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on september 25, the national launch ceremony of the 2024 kfc china middle school students three-on-three basketball league was held at the chaoyang gymnasium in beijing. 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 other leaders. under their witness, the new event logo, which continues the past and opens up the future, was released, officially announcing the start of the new season.

this competition is jointly organized by the china student sports federation and kfc china. it has two categories: junior high school and high school. the competition period lasts from september to december. twenty years after its establishment, kfc three basketball has attracted nearly 3 million teenagers to participate. while promoting the popularization of china's three-person basketball sport and continuing to provide talents for chinese basketball, it has also made a strong contribution to the cause of integrating sports and education for young people.

at the launching ceremony, 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, taking the lead all the way, and finally won 21-18. after the game, player representatives from the two teams exchanged jerseys and passed on the love of basketball to each other.

wang tao, general manager of kfc china, said at the launch ceremony, "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 educate young people. popularizing the concept of sports and health has continued to provide talents for china's basketball industry. thanks to the referees, coaches and other professional basketball people who have worked together on the kfc three-basket platform for the past 20 years, as well as kfc employees across the country, it is our common concern. we have worked hard to build a platform for basketball-loving children to develop their talents from scratch.”

　　from zero to one, multiple parties work 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 still just a street sport popular among amateurs. looking around the world, it was difficult to find a systematic and large-scale event. in this 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.

the journey from zero to one is never smooth. faced with a series of practical difficulties such as the three-basket sport has not yet become popular and there is no experience in similar events for reference, a large number of kfc restaurant front-line employees devoted themselves to organizing the event without hesitation. in the initial stage when it was urgent to expand its influence, most of kfc sanbasket's work revolved around kfc's large number of restaurants.

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 in charge of related work at kfc liaoji market at the time, still has fresh memories of 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 i mobilized almost all my relatives and friends to promote it.”

limited by the outside world's understanding of the sport and the inherent impression formed by traditional five-a-side basketball, one of the biggest challenges encountered by the organizers in the process of promoting the event stems from the majority of fans' understanding of the three-basket rule. puzzled. from game length to offense and defense transitions, explaining the rules to young basketball players has become a required weekly course for many front-line staff. zheng lei, who has been working as a referee for more than 20 years, first officiated a three-basket event at the first kfc three-basket event. at that time, he often had to face endless questions from the contestants, but what zheng lei saw was the love and passion of the basketball teenagers. "the atmosphere was very good, everyone was very involved, and that was also the first time i experienced the three-dimensional basketball world." "

adhering to the concept of "exercise every day, healthy life", kfc three basketball has covered 172 cities in 30 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in its first year, attracting more than 48,000 basketball teenagers to participate. after twenty years of development, with the expansion of influence and the accumulation of experience and resources in hosting games, the organizers of kfc three basketball 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. it has continuously expanded its coverage through the establishment of women's groups and coverage in remote cities, and has become the target of many young people. the unforgettable memories in the process of growing up have even rewritten the lives of some basketball teenagers.

　　the passionate arena witnesses youth and love and helps basketball teenagers develop in a diverse way

after twenty years of sweat and hard work, the kfc three-person basketball game aims to build a stage for all young people who love basketball to show themselves and gain growth.

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, this star guard who has represented the chinese men’s basketball team in international competitions many times is still grateful for this experience. “this is the place where many people first met me. it symbolizes happiness, original intention and persistence, just like on the road to basketball. an old friend of .”

lu tubula, the "xinjiang thick eyebrow brother" who won the kfc three-basket championship in 2016, was seen by more people because of this experience. "kfc has built a good platform for us. after winning the championship, we participated in a series of during the game, a professional club found me and wanted to recruit me into the team. everything was like a butterfly effect. "now, he has become a professional player and has been playing in the cba for many years.

with the popularity of the three-basket sport and the improvement of the level of competitions, the demands of contestants have become more diverse. kfc three-basket has also become a new channel for many basketball teenagers to expand their basketball dreams, and this has also provided a new way of thinking for the cultivation of chinese basketball talents. . from awarding athlete grade certificates to contestants who achieve certain results, to hiring nationally renowned coaches to open training camps for elite athletes, the competition broadens the development paths of young basketball players in different ways, thus attracting more people to participate.

as the theme of this year's event "twenties is on, always a good taste", no matter in the past or in the future, 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 being passed down from generation to generation. in the hands of basketball enthusiasts. 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. .