The most popular "sports" in college, if you don't know it, you'll be out of date

University campuses have never rejected fashion and freshness. Recently, at the sports meeting of Shanghai International Studies University's Songjiang Campus, equestrian sports attracted everyone's attention as a special performance. The news that Shanghai International Studies University is about to establish an equestrian association has also attracted the curiosity of a large number of students. In fact, emerging sports such as mountain climbing, extreme sports, karate, baseball and softball have a certain mass base on university campuses. But the cost issue is also a reality that everyone has to face. Would you participate in similar sports? How do you solve the funding problem?

□Michelle, 22 years old, undergraduate

I had come into contact with softball in high school and thought it was a fresh and interesting sport. So when I saw softball as an elective course in college, I chose it without hesitation.

Because I like it and also because I’m not in good health, I practice extra hard. Perhaps because of this, when there were no more competitions in the school and the softball team was about to disband, my teacher recommended that I join the Rainbow Baseball and Softball Club to continue playing this sport.

The first time I went to the club, I encountered a game with Fudan Women's Softball Team, which made me truly feel the fun and charm of this sport. To be honest, I was the worst player in the club when I played that game, but they insisted on letting everyone play. Not only that, sometimes I clearly didn't catch the ball, but if my glove just touched the ball a little bit, everyone else would sincerely applaud me and loudly encourage me: "Good job."

If I miss the ball, someone else will definitely help me save it. In short, here, as long as you try your best, everyone will give you applause and praise. It was in such an atmosphere of team spirit and trust that I decided to stay with this sport for the rest of my life.

Although softball is a relatively expensive sport, most schools and clubs provide bats, which takes away the big expense of thousands of dollars. All that's left is to buy gloves for yourself that cost a few hundred dollars. Well, I can earn this money by working part-time during the summer vacation.

I feel that since I joined this sport, I have gained not only the joy of sports, but more importantly, the team spirit between people. The mutual trust and mutual help between teammates are more valuable than the sport itself. As for my boyfriend, haha, he is the biggest unexpected gain I got from the club.

My "boarding life"

□Song Song, 26 years old, company employee

I have loved skating since I was a child, from roller skating to inline skating, until I became obsessed with skateboarding. I seldom had the chance to play with it in high school, and the first cartoon skateboard I bought is still almost new. When I went to college, playing cartoon-type games seemed childish, so I bought a new one. Although it was black, it was the most useful.

I study in a small city in the south. The school is relatively small and there are even fewer people skateboarding. I often practice alone in the park with a skateboard, and my skills improve very slowly. After playing for more than a year, I am still a little nervous about jumping. I feel discouraged when I see some skateboarders on TV performing dazzling moves on the streets or in the U-shaped pool as if it were flat ground. Later, a friend who was studying in Beijing told me that their school had a skateboarding association, which often held various skateboarding competitions. I couldn't wait to get to know these skateboarding friends. During the summer vacation of my sophomore year, I moved from the south to the north and gathered with some skateboard enthusiasts in Beijing. My skills improved by leaps and bounds, and I soon mastered the ollie move and could at least jump over five stacked boards. They also showed me many difficult moves, which made me very envious. That summer, I met many board friends from all over the world, and we agreed to find an opportunity to meet again in the future.

Therefore, every holiday was arranged to travel to various places to play and compete with my board friends. I had board friends in Shanghai, Nanjing, etc., and traveling back and forth became a pleasure. To be honest, the investment for a board is not that big, but the travel expenses plus food and accommodation will cost at least one thousand yuan each time. At that time, I was still a student and had no stable source of income, so I had to find ways to increase income and reduce expenditure. I majored in fine arts, and I also do some part-time jobs like design and painting after class. I live a very frugal life and seldom buy the most fashionable sportswear. I think a loose T-shirt and jeans are the perfect combination. At that time, although my "board business life" was tight, it still brought me endless fun during my student days.

Pretending to be a "baseball girl" in college

□Xiaoxiao, 25 years old, office worker

Before I went to college, I rarely saw anyone playing baseball. The movie "The Young Master" was my first introduction to baseball. The bad boy Zhang Zhenyue saw that Jimmy Lin didn't know how to play baseball, so he picked this game to compete with him. Unexpectedly, by chance, Jimmy Lin learned Kung Fu from a young Chinese master, and with his "chopping trees left, chopping trees right, and using lead legs", he beat Zhang Zhenyue to a pulp in no time, winning the game and love. At that time, I felt that playing baseball was so cool!

I met my current boyfriend during my sophomore year. Coincidentally, he is a baseball fan. Every weekend I would go to the venue to watch their activities. When they were taking a break, I would pick up his bat and play with it. He said baseball was only for boys, but I didn't believe him and insisted that he teach me how to play. I even refused his request to buy me a small bat. I started with the most basic swinging and hitting. At the beginning, I couldn't even swing the bat, let alone hit the ball accurately. I persisted in the boring practice for a long time and gradually I was able to hit the ball. Although the ball always flew in all directions, it still made me cheer. His teammates also called me "baseball girl" because few girls were willing to watch them practice, let alone pick up a bat and practice with them. During that time, I invested a lot in baseball, but the ball and protective gear were sponsored by my boyfriend. I bought things like sunscreen, baseball caps, and headscarves. I didn't play baseball very well, but I still had to look good.

Since I never really wanted to learn how to play baseball, my level remained at the "fancy boxing and showing off" stage, but I was already the most knowledgeable baseball player among the female classmates. Sometimes when I see a baseball game on TV, I will act as a live commentator. Although I am actually just a fringe fan, this does not stop me from pretending to be an expert in front of my female compatriots.