Swing for the fences: Tibetan students tone their bodies, find new possibilities for brighter future through baseball

Baseball training, a prominent part of educational programs in schools in Gonghe county, Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Qinghai Province, has effectively helped students make them more fit while opening up new opportunities for a better future.

Since 2006, the education bureau of the autonomous prefecture has introduced baseball programs in primary, middle, and high schools, bringing tangible benefits to local students.

(Photo/Xinhua)

In 2011, a boarding primary school in Gonghe county, with more than 1,700 students, established a baseball team, making baseball a featured program.

Some teachers were initially concerned that baseball training would take too much time from regular courses. However, they soon realized that playing baseball improved the students’ physical fitness, and baseball competitions broadened their horizons, said Sonam Dargye, headmaster of the school.

In 2014, students from the school represented Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture at a national baseball competition held in Zhongshan city, south China's Guangdong Province, stunning spectators by demolishing their opponents 20-0 in the opener. The outstanding performance inspired more students to join the baseball team of the school.

(Photo/Xinhua)

The full-time coach of the school, who himself honed his baseball skills at a local school, has coached nine batches of baseball players so far.

Around 90 students at the primary school practice baseball, he said, noting that students of the Tibetan ethnic group have good stamina and arm strength, which give them a distinct advantage in the sport.

Dorje Gyaltsen, a member of the primary school's baseball team, plays baseball with his brother every vacation. His older brother was also on the primary school baseball team, and now plays for a middle school team of Gonghe county. Their father has bought baseball gear for them, so they can immerse themselves in the hobby whenever they have a break.

(Photo/Xinhua)

Baseball has also ushered these children who live at an altitude of about 3,000 meters into new possibilities of higher education and employment.

Some baseball players from the local schools have been admitted into college, including Shanghai International Studies University, in east China's Shanghai by virtue of their baseball prowess.

This summer, these students from the Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture will again compete in the national baseball games.

(Photo/Xinhua)

(Photo/Xinhua)