英语新闻｜篮球给农村带来活力

One of herdsman Juramt's two biggest accomplishments this weekend was that he and his basketball team won a pair of sheep after coming out on top in a rural amateur competition.

牧民吉日木图（音译）这周末最大的两个成就之一，是他和他的篮球队在农村业余篮球比赛中夺冠后赢得了两只羊。

"We brought the sheep back and gave them to our township government to thank it for supporting us before the match," said the 35-year-old herdsman from Ulaanmod town in Horqin Right Wing Front Banner, Inner Mongolia autonomous region. Normally, his daily job is to take care of cow herds and flocks of sheep.

35岁的吉日木图来自内蒙古兴安盟科尔沁右翼前旗乌兰毛都，他说：“我们把羊带回来送给了政府，感谢当地政府在赛前对我们的支持。”平时，他每天的工作就是照顾牛群和羊群。

With eight other basketball players from the town, he led his team to neighboring Devs town from Saturday to Sunday to compete in a Village Basketball Association competition, which are gaining popularity in China's rural areas.

从6月17日到18日，吉日木图和镇上的其他八名篮球运动员带领球队到邻近的德伯斯镇参加村篮球协会的比赛，这项比赛在中国农村地区越来越受欢迎。

"The other accomplishment for me was that I gained many friends from the event," he said.

吉日木图说：“对我来说，另一个成就是我从这次活动中结识了很多朋友。”

The competition attracted some 400 basketball players in 40 teams from around the banner who are herdsmen like Juramt, or business operators or migrant workers, according to the local government.

据当地政府称，本次比赛吸引了来自内蒙古兴安盟科右前旗的40支球队的约400名篮球运动员，他们是像吉日木图这样的牧民、企业经营者或农民工。

"I'm very glad to meet players from other teams and I'm also looking forward to playing with them in the future," he said.

吉日木图说：“我很高兴见到其他球队的球员，我也很期待将来能和他们一起踢球。”

According to Juramt, basketball competitions like this are held in the banner from time to time.

吉日木图说，这样的篮球比赛在旗内经常举办。

"More and more herdsmen or villagers are falling in love with playing basketball," he said, adding that the average age on his team is 27 and all are children of herdsmen.

吉日木图说：“越来越多的牧民或村民爱上了打篮球。”他还补充道，他的团队平均年龄为27岁，而且都是牧民的孩子。

In Hebei province, the first provincial-level VBA matches kicked off in Xiong'an New Area on Saturday.

6月17日，河北省首届“村BA”篮球赛在河北雄安新区拉开帷幕。

On the first day of the competition in Huangwan village, Qijianfang town's team defeated Huangwan village's team 54 to 50.

在黄湾村举办的首日比赛中，七间房乡队以54比50战胜黄湾村队。

The VBA will be held across the province, and 16 teams will be selected to participate in the provincial finals at the end of August.

“村BA”将在河北全省范围内举办，选出16支队伍参加8月底的省级总决赛。

The winner and runner-up team will represent Hebei in the regional finals, according to local news portal iHebei, which is one of the competition's co-hosts.

据当地新闻门户网站、比赛的联合主办方之一“爱河北”报道，冠军和亚军将代表河北参加区域决赛。

Eight teams will play in the country's grand finals in October in Taijiang county, Guizhou province, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the General Administration of Sport.

据农业农村部和国家体育总局消息，8支队伍将于10月在黔东南台江参加全国总决赛。

At the matches' opening ceremony in Huangwan village, activities promoting local agricultural products were held.

在黄湾村的比赛开幕式上，举办了当地农产品推介活动。

"The integrated development of industries in agriculture, culture, tourism and sports in rural areas will help promote rural vitalization, as industrial vitalization is the basis and key to rural vitalization," said Wang Yuexiang, an official with the Hebei Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

河北省农业农村厅官员王月祥说：“农业、文化、旅游、体育等产业在农村的融合发展有助于促进乡村振兴，产业振兴是乡村振兴的基础和关键。”

During a recent eight-day VBA event in Anhua town, Zhuji city in Zhejiang province, about 30,000 visits were made daily to the town's night market.

在浙江省诸暨市安华镇最近举行的为期八天的村BA活动期间，每天约有30000人次光顾该镇的夜市。

"The market's business was much better than usual," Chen Yulan, the town's deputy head, was quoted as saying by Zhejiang Daily.

浙江日报援引该镇副镇长陈玉兰的话说：“市场生意比平时好很多。”

"The emergence of the VBA has encouraged more people to go to the countryside and thus further promote the economic and social development in rural areas," Wang Zhigang, vice-president and secretary-general of Zhejiang Basketball Association, was quoted by Zhejiang Daily.

浙江日报援引浙江省篮协副主席兼秘书长王志刚的话说：“村BA的出现，带动了更多人下乡，进一步促进了农村经济社会发展。”

Basketball

英/ˈbɑːskɪtbɔːl/ 美/ˈbæskɪtbɔːl/

n.篮球；篮球运动

Vitalization

英/ˌvaɪtəlaɪˈzeɪʃ(ə)n/ 美/ˌvaɪtəlaɪˈzeɪʃ(ə)n/

n.振兴