Pay attention to volleyball
On Sunday last week, I watched the championship game of the University Volleyball League at the Taipei Gymnasium. The place was packed to the rafters. Even the walkways were jam-packed with spectators so that even an old codger such as myself had to squat on the steps of a walkway between seats. It seems volleyball has captured the imagination of the Taiwanese public.
It might therefore seem somewhat strange that the semi-final matches of the domestic High School Basketball League and University Basketball Association championships were held in the more comfortable and higher capacity Taipei Arena to attract even more fans and students to cheer on their teams.
The competing high-school and university students must have felt honored to compete at a venue as grand as the Taipei Arena.
Why is it that the University Volleyball League’s and the High School Volleyball League’s semi-finals matches were squeezed into the Taipei Gymnasium? After all, the Taipei Arena is only a stone’s throw away.
Some might say that basketball is a far more popular sport than volleyball, but the packed-out match that I watched shows that this is not the case.
Why not give high-school and university volleyball teams the perhaps once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to enjoy the magnificent experience of competing at the Taipei Arena?
In recent years volleyball has been ascendant, with games sometimes attracting more supporters than equivalent basketball matches.
In fact, Taiwan’s volleyball teams have been enjoying more success at international competitions than their basketball counterparts. The sport deserves a higher profile.
The organizers of high-school and university league volleyball championships and the nation’s volleyball associations should campaign for semi-final matches to be held at the Taipei Arena. Domestic media should also provide more coverage of volleyball matches to capitalize on the momentum and ensure that the sport takes root in Taiwan.
Wang Hsi-chang
Taipei
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