Children face off to win spots in all-star hockey team

Following Beijing's successful bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics, the Beijing Hockey Association will host trials to select an all-star junior team as part of its efforts to promote the niche sport in China.

With the popularity of ice hockey on the increase as a result of Beijing's Olympic success, the BHA will launch the inaugural "Super Team" selection next month aimed at building on the momentum to involve more youth in the sport.

The trials, open to children aged 5 to 10 with ice hockey fundamentals, will start with a preliminary round on Oct 11 with contestants competing in personal skills and group scrimmages as well as singing, dancing and piano playing in age categories of Under-6, Under-8 and Under-10.

The second round will be on Oct 31 and Nov 1 with participants who passed the preliminaries competing in the same disciplines.

The 12 members of the team itself will be selected from 36 finalists by Internet users through an online ballot on sina.com on Nov 14.

Rather than selecting a lineup for a certain tournament, the BHA expects more effort to go toward promoting the game and the winter sports culture in general as well as all-round development of youth through the draft.

"The aim is not for athletic purposes but to demonstrate how ice hockey is an ideal tool to teach children virtues like discipline, teamwork and sense of group honor," said Zhou Xiaomei, an official with the BHA.

The inclusion of performing talent in the trials is aimed expanding access for children to enter the event as extra points in this discipline will make up for some participants' loss in the ice hockey athletic part.

"So more children with interests in the sport but not as advanced as others will also have chances to reach the second round or the final vote, attracting interests from a wider-range of people," said Liu Shujin, manager of the event's co-organizing company Beijing Dingfengshiji Culture and Media Co Ltd.

The event will also serve as a warm-up for the 2015-16 season of the BHA's junior league, which starts on Oct 24.

The league has attracted a record number of more than 100 club teams involving approximately 2,000 children from 6 to 14 playing in its regular season in age categories from Under-8 to Under-14.

sunxiaochen@chinadaily.com.cn