to participate in the training camp, the players at that time still contacted the old domestic coaches on the Internet to ask for tactical questions. “At that time, there were very few people playing rugby in China, so no matter how far apart people are, as long as they love each other from the bottom of their hearts, there is a little sympathy for each other, and even strangers are willing to give all of their money to you through the phone or the Internet. Talk about tactics”, Tong Yi misses the players’ eagerness to learn about football at that time. “That ignorant and eager stage is as urgent and eager as a newborn wants to learn to walk.”
Rugby requires a process of starting from scratch for Qingdao people. How to take each step on the field may not be the point after thinking about it for a long time, but after trying it again after being instructed by the old coach on the Internet, you will feel Great help. After a long period of hard work, hard training and exchange and study, the Qingdao team joined the National Rugby League in 2018. In 2019, the Qingdao team reached the third place in the North District of the country and was shortlisted for the top 12 in the country. In 2020, the Qingdao team entered the top four in the country for the first time.
2020 is an important year for Qingdao Rugby. In that year, a senior player who represented the Chinese team in the World Championships was invited from Shanghai, and a foreign coach was also hired.
The veteran player from the Shanghai championship team, Jerry, was originally from Qingdao. After returning to Qingdao, he spent a year leading the Qingdao rugby team to practice better without salary and for free. Everyone in the team did their best regardless of the weather, and Qingdao’s rugby level improved rapidly.
Today, Qingdao American football has 80 official players, more than 1,000 fans who often participate in training, and more than 3,000 flag football fans. The influence radiates to the surrounding cities of Qingdao. Brother cities such as Yantai and Weihai also often come to Qingdao. Learn from the scriptures, just like the Qingdao team once went to Shanghai to study.
Father and son are fans of rugby
The experience of failure tempers the spirit
“Pengbo, run! Go faster! Good ball!” In Qingdao in June, a youth American football game officially started. The photographer Peng Bo’s father on the side of the field was busy. As a well-known media reporter, he had to take pictures with a long gun and a short cannon of more than ten pounds, and he also had to worry about his son’s performance on the field. Every game, the teenage Pember is like this, “partnering” with his photographer father.
Pember attacking the game
Today, the 9-year-old Peng Bo has 5 years of rugby experience, and his father’s connection with rugby came from an interview many years ago, “I once interviewed an adult rugby team in Qingdao, and I fell in love with the sport immediately. When Pember was 4 years old, I sent him to learn football.” The father of a loyal NFL fan, Pember wore a jersey of NFL star Peyton Manning in his first football class. I am not used to calling my Chinese name, so I called Peng Bo “Manning”, and “Manning” became Peng Bo’s English name naturally.
The 4-year-old Peng Bo fell in love with the sport when he first came to the football field, and liked the feeling of breaking through obstacles and chasing electricity. When he was training and playing, his father would take out photographic equipment to take pictures of the children’s wonderful moments, and use the Douyin account “Lightning Manning” to record the children’s growth in rugby. Peng Bo has excellent speed and flexibility. As soon as he went to training, he was arranged by the coach as an offensive player. At the age of 6, he showed an excellent sense of the ball among his peers. Scoring tasks. Now he has been able to help the team score again and again in the game.
When Peng Bo was 6 years old, his Qingdao Narwhals and Jinan Cobras played a friendly match. For the Jinan team with some game experience, Pengbo’s father described his son as “completely ignorant. Even if the opponent’s players passed in front of him, he would not move.” He was replaced after less than 3 minutes of playing. ended in defeat. The failure inspired Peng Bo’s fighting spirit. He said to his father, “Dad, I have to practice more during the summer vacation.” The training once a week turned into three times a week. Soon, the hard training paid off. In the “Qilu Bowl” game 5 months later, Peng Bo and his teammates faced the Jinan team again. He played well and played the whole game. In the last crucial minute of the game, three important Tackles defended more than himself. The attack of the opponent who was 4 years older resulted in a thrilling victory, and the team finally won the Qilu Bowl championship.
Son Peng Bo is Peng Yan’s most satisfying photographic work
As loyal fans of the NFL, the father and son often watch NFL games together and learn techniques and tactics by watching them. Bloomberg has more than a dozen NFL star jerseys and many NFL peripheral products, and he loves these “babies”, which also promotes Bloomberg’s interest in football. In order to encourage his children, Dad also went into battle in person, participated in the adult flag football game, and won the championship in the confrontation with Shanghai, Dongying, Weihai and other teams, which also gave Peng Bo a lot of confidence.
