Hebei snow park provides exciting glimpse of new Olympic sport

The new Olympic sport of flag football was given a run out at Yunding Snow Park on Saturday.

One of Beijing's 2022 Winter Olympics venues was given a taste of the college invitational variety of the sport, which will make its debut in Los Angeles in 2028.

At an altitude of over 1,600 meters, flag football, a less-contact version of American football, made a strong impression on fans, media and tourists alike at Yunding, formerly known as the Genting resort, in Zhangjiakou's Chongli district, Hebei province, where some of Beijing 2022's snow sports were staged.

The non-tackling version of football has been added to the program for LA28, where it is expected to draw greater fan following to the sporting extravaganza from the North American market, dominated as it is by the big four of American football, baseball, ice hockey and basketball.

Hosting the inaugural edition of the World University Flag Football Open at Yunding's newly-renovated football field was part of China's effort to increase the sport's mass appeal and help more people understand the rules in advance of LA28.

The invitational tournament, or "Yunding Bowl", attracted 11 top-notch Chinese university clubs and an inter-school team consisting of student players from four North American universities — UC Santa Barbara, California Lutheran University, UC Davis and CSU Long Beach.

In flag football, players in offense wear belts with flags hung on their waists and minimal equipment. Instead of tackling a player heavily as in the full-contact version, defenders try to pull an opponent's flag off to stop a play.

The Yunding Bowl adopted a special format of four-plus-one, requiring each team's five-a-side roster to include at least one female on the field to promote equality and unity across genders.

After playing on a hectic one-day schedule covering the round-robin group stage and knockout phase, the Crazy Wolves from Capital University of Physical Education and Sports met Zhejiang University Football Club in the final. The Wolves eventually edged out ZJU Football 19-18 in a seesaw battle that saw both teams put their team-work, athleticism and strategic thinking on full display.

Wolves' running back Yang Cheng was declared the tournament's Most Valuable Player after delivering two touchdown assists and completing a touchdown by himself in the final.

"This tournament was very well organized and provided us a great opportunity to improve our play against some very good teams from home and the States. I enjoyed it very much," said Yang, a member of the national team's spring training camp roster.

By hosting the newest Summer Olympic sport at an iconic winter sports site, the mountain resort has set another excellent example for its post-Winter Games legacy use and sustainable four-season business operation, said Shu Wen, CEO of Yunding Snow Park.

"It's not just a competition for young talents to enjoy the sport in sweat and passion, it's also a platform set at the Olympic stage for young people of different countries to communicate and make friends. We hope to create more of such cultural exchange opportunities in the future," added Shu.