Visitors at grassroots basketball match Photo: IC

The inaugural national grassroots basketball tournament known as the Village Basketball Championship will tip off on March 22 in Taipan village, Taijiang county of Southwest China's Guizhou Province, with the champions having the opportunity to play against NBA franchises in the US, according to organizers of the event on Tuesday.

As the birthplace of a village basketball tournament in the summer of 2022, Taipan saw the event grow into a sensational hit and grow into a nationwide tournament in 2023, with the event earning the nickname "Village Basketball Association" or "VBA." This label draws parallels between the grassroots event and the prestigious National Basketball Association (NBA) of the US.

This year, the grassroot tournament has established regional competition areas across the country with an expanded format. The top three contestants of each region will advance to the next round of group matches. A total of 10 teams, including the top eight from the group qualifiers, along with the host team from Guizhou and one wildcard team, will participate in the finals in November, Cen Jianglong, head of the Taipan VBA, told the Global Times on Tuesday. 

The champions of the tournament will have the opportunity to visit NBA franchises or even compete against NBA players in the US, with the details to be announced at a press conference in March, Yang Shengwen, an official with the tournament's organizing committee, told the Global Times. 

"The exchange program with the NBA franchises is part of the partnership between the Guizhou authorities and their US counterparts. The detail of the partnership is still under negotiation and will be released soon," said Yang. 

Without commercials and ticket sales, the rural tournament made headlines in 2023, amassing a total of 50 billion views across Chinese social media. 

According to official data, the total number of tourists in Taijiang from July 2022 to May 2023 exceeded 6 million, an increase of 38.79 percent year-on-year. The overall tourism revenue was 7.459 billion yuan ($1.4 billion), an increase of 81.72 percent year-on-year. 

The phenomenal event that features folk customs and ethnic traditions drew the attention of the NBA in 2023 when Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler visited the finals in July.

Yang said that the local tournament has significantly boosted villagers' confidence. 

A growing number of young people who used to work in provinces with stronger economic capabilities are now determined to return and start their own businesses in Taipan and contribute to the cause of rural revitalization, Yang note. 

"More villagers are taking the initiative to join in the organization and operation of the event," Yang said. 

He also added that the awareness of economic development among villagers has increased. Cashing in on the VBA brand and more restaurants have mushroomed in the village.

For many years, cash prizes were never awarded to winners of the competition. Historically, villagers would contribute their own rice and offer it to the tournament champions. Today, instead of cash rewards, the top-performing teams are presented with prizes such as cows, sheep and piglets, showcasing the region's agricultural specialties.