First American arena football game in China well received

China's first-ever American arena football match has attracted big attention in the country and abroad.

The exhibition match was held in Beijing Capital Gymnasium on Nov. 11 with east Philadelphia Soul beating west Arizona Diamondbacks 69-52. The two American teams were riddled with all-star players chosen from Arena Football League (AFL).

According to Ganlan Media International (Beijing) Co., Ltd.(GMI), sponsor of the exhibition match, more than 8,000 people came to watch the match.

"It was beyond our expectation," said Wu Hua, president of GMI. "We didn't expect such a huge crowd. A lot of Chinese young people know something about American arena football and there were some interactions between players and audiences."

"All the facilities for the game were made in China, and both the judges and the players liked the venue," Wu said. "Some people even showed their surprise on the high quality of the facilities as China had never held an American arena football game before."

David Cutaia, the referee of the match, said the venue could compare with the top three AFL venues in the United States.

The game also aroused big effect abroad and will be on the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) on Dec. 7.

The Beijing People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (BPAFFC), organizer of the exhibition match, also expressed its satisfaction.

"It was a cultural communication between China and the U.S.," said Deng Shaohui, vice president of the BPAFFC. "We didn't expect an AFL match in China could have such a strong response."

A total of 87 people, including 42 players, came from the United States to China for the exhibition match and 70 percent of them had never visited China before.

After the four-day tour in Beijing, most players said they are willing to play American arena football in China in the future.

The GMI are concentrating on bringing in the American arena football and Wu said the indoor matches will be held with their own players next year.

"We launched professional training in May and have cultivated China's first-ever American arena football coaches and referees," Wu said.

China has established arena football teams in six sports universities, namely, Beijing Sports University, Tianjin University of Sport, Hebei Institute of Physical Education, Wuhan Institute of Physical Education, Shandong Sport University, Xi'an Physical Education University.

"Each of the six universities send two players to watch the exhibition match," said Wu.

The success of the exhibition match was no doubt an encouragement for Wu and his team.

"Some AFL coaches will come to China in January to train our players," he said. "And we will launch an invitational tournament for the six teams next summer."

"We are planning to build up arena football clubs in some cities by the end of the year," added Wu, who believes that American arena football game is more eye-catching for its compact field, fast transition and high score.

China has already had some American national football clubs in some big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Chongqing but has no clubs for the indoor sport.

Rugby sevens, a sport included in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, has even debuted in China's National Games this year.