At 10 o'clock, Ningbo Yongjiang Park welcomed the grand opening of the 8th "Kick the Ball" Community Football Tournament organized by Greentown China. The tournament was co-organized by Zhejiang Professional Football Club and attracted the active participation of famous enterprises such as Panasonic, Toshiba Air Conditioning and B/S/H. Xiang Xin, Director of Group Division of Ningbo Sports Bureau, Xi Weida, Chairman of Ningbo Football Association and many other guests attended the opening ceremony. Greentown China delivered warmth to the people of Ningbo, who had just been hit by the typhoon, with the "Kick the Ball" tournament. Every touch of the ball by every player carries the affectionate greetings and encouragement to the city.
The Ningbo region has long been enthusiastic about "Kick the Ball", and the 32 slots were quickly filled after registration opened. Teams that couldn't get a spot have already started planning their strategy for next year. Today, many of the teams sweated it out on the field at Yongjiang Park with the enthusiastic support of their families and friends, while the players' wives and children cheered them on from the sidelines. One warm-up player proudly asked a friend, "See how attractive 'Kick the ball around' is?"
Since 2015, Greentown China has been committed to building a stage for community soccer, hoping that soccer can take root in the community. In the past eight years, the "Kick the Ball" community soccer tournament has not only witnessed the passage of time, but has also been constantly innovated and upgraded. In the first tournament, Greentown built a five-a-side soccer field in Taoyuan Town, demonstrating its pursuit of professional tournaments. In the same year, Greentown invited Baggio to attend the tournament, which made the tournament famous. In the second tournament, the presence of famous coaches such as Takeshi Okada and Clausen added more luster to the tournament. In the third tournament, amateur players competed with Hangzhou women's soccer team, which became one of the highlights of the soccer world in that year.
In the following years, "Kick the ball to go" community soccer tournament has constantly introduced new highlights, such as "soccer carnival", "North and South Champion Match", etc., and former international players such as Fan Zhiyi, Yang Chen, etc. have also called for the players participating in the tournament. Last year, the tournament launched the first version of the exclusive customized soccer. Last year, the tournament launched the first version of the exclusive customized football, and this year, the online game of the same name was launched, so that more fans who can not personally attend the game can also enjoy the joy of "kicking the ball to go".
In 2015, the tournament only set up Hangzhou district, with a total of 32 teams participating. With the expansion of its influence, the tournament gradually went out of Hangzhou and set up the Ningbo district, and expanded year by year, increasing to 12 districts this year, with a total of 168 teams participating in the tournament. Fans from Hangzhou, Ningbo, Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian, Wuxi, Qingdao, Chengdu, Chongqing, Foshan, Wuhan and Xi'an can find their own happiness in "Kick the Ball".
The tournament focuses not only on quantity, but also on quality. In last year's Shaanxi National Games mass competition beach soccer (men's) gold medalist Zhejiang team, there are 12 players who have participated in the "Kick the ball to go" Ningbo tournament. The Tianjin National Games cage soccer championship team in Zhejiang, there are also many players were "kick the ball to go" participants. The tournament has always taken into account the popularization of soccer and the cultivation of elites.
Zhang Yadong, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Greentown China, has said that Greentown's persistence in soccer will continue for a long time, and is committed to making more contributions to the development of national football. Greentown's long-termism is not only reflected in youth training and professional matches, but also on grassroots pitches.
