中國女子冰球運動有了一個“國傢俱樂部”
The Canadian Women’s Hockey League announced on Monday that it would expand to China, beginning next season, becoming one of the first North American professional sports leagues to field a team in Asia.
週一，加拿大女子冰球聯盟（Canadian Women’s Hockey League，以下簡稱CWHL）宣佈，它將從下一季開始擴展到中國，成爲第一批在亞洲組建球隊的北美職業體育聯盟之一。Beijing’s Kunlun Red Star hockey club, which began its first season in the Russian-based Kontinental Hockey League last year, will have a women’s team in the C.W.H.L.
去年，北京的崑崙鴻星冰球俱樂部開始了在俄羅斯大陸冰球聯賽(Kontinental Hockey League)的第一個賽季，該俱樂部將擁有一支CWHL女子球隊。The women’s league, founded in 2007, has teams in Boston; Brampton, Ontario; Toronto; Montreal; and Calgary, Alberta. The C.W.H.L. has not yet offered salaries to its players — unlike the National Women’s Hockey League, which consists of four teams, all in the United States — but it is expected to begin paying players next season. An investment from China would help make that happen.
該女子聯盟成立於2007年，在波士頓、安大略省布蘭普頓、多倫多、蒙特利爾以及艾伯塔省卡爾加里擁有球隊。與美國國家女子冰球聯盟(National Women’s Hockey League)不同，CWHL尚未給球員發薪水——前者擁有四支球隊，全部都在美國境內——但有望從下一季開始給球員付酬。來自中國的一筆投資將有助於促成此事。
“This expansion will have a significant impact on women’s hockey around the world and indeed on women’s sports,” Brenda Andress, the league’s commissioner, said in a telephone interview.
“本次擴展將對世界各地的女子冰球以及女子體育產生重大影響，”CWHL主席布倫達·安德烈斯(Brenda Andress)在接受電話採訪時表示。The five-year deal opens professional women’s hockey to an untapped market in Asia full of sponsorship opportunities, but it also signifies China’s push to establish a competitive team for the 2022 Olympics in Beijing.
五年的合約將職業女子冰球帶入亞洲這個尚待開發但有大量贊助商機會的市場，它也表明，中國在努力爲2022年北京冬奧會組建一支有競爭力的球隊。Andress said a new team would have to follow the same league policies of adding new players through the draft and free agency, but Kunlun Red Star’s roster is expected to consist of players from China and players from North America of Chinese heritage, as well as non-Chinese. Kunlun will also be forming youth girls’ teams this year.
安德烈斯表示，新球隊必須遵守相同的聯盟政策，通過選秀和自由球員制度添加新球員，不過崑崙鴻星的陣容有望包括來自中國的球員、華裔北美球員以及非華裔球員。今年，崑崙也將組建青年女子球隊。Billy Ngok, the Kunlun Red Star founder, said in a statement that his team was “the national club of China” and that through cooperation with the sport’s national governing body, “we will prepare for our teams to compete in Beijing 2022” and “promote the game in China.”
崑崙鴻星的創始人嶽欣禹在一項聲明中表示，他的球隊是“中國國傢俱樂部”，通過與該項目的國家監管機構合作，“我們將備戰2022北京冬奧會”，“在中國推廣這項運動”。Kunlun Red Star will be coached by Digit Murphy, who formerly led the C.W.H.L.’s Boston Blades and Brown University. Last year, she helped start the United Women’s Lacrosse League.
崑崙鴻星將由迪吉特·墨菲(Digit Murphy)擔任教練，她擔任過CWHL的波士頓刀鋒隊(Boston Blades)和布朗大學隊(Brown University)的教練。去年，她幫助創立了美國聯合女子長曲棍球聯盟(United Women’s Lacrosse League)。“She’s passionate; she knows hockey,” Andress said. “She’s built programs and she’s an asset as a coach for the Chinese team.”
“她很有激情，她懂冰球，”安德烈斯說。“她設計了訓練計劃，對中國隊來說，請她當教練很有幫助。”Recently, the former N.H.L. coach Mike Keenan was named the head of Kunlun’s men’s team, and the club has hired several notable former hockey stars, including Bobby Carpenter and Phil Esposito, to help build its program. According to the International Ice Hockey Federation, China has 1,101 hockey players among a total population exceeding 1.3 billion.
前不久，前美國國家冰球聯盟(NHL)教練邁克·基南(Mike Keenan)被任命爲崑崙男子隊的教練，該俱樂部還請了幾位前冰球明星幫助設計訓練計劃，包括鮑比·卡彭特(Bobby Carpenter)和菲爾·埃斯波西託(Phil Esposito)。根據國際冰球聯合會(International Ice Hockey Federation)的數據，中國逾13億的人口中，有1101名冰球隊員。“There’s no doubt about it; it’s going to increase the fan base and appreciation of our game,” Andress said, citing a Toronto Star article that said 22 million Chinese viewers watched Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Nashville Predators.
“毫無疑問，它會擴大球迷羣體，增強人們對這項運動的喜愛，”安德烈斯說。她提到《多倫多星報》(The Toronto Star)的一篇文章稱，有2200萬中國觀衆觀看了在匹茲堡企鵝隊和納什維爾掠奪者隊之間進行的斯坦利杯總決賽的第一場。Even if N.H.L. ratings in China are rising, the sport has yet to embed itself in the fabric of the nation.
