The Happiness of 5000 Students in Performing Sports

First Glance into National Student Sports Meet Opening Ceremony
Lu Zi-hua(路梓華)

It does not matter whether you are good at throwing or catching ball. Nor does it matter whether the volleyball stay put in the sky. Nor your skill in rollerblading is perfect enough to carve out the impeccable circle. What matters is only your passion! As long as you love sports, you have the opportunity to stand in the middle of the gym. Performing sports will bring you happiness and sparks!

Tonight, 12th National Student Sports Meet opening ceremony will be held in Shanghai Eastern Gymnastic Center in Shanghai. More than 5000 students will be under the spotlight. The journalist witnessed the miraculous transformation of the gym again and again.

The director of the opening, Wang Mei-yi(王美意), introduced that the ceremony is separated into four plates, “Shanghai Charm”, “School Excitements”, “Sunshine Youth” and “China Beauty”. Through the interaction between the performers on and off stage, the sports meet aims to express the vitality, progressive, and healthy spirit that constructed the China dream.

As the veil lifted, students from Da Tong High School created a sea of blue stars with LED boards in their hands. The stage was transformed into the blue sea. The Olympic champion Hsu Li-jia(徐莉佳) and two young man stood on a boat, speaking of their passion for sports. Afterwards, 34 pianos attached to boats marched into the stage as if they were a fleet of ship. The participants were selected from different counties and from Children’s Palace of China Welfare Institute, aging from 4th grade to 11th grade.

Amidst the “sea”, a scarlet “piano ship” stood out. The pianist is ZONG Chiang(aka. Chiang Rong-zong) from Taiwan. The song he played, New Shanghai Concerto, is signal handed composed by this 18 years old prodigy. He is born in a musical family where his father is a famous music producer in Taiwan. Yet, at home, his father is his music playmate, beating drums and playing the piano together; they also listen to jazz and pop music. ZONG has cultivated a unique ear for crossover music. His father let ZONG and his friend form a band, and taught ZONG how to operate MIDI, allowing ZONG to create group music by himself. Compare with peers who struggle between music and schoolwork, ZONG’s music path is full of joy. He released his first album when he was 11 years old, and was the champion of Taipei cello competition, and jazz piano competition…etc. ZONG has a truly stunning resume. Yet, he had his doubt. He wondered why his path seemed so different from his peers. His mother replied, “We fully support and encourage him to do whatever he loves. All we ask for is his determination and perseverance.”

In the gym, Sun Wen(孫雯) led 200 volleyball players, 200 soccer players, 200 basketball players and 200 youth paired up with jump rope, all performed with their talent in sport.[…] The elegant piano scene suddenly transformed into passionate sport performance. These students came from Jian Ping High School, Jing Cai High School, Pu Dong High School…etc. They practiced sports whenever possible: during classes, recesses and back home. Sports such as rollerblading, vaulting horses, and aerobics were all brought into the gym. […] With zest, the students moved Shanghai. Former Ms.World-soccer-player Sun Wen, former national volleyball team captain Li Guo-jun(李國君), and former national basketball team player Chang Zhao-xu(張兆旭) all performed, joining other students. Liu Xiang(劉翔) who was in the winning team of 20-people-21 legged race, appeared to emphasize the importance of teamwork.

60 students converted 30 jump ropes into a web beautiful wheel, while Wu Wang-qiang(吳望強) jumpped into the middle of the web gracefully. Students from Bao-Shan district Further Studies Experimental School, Gao Jing High School, Luo Lan High School and university students all joined the jump rope stunt. The instructor Chen Ming-Hua(陳鳴華) indicated that Bao-Shan district organized a jump rope association last year. She noticed the characteristic of jump rope that itself is an equipment that is easy to carry, and need not many space. She deeply encouraged students to jump in. After more than one month of training, there were around 30 students who were able to jump consecutively for 100 times as a pair. Chen strongly believed that the perseverance showed in the students is itself the spirit of sport.