他们带着一枚橄榄球来重庆
2018-07-02
◇ 文 |本刊记者 韩 希 图 | 游 宇
在重庆,一群来自五湖四海的外国人,因为热爱橄榄球运动聚在了一起;在一个重庆人的带领下,他们组建了重庆第一支专业橄榄球队,填补了重庆橄榄球运动的空白,让越来越多的重庆人领略到正统的橄榄球精神。由于长期随队比赛访问,这群对重庆、对中国都不甚了解的老外,又因为橄榄球获得了许多“触角”,对重庆也产生了独特的感情。
In Chongqing, a group of foreigners from all over the world get together because of rugby; under the leadership of native Chongqing guy, they have formed Chongqing's first professional rugby team.And they made more and more Chongqing people understand the spirit of rugby. As a result of frequent tournaments around the country, those team members who once knew little about Chongqing or China, now have a unique feeling for Chongqing.
本土球队八成“洋面孔”80% of the Local Team are Foreigners
每周六下午,石子山体育公园一角,游骑兵体育体能训练中心,一群肤色各异的年轻人从主城各个地方赶来,训练的项目是橄榄球。这不是一个普通的爱好者团体,而是重庆第一支英式橄榄球队伍,成立至今已有10个年头,代表重庆多次获得全国英式橄榄球业余联赛西南地区第一名,多次参加各种形式的国际邀请赛,最好成绩全国锦标赛第四名。2017年,市体育局与他们联手,将这支队伍任命为重庆的“市队”。
有趣的是,这支成立于重庆的球队,有超过八成的队员是外国人,国籍也各有不同——除了美国人、英国人、德国人,还有成员来自萨摩亚这样很多人都比较陌生的国家,甚至有混血儿,其“国际化程度”令人眼前一亮。
功劳还得算在球队创始人之一的夏嘉良身上。夏嘉良是土生土长的重庆人,2003年考入沈阳体育学院,入选橄榄球队,2007年毕业后回到重庆,结识了同样酷爱橄榄球运动的美国外教,他们发现重庆高校里很多留学生爱玩橄榄球,有着较为专业的基础,而一些中国学生想学橄榄球,却苦于没有专业的球队和教练。两人一拍即合,2008年成立了征服者英式橄榄球队(游骑兵Rangers橄榄球俱乐部前身,编者注)。
Every Saturday afternoon, in the Rangers'Physical Fitness Training Center of Shizishan Sports Park, a group of young men of different colors would come from all over the main city to train rugby.This is not an ordinary hobbyist group, but the first rugby team in Chongqing. It has been 10 years since its establishment. This team represents Chongqing and have won the first place in the National Rugby Amateur League of the southwest for many times. It has also taken part in various forms of international invitational tournaments and its best result is the fourth finisher in the National Championship. In 2017, Chongqing Municipal Sports Bureau have appointed the team as the “city's team”.
Interestingly, over 80% of its team members are foreigners of different nationalities -- not only Americans, Britains, Germans, but also from countries like Samoa, which is somehow strange to many Chongqing people, even mixed-blood one in it, making the team of a high “degree of internationalization”.
This could definitely be attributed to one of its founders, Xia Jialiang, a native Chongqing guy,who was admitted to Shenyang Sports Institute in 2003 and was selected into the school's rugby team. After his graduation in 2007, Xia returned to Chongqing and met an American teacher who also loves rugby. They found that many foreign college students in Chongqing love to play rugby who also have a relatively professional foundation. While,some Chinese students also want to learn rugby, but there was a lack of professional teams and coaches.Xia and the American hit it off instantly and set up the Conqueror Rugby Team in 2008 (which was the Rangers Rugby Club’s predecessor).
橄榄球可以很绅士Rugby Can be Very Gentle
印象中,橄榄球运动充斥着激烈身体撞击,装备和规则都很复杂。“游骑兵”之一的陶飞亚一脸认真地表示反驳。
“首先,英式橄榄球不需要穿戴美式橄榄球的厚重护肩和头盔。”27岁的陶飞亚来自南半球的萨摩亚,一个“盛产世界上最强壮男人的国家”,那里有着深厚的英式橄榄球文化。体型健硕的他向我们示范了如何优雅地掌握英式橄榄球的核心技能“tackle”(擒住并摔倒一方球员,编者注)。当进攻方球员被防守方球员撞击倒地后,防守球员不能简单粗暴地跨过倒地球员的身体抢球,而必须按照规定的路线绕至其身前,“也就是说,仅凭身强力壮撞到对方是不够的,还需要身体灵活性。而且,英式橄榄球对女士也很友好,比赛中可以采取‘非放倒式’的触摸式技术。”说到这里,陶飞亚热情地邀请我一试身手,操作起来的确比预想中简单“温柔”。
平日里,陶飞亚还会和队友们一起教小朋友练习英式橄榄球的基本动作,在他看来英式橄榄球的内涵远不止健身那么简单,让孩子们接受正统的训练有着特殊的意义。“我们从小学橄榄球时,教练总是强调要专注,尤其是裁判讲话时,要十分专心地听,必须保持绝对的安静和服从,这让我们懂得了专注,也学会了尊重和遵守规则。”
来自天南地北的外籍球员们隔三差五总爱聚在一起,称兄道弟,不难看出,这看似紧张激烈的运动也可以是友情的“粘合剂”。
Rugby was thought to be full of violent physical contacts, and its equipments and rules were complex. Taofia, one of the Rangers, strongly disagreed with the idea.
