One school with three champions is a big hit! Pan Zhanle and Zheng Qinwen drive the "Zhima" industry to transform the sports landscape
2024-08-13
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"We are all in a dizzy state of jet lag. We work during the day, watch the Olympic Games at night, and do a lot of reception and interview work." Almost overnight, the alma mater of Pan Zhanle and Xu Jiayu, Wenzhou Institute of Physical Education, became "popular". Its head was proud when he spoke to the reporter of China Business Network.
If we list all the "cradles" behind the gold medalists of the Paris Olympics, it is difficult to guarantee that each province will have an Olympic champion, but Wenzhou Institute of Physical Education has produced three this time - Pan Zhanle, Xu Jiayu, and Zheng Siwei. This achievement is envied by many provinces and cities.
Although there were some changes in the second half of the medal table at the Paris Olympics, China has always been at the top, starting with the two young athletes Huang Yuting and Sheng Lihao winning the 10m air rifle championship in the mixed shooting team. The sincere, lovely and generous expressions of the "post-00" athletes let people see a different Olympic Games. "Sheng Lihao's translation is messed up", "Pan Zhanle's kid brother complained", "Quan Hongchan's grasp", "Zheng Qinwen fights for the motherland for another three hours", "Datou is anxious to end the interview" and other frequently made the Olympic Games the absolute overlord of the hot search list. People cheered for the enthusiasm, vigor, clear likes and dislikes of this generation of young athletes and their international style.
Some netizens have sorted out the Olympic medal list of each province. In this private list, Zhejiang, Hubei, Guangdong, Hong Kong, Guizhou, Tianjin, Shandong, Shanghai and other regions ranked in the top ten. Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Hubei and other regions are also the top ten regions in the total scale and added value of the sports industry in provinces and cities across the country in 2022.
Although the number of Olympic medals cannot be directly equated with a province being a major sports province, the brand influence and communication of the Olympics will indirectly affect the development of the service industry and industrialization of major sports events.
For example, Zheng Qinwen's championship made people realize that there are 80,000 people playing tennis in a county in Hubei; Sheng Lihao allowed more people to go to shooting clubs to experience it; and Pan Zhanle's world record made people begin to think about whether Zhejiang's training model and system can be replicated.
As early as 2014, the State Council issued the "Several Opinions on Accelerating the Development of the Sports Industry and Promoting Sports Consumption", which proposed the goal of exceeding 5 trillion yuan in the total scale of my country's sports industry by 2025. According to calculations by the National Bureau of Statistics and the State General Administration of Sports, the total scale of the national sports industry will be 3300.8 billion yuan in 2022. Looking ahead to the goal of 5 trillion yuan, how will various regions exert their efforts?
Selection starts in kindergarten
"Pan Zhanle broke the Olympic record in the men's 100m freestyle. He has talent, but also hard work. Of course, the overall performance of the swimmers trained in Zhejiang is relatively outstanding, which is related to the complete system." Coach Xu of Hangzhou Xiaoshan Youth Swimming Team told the reporter of China Business Network, "We have started selecting talents since the kindergarten stage. We basically go to many kindergartens after class or when they are resting or eating, mainly to avoid disturbing the children's normal classes. The prerequisite is that the kindergarten agrees to our selection, and many of them are public kindergartens."
Sun Yang and Pan Zhanle were both selected in kindergarten. In 1997, coach Zhu Ying came to Sun Yang's kindergarten. In just five minutes, she immediately fell in love with Sun Yang, who was a head taller than her. In the brief contact, she found that Sun Yang was smart. At that time, Zhu Ying asked for his parents' contact information. After communication, Sun Yang's mother also supported him. Sun Yang has since embarked on the path of swimming.
In order to select 30 talents, Ye Xin, a swimming coach at Wenzhou Youth Swimming School, visited dozens of kindergartens and met with thousands of parents.
Pan Zhanle's height, arm length and shoulder flexibility are all very outstanding. The extension and outline angles of his ankle joints are also ideal. In the eyes of his coach, he is a natural swimmer.
"There will be a selection period of dozens of days. Generally, the selection will be carried out about a year after the summer training, and then again a year later. There will also be selection for amateur training, but it is mainly selected in kindergartens, and the day-school model allows children to study and exercise without delay." Coach Xu said that Zhejiang basically has this model, with a strong children's swimming foundation, especially with the blessing of idols like Sun Yang, Ye Shiwen, and Pan Zhanle. The children have the goal of surpassing. Pan Zhanle was thinking about surpassing Sun Yang when he was nine years old.
We have the good horses, and the good horse trainers are equally powerful.
"Our swimming projects, including coaches, scientific research, and talents, are recruited from all over the country and even the world. Now a group of young coaches have grown up with open minds and business knowledge," said Coach Xu.
The two complement each other, and with the combination of physical education and education, swimming has become one of the most popular options in the physical education middle school entrance examination in all counties, cities and districts in Zhejiang.
At present, the scale of swimming training in Zhejiang province has reached 18,000 people, and more than 7,000 people exercise regularly all year round. The scale is relatively large in Hangzhou, Wenzhou, Ningbo and Shaoxing.
Compared with the three major ball sports, swimming is not a widely used sport. However, with the rapid improvement of the Chinese swimming team's performance in major competitions in the past decade or so, especially the rise of sports stars such as Sun Yang, Ye Shiwen, and Pan Zhanwen, swimming has become an important choice for people's daily exercise.
In 2023, there were 3,288 swimming venues in Zhejiang Province, covering an area of 5.4165 million square meters.
A reporter from China Business News found that as a very important carrier of the swimming industry, there will be 40,200 swimming pools in China by the end of 2023. The United States has more than 10.7 million swimming pools (10.4 million of which are privately owned), with an average of one swimming pool for every 31 people, 21 in France, and one in every 10 in Australia; China is calculated in units of 10,000 people. If the United States is used as a reference, there is huge room for development in the scale of swimming pools alone.
