Pingtan county in Fujian province has terrific conditions for softball, according to insiders, local news portal ptnet.cn reported.

A testing match for the upcoming National Youth Games in Pingtan, Fujian province, August 4. [Photo/ptnet.cn]

All softball matches of the first National Youth Games (NYG) will be held in Pingtan in October, which will help to grow the sport locally, said Huang Weigang, head coach of the local softball team.

Two softball games were staged as NYG’s testing matches at a newly-completed softball stadium in Pingtan on Aug 4. The Jiangsu women’s team cruised past their opponents from the Fujian team in two straight games 7-0 and 5-1.

In addition to testing stadium conditions by running through a full softball match, Huang said the Fujian team also focused on learning useful experience from the Jiangsu team. The Jiangsu team is a perennial national title contender in recent years, according to coach Song Qiuyuan.

The growth of softball in Jiangsu started in 2002 when its first professional softball team was set up. Jiangsu hosted the 10th National Games in 2005 and took the opportunity to significantly promote softball.

The efforts paid off eventually, as the Jiangsu team clinched the third place at the 11th National Games in 2009, and, won the championship at the next one in 2013.

Softball became a hit in Jiangsu after the introduction of high-level professionals. The team brought in a handful of pitchers who played for the national teams at the very beginning of its softball development plan, said Huang Weigang.

Jiangsu’s top sports management body has supported softball and maintained sound cooperation with schools to promote the sport among the young generation. Both are good examples for Pingtan, said Sun Bojie, counsel of the judges’ committee of the China Softball Association.

Huang echoed the sentiment and urged more financial support from the sports authorities.

“Softball is expensive to promote. The sports brass must make a rational development plan and pay attention to the fostering of young players,” he said.

Schools also play an important role in cultivating softball talent, said Lu Zhimin, another softball coach in Pingtan.

Universities in Taiwan will reach out to promising softball talent prior to the entrance examination. Top players have a better chance of passing the exam or even skipping it after being picked up by a college.

Lu suggested secondary schools in Pingtan copy the scheme to encourage more students to play softball.

The coaches also agreed that Pingtan, a zone designated for carrying out economic reforms and cooperation with Taiwan, can host more cross-Straits softball matches in the future to grow the sport.