American players to help
Help Qingdao win the championship
Jerry, who came to Qingdao from Shanghai, now focuses on youth training. Jerry told reporters that there are more than 100 children studying rugby in Qingdao. Although there is currently no special bonus for rugby majors in terms of further studies in China, children’s rugby training from an early age can savage physique and temper their spirit, which is very beneficial to many aspects such as physical fitness and willpower development. “Of course, intellectual development is also a very important aspect. Groups under the age of eight must master more than 20 sets of tactics. Once the tactic code is read out, you must know where you and your companions are going to do, and in a tense environment. On-the-spot adaptability, psychological quality, etc. are all-round considerations.”
Jason, who played rugby in the United States since he was a child, is very touched by the various benefits of rugby in the growth of children. Jason, who is originally from Tangshan, grew up in the United States. After returning to China, he works as a fitness coach in a fitness studio on Yanji Road, Qingdao. At the same time, he just joined the Qingdao Conquerors American football team in June this year.
Jason looks like a football player at first glance. Football is the No. 1 sport in the United States. Jason grew up in the United States. He was selected for the Los Angeles high school team at the age of 19. Later, he performed well in the American College Football League and entered the Los Angeles University team with the eighth result. “Originally, Europeans are good at slamming, and Asians are usually more stamina. I have been working out for many years, and I think I have both advantages at the same time.” Jason is very confident in his rugby level. From his childhood playing experience, Jason has always been the only Chinese face in the team. He admitted that at first every new team he did receive some strange eyes from his teammates, and he would doubt whether I, a Chinese, could play their game. It proves that not only can I play, but I can play well, and I use my strength to change the initial prejudice of foreigners against me, so that all doubts disappear.” Jason laughed and said that he was talented, and he couldn’t do without long-term hard training. “I can squat 270 kilograms with heavy squatting, and I can jump 100 non-stop burpees.”
Jason is now a fitness coach in Qingdao, and he has unforgettable rugby feelings
Jason is currently working as a personal trainer in a fitness studio on Yanji Road in Qingdao. By chance, he learned that Qingdao also has a professional football team, so he immediately signed up for training. In just one night, the coach discovered his strength and immediately invited him into the professional group for training. Jason has played in the United States for many years. He believes that the strength of the Qingdao team should not be underestimated, but the offense can be more fierce. “My goal is to help the Qingdao team win more championships!”
Looking back on his daily training in the US team, Jason felt that the intensity was indeed stronger than now. “At that time, the players would wear 50-pound sandbags for long-distance running, or press 20-kg barbells for push-ups. Qingdao is now whether it is an adult or a teenager. In terms of training intensity, it is much more ‘civilized’ than I have seen before.” Jason believes that the current Qingdao rugby environment can be gradually strengthened in addition to the training intensity, and the general fitness awareness of ordinary people around them is not enough. “Many people haven’t regarded exercise as a necessary part of their daily life, so I still hope that people will move quickly. Even if they don’t play rugby, it is always beneficial to exercise more and exercise more.”
Jason is working out when he’s not practicing
Finally, there is the spirit of entertainment. Jason believes that although American football looks a bit savage and has collisions, in fact, its protective equipment and rules are designed to protect the safety of players as much as possible. “I hope that once everyone is on the court, they will let go of playing and abandon all social relations. No matter who is the leader or who is the colleague, everyone is a golfer when they are on the court, and they will have a hearty game. I won’t be humble and I won’t be so angry because of the inevitable collision in the game… I hope more and more people can join in and enjoy the joy of the sport itself.”
Reporter’s Notes:
The more open, the more confident
The fashion city is full of vitality
Nowadays, the team playing rugby in Qingdao is growing day by day
As a sports enthusiast, the reporter is very happy to see more and more interesting things in his hometown Qingdao in recent years, especially in terms of sports and fitness, squash, baseball, rugby and other once niche sports are all in the streets. quietly rising. With the mass base, the performance of professional teams also ranks among the best in the country.
Qingdao has always been a dynamic and daring city. People on this land are brave to challenge, high-spirited and confident. American-style equipment football seems to be a foreign thing full of violent aesthetics. “Cat’s Tail” game, the happy pursuit of punching sandbags seems to have the same effect as speeding on the rugby field today. Who can refuse this kind of joy that makes adults go back to childhood. For children, rugby is also a good sport for developing intelligence and exercising the body, so there are many rugby families like the Pember family.
Nowadays, Qingdao’s economy is developing rapidly, and spiritual entertainment and mass fitness are also keeping up with the rhythm of the times. Everyone is happy to spend a registration fee of 180 yuan to play a flag football game in the stadium in their spare time, and it is also acceptable to spend a few thousand yuan. Buy American football gear and go join the professional American football team. What fun and what to do, enjoy life and excite life is the lovely romantic feeling in Qingdao people’s bones, and it is also the openness and tolerance of accommodating the wind from all directions.