Of course, the maturity of the swimming industry is mainly reflected in the production of equipment and content and event operations. "The main productivity of China's swimming industry is concentrated in the field of swimming equipment manufacturing. In 2022, the market size of swimming products alone will reach 40 billion yuan. By 2026, it is expected to grow at a rate of 6.3%; but the core content industry, event services and operations account for a small proportion of the swimming industry. There are more than 3,000 events across the country, but commercial operations are far from enough, and there is a lack of brand-level events with market influence. Provinces with more swimming-related companies, including Zhejiang, Guangdong, Jiangsu, and Shandong, can do more research." Yuan Fang, CEO of Smith Exhibitions, believes.
Let a hundred flowers bloom, the 5 trillion yuan target is not a problem
In the overall picture of China's sports industry, the swimming industry is not a major project. Taking the number of sports venues in 2020 as a reference, football, basketball, volleyball, table tennis, badminton, and national fitness trails account for the vast majority, while swimming venues only account for 0.8%.
Whether analyzing from the perspective of the global sports industry or the Chinese sports industry, the football and basketball industries occupy a major position.
Some analysts believe that by 2025, the total output value of China's sports industry will exceed 5 trillion yuan, of which the total output value of the football industry will exceed 2 trillion yuan. Although the performance of the Chinese football team in international competitions is not satisfactory, with the support of 200 million fans, the Chinese Super League is still popular, which also indicates a bright future.
In 2021, Guangdong calculated the scale of football population and consumption for the first time. The final calculation result of the scale of the football industry output value in Guangdong Province in 2020 was 16.657 billion yuan, and the population size was 16.98 million. The huge population base gives the industry more room for growth in the later stage of the epidemic. In 2022, Guangdong released a football industry research report, which disclosed that Guangdong Province currently has a total of 11,600 football fields, the largest number in the country. In addition to Guangdong, the football industry in Jiangsu and other places is also waiting to bloom.
"We don't deny the huge mass base of the three major sports, but we can pay more attention and support to the so-called 'unpopular sports' to achieve the goal of letting a hundred flowers bloom. If these highly commercialized projects take off, they will also contribute to the 5 trillion yuan goal. Otherwise, what is the significance and value of Zheng Qinwen's championship?" said an investor of a tennis club. "We invested tens of millions of yuan in tennis courts, but we didn't get any subsidies."
Compared with ball sports such as football and basketball, which have mature market operations, tennis is in the process of reform. From Li Na's solo career in 2009 to Zheng Qinwen's championship this year, controversy has always existed. It is also in the exploration of market-oriented reforms that this aristocratic sport unique to the West has taken root in China and gradually become "ordinary", returning to the purpose of physical fitness.
According to ITF (International Tennis Federation) data, China's tennis population has reached 19.92 million, second only to the United States. In Jingshan City, Jingmen, Hubei alone, there were more than 100,000 tennis enthusiasts in 2024, making it the county (city) with the highest venue facilities per 10,000 people and the highest tennis popularity rate in the country.
According to Qichacha data, there are 3,746 tennis-related companies in China, and 227 related companies were registered in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 33.53%. In the first seven months of this year, 125 companies were registered, an increase of 5 companies over the same period last year, mainly distributed in Guangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The cumulative registration volume in the first seven months of these three provinces accounted for more than 30% of the national registration volume. In terms of stock, Guangdong ranks first in the country with 752 tennis-related companies, of which more than 50% are concentrated in Shenzhen, which ranks first among cities in the country with 428 companies.
At the same time, as the core content of the tennis industry, events are also given attention.
"With the outstanding performance of Chinese players such as Zheng Qinwen in international competitions, the influence of tennis events in China will continue to increase, attracting more sponsors and spectators, promoting the development of the tennis industry, and encouraging more young people to join the sport. The demand for tennis training institutions and coaches will also increase accordingly, promoting the development of the tennis training industry." A person in charge of Jingshan Tennis Town told the reporter of China Business News. "After more than 40 years of development, Jingshan tennis has been integrated into the daily life of the people and has become a sports and cultural brand with distinct regional characteristics."
Data shows that the number of members of the Jingshan Tennis Association has grown from more than 20 in its early days to 21,000, with 22 tennis clubs, more than 100,000 residents participating in tennis fitness exercises all year round, and about 350,000 people going to the park to play and exercise each year. There are more than 346 standard tennis courts of various types, and a "10-minute tennis fitness circle" has been built. Jingshan people's love and affection for tennis has been integrated into their daily lives.
Since 2015, Jingshan has launched its own brand event, China (Jingshan) Green Forest Tennis Heroes Meeting, which is held annually and has become the top domestic amateur tennis event; in October 2023, the innovative "Hubei Village Net" event was launched, which set off a tennis craze across the country. The International Tennis Federation Youth U18 Tennis Tour and the National Youth Tennis Training Camp have settled in Jingshan for many years, and more than 40 tennis events are held here every year.
"The goal from 2024 to 2027 is for tennis-related industries to account for more than 8% of GDP," the official said.
"But overall, there are still problems such as the low degree of integration of sports and education, and difficulty in investment and financing of venues and tennis clubs. There are currently 800 in China and more than 53,000 in the United States. The overall operation process of Jingshan Town has its own particularities, but people in the industry can study and learn from it. After summarizing and learning from it, we may continue to increase investment in the industry." The above-mentioned club investor said, "If the tennis industry is developed, it may be worth hundreds of billions. The seemingly niche industry is actually very large. We can work together to achieve both watermelons and sesame seeds. Five trillion is not a problem."
(This article comes from China Business Network)
