Hoops deliver hope for remote Miao kids

For pupils living in the mountainous areas along the border of south China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and Guizhou province, basketball offers them a rare chance to take a glimpse at the wider world.

And for the volunteer teachers from cosmopolitan Shanghai who coach them, seeing their students' lives enriched through sports is all the reward they need to make their selfless work worthwhile.

The story began with a makeshift half-court carved out by locals of Fulu Miao Township of Sanjiang Dong autonomous county in Guangxi.

Almost all the kids there are so-called left-behind children whose parents went to work in urban centers.

The court quickly became the kids' go-to playground. However, like many other of his schoolmates, 13-year-old Dai Jiujia soon began to lose interest in shooting hoops with no one there to instruct and improve him.

China's poverty alleviation campaign has filled that void, with volunteer teachers from China's National Immigration Administration (NIA) taking time out from their regular jobs to train the young hoopsters.

Wei Xiaohu, a police officer with the Shanghai General Station of Immigration Inspection of the NIA, established the school's first basketball team, Longteng Team, in June 2020.

"Honestly, they couldn't even dribble at the very beginning, but I could see the zeal in their eyes," said Wei, who also helped raise funds to buy basketball gear for his young charges.

Wei had a tough start as a basketball coach. "There were some troublemakers who didn't follow the rules and often skipped training," he recalled, identifying Dai as one of the mischief makers.

Wei, though, persevered with Dai due to his outstanding athletic ability, adopting a firm-but-fair approach and giving the youngster extra physical training if he broke the rules.

It worked, and Dai made remarkable progress to inspire other kids on the team to also up their game.

After several months of training, Dai represented his town in the county's basketball tournament where the team finished runner-up.

"I sent a picture of the award to my parents and they were very happy," said Dai.

These days, Dai has more positive expectations for his future. He believes maybe one day he can become a professional player, or take over the job of coach Wei.

"It makes it a worthwhile trip for me, to leave my students with healthy interests," Wei said.

Xie Yaoqian, another volunteer teacher from Shanghai, took over as the second coach of the basketball team and encouraged more girls and boys to pick up the sport.

Living on a mountain over 700 meters above sea level, the children rarely have a chance to travel downhill and experience the wider world.

"The basketball team there means a lot more to the pupils than I imagined," said Xie. "It enables them to take a closer look at life beyond the mountains, which I believe must be beneficial to their future."