Re-experience the low threshold flag football and accelerate the ＂rush＂ to the youth group.
Original title: Sports and social interaction attract young people.
-Why are emerging sports so popular (part two)
Light equipment, heavy experience, high socialization and low threshold make minority projects enter the public’s field of vision and create new scenes for the in-depth development of national fitness. The industry generally believes that in recent years, the public’s enthusiasm for outdoor sports has become increasingly high, which has given the soil for the rapid development of minority projects: triggering community interaction through online sharing, promoting potential users to participate in offline experiences, and then stimulating more online sharing, thus forming a agglomeration effect and a positive cycle among youth groups.
-editor
At night, the football field in Beijing Laojuntang Park is brightly lit, and the teams of two flag football clubs are playing a friendly match. The attacking player hangs a colorful waist flag around his waist, and the defending player pulls out the opponent’s waist flag instead of a collision confrontation to stop the attack. Both sides come and go, both tactical and physical competition, but also the joy of "tearing famous brands" game.
Seeing the enthusiasm of everyone, Sun Mowen, a young man after 1995, was quite emotional. Since he initiated the establishment of a flag football club last winter, nearly a thousand people have participated in the activities in just a few months, with 4-5 activities every week, and the places are often robbed in 10 minutes.
This summer, after Frisbee became the first popular sport, flag football also accelerated its "rush" to the youth group. Light equipment, heavy experience, high socialization and low threshold make minority projects enter the public’s field of vision and create new scenes for the in-depth development of national fitness.
Bring social distance closer on the sports field.
In people’s impression, rugby is a fierce sport, with heavy protective gear and high-intensity physical requirements, which makes it difficult for ordinary people to participate. As a "simplified version" of football, the flag football continues its characteristics of tactical game and teamwork, and gets rid of the high requirements for equipment and venues. The low antagonism greatly reduces the threshold for participation. "The rules are relatively simple, and most novices can master it after two or three activities, and even directly participate in the competition." Sun Mowen said.
Sun Mowen initiated the establishment of the club with the original intention of "letting more people play with us". This sport was introduced to China as early as 2003, and it has been tepid until it entered the public’s field of vision this year. Strong social attributes are the key to quickly "bonding" fans. "Waist flag rugby requires timely communication and division of labor between teammates. The novice field organized by the club has 30 people at a time, and the activity lasts for two hours, so that teammates can have a basic understanding, especially to enhance team cohesion. " Sun Mowen said.
Relying on the community and clubs to meet the dual needs of finding fresh sports experience and offline socialization has become a unique starting point for project promotion. In the eyes of the industry, when participants find companions with the same lifestyle and form a strong sense of identity, they are more willing to continue to invest time and energy in this sport.
Jin Xin, a young man born in 1980s, is engaged in the financial industry in Shanghai. Last October, he joined a waist flag football club, which witnessed the rapid growth of the club’s membership doubling. "I met some like-minded partners in the flag football activity, and later I had a pleasant cooperation at work." Jin Xin said that the communication in the sports field is more pure, and the consistency of interests shortens the social distance.
According to the data, there are about 45 national flag rugby communities and societies, and there are about 150 community organizations and off-campus training institutions. Compared with traditional sports such as football and basketball, emerging sports with stronger sense of games and mixed teams of men and women can better meet the needs of youth groups, and even novices can quickly integrate into the team. As some people have commented, Frisbee and flag football have both sports value and emotional and social value.
Online promotion forms community interaction.
In April this year, Zhao Xinjia, a girl from Tianjin, first came into contact with flag football under the leadership of her friends. "There is no collision in this sport. Even if you can’t run fast or jump high, it doesn’t matter. You can use flexibility to run and attack." Now, she has become an active member of the club, playing several rounds every week.
Another reason why Zhao Xinjia is fascinated by flag football is online sharing. After each activity, she will post sports notes on social platforms and record her progress with photos and videos. "I will also read other people’s sports notes and exchange experiences with each other. Waist flag football pays attention to strategy and cooperation, and there is a lot of room for learning and advancement. "
Feeling the online sharing needs of participants, many clubs have introduced the follow-up business. When Sun Mowen organizes flag football activities, he always invites professional photographers to capture hundreds of photos on the spot, and then makes the materials into photo albums and videos for everyone to download. The wide spread of fans online is tantamount to natural advertisements. "There are many novices who are pushed through social platforms and attracted by photos of club activities to sign up." Sun Mowen said that this also promoted the club to build its own brand more carefully.
Emerging sports have a distinctive trend label, which is in line with the pursuit of fashion and personality of contemporary young people. The online platform where young users gather has therefore become the best carrier for "incubating" niche projects. When Xiaohongshu, a life social platform, was launched, the related search volume of "Frisbee" increased by about 24 times compared with the same period of last year, and the original content of "Waist Flag Rugby" also ushered in rapid growth after March this year.
People in the industry generally believe that in recent years, the public’s enthusiasm for outdoor sports has become more and more high, giving the minority projects a soil for rapid development. Combing this process, the great help of online promotion can be clearly seen: online sharing can trigger community interaction, promote potential users to participate in offline experience, and then stimulate more online sharing, thus forming a agglomeration effect and a positive cycle among youth groups.
Market expansion stimulates consumption potential
The popularity of minority sports has also opened up a blue ocean for the fitness market. Although this "small and beautiful" business has just taken the first step of exploration, many people have seen the consumption potential behind it.
Take part in the two-hour activity 60-80 yuan, rugby gloves 150-300 yuan, plus the mouthguard 100 yuan, which is the cost of Jin Xin’s participation in the flag football activity. "Ordinary fans can wear ordinary sportswear and sports shoes, and the lower consumption threshold is also the reason why novices are willing to try this sport." At the club level, organizing an activity includes booking venues, novice training, drinking water, photography and other expenses. "There are more and more people participating now, but our club has not raised the price. I hope that coaches and photographers with higher cost performance can enhance the sports experience and make them really fall in love with the flag football." Sun Mowen said.
Although at this stage, emerging sports have not yet spawned a mature business model and industrial chain, Jin Xin is optimistic about the consumption potential of the participating groups: "These fitness experts have commercial value, and full cultivation can tap many opportunities, such as event organization, sports tourism, and sports brand promotion." It is reported that some flag football clubs in Shanghai have begun to make profits.
Let the public participate in the normalization, let the senior fans specialize, and finally let the project be competitive, which is regarded as the key to the further development of emerging sports. Wang Xueli, director of Tsinghua University Sports Industry Development Research Center, said: "For sports participants, with venues and activities, the consumption of sporting goods and sports services will naturally increase."
To the delight of people in the industry, "Ultimate Frisbee" was selected as a fashion sports project in the "Compulsory Education Curriculum Scheme and Curriculum Standards (2022 Edition)" recently promulgated. Now, there is a mature middle school league in Shanghai. "Emerging sports entering the campus will bring benefits to equipment research and development, coach training, talent reserve and consumption habits. Especially teenagers, if they start playing a sport from an early age, they will probably keep playing. " Xue Zhixing, deputy secretary general of the National Frisbee Promotion Committee, said.
Our reporter Li Shuo Tao Xiang ‘an