“First of all, one doesn't have to wear the heavy shoulder pads and helmets like in American football.” said 27-years-old boy Taofia, who is from Samoa in the Southern Hemisphere which is known as “a country where the strongest man in the world was born” , and also has a profound rugby culture. He showed us how to gracefully master the core skill of rugby -- tackle (note: to catch and knock down a player). When an attacking player is knocked to the ground by a defensive player, the defender cannot simply and rudely cross the body of the fallen player to grab the ball, but must follow the prescribed route to the front of the player. “In other words, it is not enough to tackle each other just by force, but also requires physical flexibility.Also, rugby is friendly to women and can be played with a ‘touch’ technique that is gentler.” Taofia warmly invited me to give it a try, and it was really easier than expected.
Often, Taofia would teach children some basic moves of rugby together with his teammates. In his view, the connotation of rugby has far more meaning than mere fitness, and it has special significance for children to receive professional training. “When we started learning rugby from an early age, the coach always stressed the need to focus, especially when the referee was speaking, and we must listen very attentively, to keep absolutely quiet and obedient,which taught us to concentrate, and to respect and obey the rules. ”
Those players from different parts of the world love to hang out together and be buddies with one another. It is easy to see that this seemingly intense sport can also be the “glue” of friendship.
走遍中国代言重庆Travel All over China to Promote Chongqing
和陶飞亚一样担任“游骑兵”队主力的马小君,可以说是这条友谊纽带中的亮点。他有一半中国血统、一半肯尼亚血统,高中毕业前,他一直在肯尼亚练习英式橄榄球,眼下他就读于西南大学室内设计专业研究生一年级。2017年,他和陶飞亚一起被选入中国国家橄榄球队。有他们的实力加持,这支重庆橄榄球队名声日益响亮。5月9日,他们俩和夏嘉良以及另外两名队员飞往文莱,代表中国参加亚洲15人锦标赛。
橄榄球的形状决定了它在滚动时充满了方向的不确定性,而这项运动也带着这群国籍各异的年轻人以重庆为原点,展开了对他乡的无限探索。
三年多前,陶飞亚远渡重洋来到重庆,一切不仅是陌生的,对他来说也是无趣的。幸而不久结识了夏嘉良,加入了球队,夏嘉良带着他们参加各种国内比赛,“我去过厦门、上海、北京、昆明、北海、成都、广州、南京、武汉……”这节奏,比起重庆人的出游频率也毫不逊色。不过,在中国走南闯北一遭,他和队友们还是更爱重庆,理由则不外乎“超爱吃火锅”。
他们还曾带着“橄榄球”去过巫溪、垫江等区县,给当地的孩子普及橄榄球运动,“感觉很幸运,我们既做着自己热爱的运动,又能有机会更多地了解重庆和其他城市。”
Ma Xiaojun, the main player of the Rangers like Taofia, seems like the highlight of this bond of friendship. Half-Chinese and half-Kenyan, he practiced rugby in Kenya before graduating from high school and was now a first-year graduate student in interior design major at Southwest University. In 2017, he and Taofia were chosen to join the China's national rugby team. Thanks to their participation, the Chongqing rugby team has been gaining fame. On May 9th, Ma Xiaojun, Taofia together with Xia Jialiang and two other players,flew to Brunei, representing China in the Asian 15-players Championship.
The shape of rugby makes its direction full of uncertainty as it rolls, and this sport, with those young people of different nationalities, takes Chongqing as its start and goes off for other places.
Three years ago or so, Taofia came all the way to Chongqing. Everything was not only strange, but also boring to him. Fortunately, he soon got to know Xia Jialiang and joined the team, since when Xia has brought them to take part in various domestic competitions. “I have been to Xiamen, Shanghai,Beijing, Kunming, Beihai, Chengdu, Guangzhou,Nanjing, and Wuhan ... ” The cities he has been to are nearly as many as those of the local people in Chongqing do. However, in China, he and his teammates still love Chongqing more, and the reason is nothing more than “love hotpots”.
They have also taken “rugby” to Wuxi,Dianjiang and other districts and counties to popularize rugby for local children. “We feel lucky that we are doing sports that we love and also have the opportunity to learn more about Chongqing and other cities in China. ”