Text/Yang Shihan

In the final of the second Beijing Ice Hockey Open at the Beijing Huaxing International Ice Sports Center, the players have a somewhat special identity - this is a war between boys and girls, and the party participating is the Beijing Junior Women's Ice Hockey Team, which is the only ice hockey team composed of girls in Beijing, and everyone affectionately calls them "Beijing Little Female Ice Hockey".

The final was on August 2022, 8, and towards the end of the third quarter, the score was 10:2. The air in the ice rink seemed to be getting hot because of the scorching battle, and almost all the parents present held their breath. The huge ice rink was so quiet for a while that only the metal sleds crashed against each other, and the rustling sound of the ball rubbing against the ice surface.

The "minority" finds companions

Among the players running in the field, the most conspicuous was undoubtedly the girl wearing the yellow shin guard. Her name is Bao Jinyuan, and her teammates call her "Little Yellow Leg".

When she first came into ice hockey, her slightly skinny physical condition compared to her opponents often caused her to lose in defense, but Bao Jinyuan has already figured out her ice hockey wisdom: "I am relatively small, but I am fast". Now, she is recognized by her teammates as the strongest striker.

In school, Baojinyuan is always the eye-catching one. Not only because of her excellent ice hockey skills, but also because of her short ear-length hair.

She said that in order to prevent hair injuries during play, most of the members of Beijing Little Ice Ice cut their hair short. The girlfriend said she was a "tomboy", and she proudly said that "our whole team will really fight like little boys and will not be afraid".

Another "soul" who fights on the field is teammate Wang Noi. The 12-year-old has played on women's ice for 4 years and "soaks" on the ice almost every day after school. The ice temperature remains at minus 6 to 7.5°C all year round, but after training, the ends of Noi's hair are always dripping with sweat.

Wang Nuoyi and her father Wang Guangcheng watched every game of the Chinese women's national ice hockey team at the Beijing Winter Olympics, and she hopes that she can win glory for the country like them in the future.

At only 12 years old, she was aggressive and defensive, and even the opponent's parents couldn't help but praise "there are not many girls who play so well" after scoring a goal.

There are not many girls involved in ice hockey themselves, and before joining "Beijing Little Women's Ice Ice", Bao Jinyuan and Wang Nuoyi's common memory of their teammates was that "they are all boys". It wasn't until 2015 that a chance opportunity made the Beijing Ice Hockey Association realize that it was time to organize the girls scattered in the club.

Xing Xing, executive deputy secretary-general of the Beijing Ice Hockey Association, said that as the team gradually increased, the association organized "Little Women's Ice Skating" to participate in various competitions, and also traveled to Boston and Minnesota, "We participated as a pure women's ice hockey team, and everyone was very happy to find companions."

Supporters behind the little players

"Passing five levels and cutting six generals" on the ice hockey rink depends not only on the sweat of children, but also on the solid backing of the family. Wang Noi's father, Wang Guangcheng, said that his daughter has spent more than one million since playing in 2016. Money is only part of the effort, for parents, it is more about the investment of time and energy.

One hockey mother said that her child was on the ice almost every day, for many years. "They need a mother, who carries a bag every day, eats and everything on the ice." Among the parents, many have lived what she calls "no life of their own" for five or six years.

Compared with the huge investment costs, what makes them anxious now is how to maintain the popularity of ice hockey in the post-Winter Olympic era.

The successful holding of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics has provided strong support for the rapid development of ice and snow sports in China, the number of ice and snow venue facilities has increased significantly, the team of various ice and snow sports professionals and grassroots enthusiasts has been expanding, and ice and snow sports have shown unprecedented development vitality and potential in the north and south of the Great River, inside and outside the Great Wall.

In the post-Winter Olympics period, strengthening the construction of ice hockey culture is an important topic to push China's ice and snow sports to a new climax.

Wang Noi's father said that the Winter Olympics have made ice hockey in Beijing booming. "But in the post-Winter Olympics era, our parents have felt a little bit of relaxation, such as the weekly competition, which became twice a month in the second half of last year."

He observed that some people chose to give up, and at least one in ten children stopped on the ice. "We parents also honestly say that using a particularly appropriate word, it is called exhaustion." The ice hockey reserve talent training system is still immature, and parents have to cross the river by feeling the stones, eager to get more policy support at the national level.

Get more girls to pick up the club

Jin Fengling, the head coach of "Beijing Little Women's Ice Skating", is a professional athlete selected by the national team, who has traveled on behalf of the country many times and achieved good results.

As a head coach, she would feel sorry for the girls who gave up hockey, especially the excellent seedlings. Participating in professional sports requires perseverance, and sometimes "farewell" due to study pressure or other factors is equivalent to "farewell". There is a shortage of reserve talent, and the fault in the conveyor chain to the national team is becoming more and more obvious.

Jin Fengling is not unable to understand the suffering of the team members when they reach the age of "junior high school", she feels that Beijing is very "rolled". Some players rush to clubs not close to home after school, practice for 2 to 3 hours and then rush home, late at night, and continue to work on their homework. "It can't be said that just because the child is a good seedling, he doesn't even learn to learn for ice hockey, and this coach can't make a conclusion."

In her opinion, some players are interested in professional ice hockey, but are constrained by the reality that sports and education are not fully integrated, and perhaps promoting professionalism can give them a more suitable soil for growth. According to her, players in the system can get the job preparation and package the job assignment after changing careers. "If there is an iron rice bowl to eat in the back, it should be okay for the development of ice hockey."

Wang Xiaoliang, former leader of the national women's ice hockey team, has a different opinion. He believes that the development of sports must take the route of professional development, and professionalism will make athletes more conscious.

The future development route is difficult to determine in the short term, but the Beijing Ice Hockey Association has made the next step of "Little Women's Ice Ice". Xing said that the next step is to establish a special women's group in recent years to create a girls' own league.

"Now that a lot of little girls are starting to play, there are now almost 400 girls [among registered players], almost one in ten girls, and I believe the registration numbers will increase this summer after [the epidemic] is lifted."