NHL在中國的收視率在上升，但這項運動還是需要融入該國的機制中。Last year, the Kunlun men’s team had to relocate to Shanghai, almost 800 miles away, where crowds sometimes amounted to only 700 or so fans, many of whom received free tickets. The Globe and Mail reported from a game last year that concessions “were sold from a small table that included three Snickers bars and three plastic cups of caramel popcorn.” Foreign bank rules also made payments to players difficult at times.
去年，崑崙男子隊不得不搬到近800英里外的上海，那裏的觀衆有時只有700人左右，其中很多還是收到了免費門票。去年，《環球郵報》(Globe and Mail)從一場比賽現場報道稱，周邊商品放在“一張小桌子上售賣，包括三條士力架和三個塑料杯的焦糖爆米花”。外國銀行的規定有時也導致給球員支薪的困難。Ngok founded the private equity company Golden Brick Capital Management and China Environmental Energy Holdings. His investment portfolio includes companies that produce mobile phone content; television networks; internet providers; and web browsers.
嶽欣禹是私募公司金磚資本管理有限公司和中國環保能源有限公司的創始人。他的投資組合包括生產手機內容的公司、電視臺、互聯網供應商和網絡瀏覽器。The Chinese have recently shown a propensity to invest and expand their imprint on sports companies from the West.
中國人最近表現出對西方體育公司進行投資、擴展影響力的傾向。Dalian Wanda, a Chinese real estate conglomerate that owns part of Atlético Madrid, recently purchased the Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon series. Next season, the N.H.L. will hold preseason games in Shanghai and Beijing. Since Yao Ming’s rookie year with the Houston Rockets in 2002, China has been a prime focus of international marketing for the N.B.A.
中國地產集團大連萬達擁有馬德里競技俱樂部的部分股份，前不久還買下了搖滾馬拉松系列賽。下賽季，NHL將在上海和北京舉辦季前賽。自2002年姚明在休斯頓火箭隊開始新秀賽季以來，中國已經成爲NBA國際市場推廣的首要目標。While international teams often offer athletes opportunities for additional income, substantial growth for a sport is not always guaranteed. For years, W.N.B.A. players have competed internationally in the winter for greater salaries than what they make in the United States. Many of those teams are owned by wealthy businessmen more interested in the novelty of owing a sports team than in expanding the reach of women’s basketball.
雖然國際球隊通常能爲運動員帶來增加收入的機會，但並不能保證一項體育運動取得實質性發展。多年來，WNBA的隊員冬季在國際上比賽，以獲得比在美國更高的收入。很多球隊的所有人是富商，他們的興趣更多的在於擁有一支球隊的新鮮感，而非擴展女子籃球的影響力。Andress said that her league had methodically assessed the risks of expanding to China and that authenticity from Kunlun Red Star in building women’s hockey was “extremely important for us.”
安德烈斯表示，她的聯盟細緻評估了向中國擴展的風險，崑崙鴻星創建女子冰球隊的誠意“對我們來說極爲重要”。The schedule for the C.W.H.L. season, which begins in October, has not been completed, but Kunlun Red Star will travel for blocks of games in North America, and each North American team will fly to China at least once.
10月開始的CWHL賽季日程尚未確定，不過崑崙鴻星將赴北美參加數場比賽，每支北美球隊將至少來中國一次。The C.W.H.L. just celebrated its 10th season and has featured some of women’s hockey’s greatest players. Andress has championed slow and steady growth; while players have gone unpaid, she has formed partnerships with N.H.L. teams and the N.H.L. Players’ Association, as well as companies like Molson Coors.
CWHL剛剛結束第十個賽季，擁有一些女子冰球頂尖球員。安德烈斯主張緩慢而穩定的增長，雖然球員沒有酬勞，但她與NHL的球隊、球員協會以及摩森康勝(Molson Coors)等公司建立了合作關係。The National Women’s Hockey League, which recently completed its second season, had to deal with financial setbacks last season. Both women’s leagues will be without national team players for Canada and the United States next season as they prepare for the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
NWHL前不久剛結束第二個賽季，上賽季它不得不應對財務困難。下賽季，這兩個聯賽將沒有來自加拿大和美國的國家隊球員，因爲她們在爲2018年韓國平昌冬奧會做準備。
When those players become available again, for the 2018-19 season, the C.W.H.L. could provide an enticing option. Andress said she hoped the deal with China would ultimately change the course of women’s hockey for the better.
等這些球員可以參加2018年至2019年賽季的比賽時，CWHL將成爲一個誘人的選擇。安德烈斯表示，她希望與中國的交易將最終推動女子冰球運動向更好的方向發展。“I think sport has a place and a voice, and I think we haven’t used that voice very often,” Andress said. “But you think of what the C.W.H.L. stands for: the opportunity to create jobs on and off the ice for women; the opportunity for our players to speak up; and our mission to provide the youth with role models — provide the youth with knowledge of who they are born to be is O.K., not to accept bullying, to be O.K. with your body image, to be O.K. with who you are in this life.”
“我認爲體育有地位，有號召力，我覺得我們沒有充分利用它的號召力，”安德烈斯說。“但是，你想一想CWHL意味着什麼：在冰球場內外爲女性創造就業機會；我們的球員有機會發表自己的意見；我們肩負着成爲年輕人楷模的使命——讓年輕人懂得接受自己的先天條件，不接受欺凌，接受自己的身體形象，接受在這一生中自己的身份。”She added, “I think the sports world needs to use their voice more to promote what they believe in and to promote women and to promote opportunities for women’s voices to be heard.”
她還說，“我認爲體育界需要更多地利用她們的號召力，宣傳她們的信仰，提高女性的地位，增加女性的聲音被聽到的機會。”
