Yao Ming talks to primary school students during a
charitable event at Shanghai's Ziluolan Primary School on Thursday. Provided to
China Daily
Basketball icon Yao Ming said he thinks his presence in a popular reality TV
show could draw more attention to children's all-round development through
sports activities.
Entering the entertainment business has become trendy for retired athletes to
stay in the public eye, but that's not the case for Yao, despite his
participation in the hit reality TV show Where Are We Going, Dad?.
The show, which features trips of fathers and children set audience records
in the first season and became a nationwide sensation following word that Yao
would participate in the upcoming second season.
In typical low-key style, the former NBA All-Star plays down his role in the
show and said he sees it simply as publicity highlighting the importance of
physical education in child rearing - a concept that he actively promotes
through various charitable initiatives and physical education events since his
retirement in 2011.
"I hope to send out a message that sports can teach children many virtues
that they couldn't learn in classrooms, and to influence more people to pay
attention to children's all-round development," Yao said after a charitable
event at Shanghai's Ziluolan Primary School on Thursday.
The event was part of the Yao Foundation Hope Primary School Basketball
Season, an annual charitable program that organizes students in underprivileged
areas to participate in a two-month basketball training camp where they learn
the virtues of teamwork, leadership and socializing.
Charity event
This year's event, which kicked off in late April, has expanded to 80 primary
schools across China and has so far encouraged more than 151,500 students to
complete the two-month stretch, during which college volunteers teach basketball
skills.
"Our aim is to teach children to take part in sports, not to train basketball
talent for professional teams," said Yao, who has been bouncing between his
roles as a businessman, basketball club owner and charity promoter since
2011.
Shrugging off the foot injury that led to his retirement, Yao ran up and down
the court with students in a mini-exhibition game against another team led by
NBA star forward Nicolas Batum of the Portland Trail Blazers.
Batum joined forces with Yao as an ambassador of NBA Cares, the National
Basketball Association's global community outreach initiative that addresses
social issues such as education, family development and health. He echoed Yao's
sentiment that sports really matter in children's development.
"It's big. When you are young, playing games like basketball and soccer can
give you opportunities to do a lot of things to open your life," said the
25-year-old Frenchman, who entered the NBA in 2008.