Baseball teams from Shenzhen ranked high in the U10 and U12 categories at the Guangdong Youth Baseball U Series (U Series) against other teams from Guangdong Province. Funded by the China Sports Lottery, the 2019 Guangdong Youth Baseball U Series was held at Huangcun Sports Training Center in Guangzhou from November 15 to 17. Under the guidance of the Youth Department of the General Administration of Sport of China, this event was hosted by the Sports Federation of Guangdong Province. Consisting of two categories, namely U10 and U12, it attracted a total of 30 teams and 700 players from around the province. The Shenzhen teams were assembled by the Shenzhen Baseball Association (SBA), consisting of students from SBA member schools, to represent the Amateur Sports School of Shenzhen. This year was the Shenzhen teams’ debut at U Series, where they played hard and demonstrated their dedication to the sport of baseball. After the fierce competition, the Shenzhen U10 and U12 teams won second and sixth place, respectively. Other awards included the Home Run Prize won by Zhang Xuan from Tongle School in the U10 category and the Best Batsman Award won by Yan Linquan from Shenzhen Haibin Experimental Primary School in the U12 category. Shenzhen has had a tradition of baseball since the city’s first baseball team was formed 22 years ago. Dozens of baseball teams have now formed in Shenzhen, including teams at Shenzhen University, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen OCT Primary School, Shenzhen OCT Middle School, Haibin Experimental Primary School, Tongle School and Longzhu Middle School. In the past three years, the SBA has promoted and popularized baseball in schools among nearly 15,000 students. The formation and training of U10 and U12 school teams has also been carried out. A staff member from the SBA stated that baseball as a sport combines speed, strength, agility, intelligence and team spirit. Through participating in this complex and multi-faceted sport, Shenzhen U10 and U12 baseball teams have cultivated skills and a competitive spirit as well as gained invaluable experience.(Peng Zekun) | 