Open-minded parents help nurture sports stars

Pang Wei, 35, the 10-meter air pistol mixed team gold medalist in Tokyo, was born in Baoding, Hebei province, and fulfilled his childhood dream at the Olympics. He liked playing with toy guns at a young age, and his home had an abundance of them, relatives recalled.

In 2000, when he was 14, a neighbor advised Pang to practice shooting, according to a report in Baoding Daily. He was excited as his parents caught the competitive spirit with him. To his delight, his parents sent him to a shooting center at a local sports school.

Pang's gold medal in Tokyo added to his achievement of winning the gold medal in the men's 10m air pistol at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Open-minded parents are the key to youngsters' mastery of sports techniques and the major reason leading to the city's success in nurturing sports stars, according to Li Fang, 55, once the coach of diver Guo Jingjing and Wang Han.

Guo won four Olympic gold medals before she retired in 2011.Wang won the women's synchronized 3m springboard at the Tokyo Olympics on July 25.

"Parents in Baoding tend to be wiser than others, allowing their children to endure the hardships of tough training, rather than giving up when things get difficult," Li said.

Proven to be skilled at selecting young diving talent and helping them realize their potential, Li selected the two Olympic champions when they were small.

"Before they got on the gold medal podium, you couldn't imagine how much they had endured and how many challenges they had met," she said.

The swimming coaches at the 37-year-old Baoding Sports Kindergarten have similar sentiments.

"Parents' support for their kids in sports is the most important factor in whether a youngster will acquire some real skills or even become a professional athlete," said Li Chao, 36, a swimming coach at the kindergarten, a post he has held for 14 years. In his view, Baoding has a good sports atmosphere thanks to parents.

"Parents want to send their children here for training no matter what the weather is like or what difficulties must be overcome. They show great perseverance in letting their children insist on doing something they're interested in," he said.

But the aim of the kindergarten is not to nurture world champions, he said.

"Most parents just want their children to build up their bodies by learning one or two sports skills," Li Chao said, adding that doing exercises from ages 3 to 5 is important for building strength.

"Some of the kids show great talent in a certain sport, and we recommend them to professional sports teams or schools."

The kindergarten, which has as neighbors a swimming pool, a gymnastics hall, a table tennis facility and a stadium, has clear advantages for teaching, its president, Guo Wu, said.

According to Guo, each of the kindergarten pupils will choose one sport-gymnastics, table tennis, swimming, martial arts or soccer-as his or her amateur sport. They practice the chosen sport every morning from 9:30 am to 11 am.

"Children are at a critical period for learning sports," Guo Wu said. "Our aim is to let them find their interest and have a happy and healthy childhood."