中国女子冰球运动有了一个“国家俱乐部”

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.

周一，加拿大女子冰球联盟（Canadian Women’s Hockey League，以下简称CWHL）宣布，它将从下一季开始扩展到中国，成为第一批在亚洲组建球队的北美职业体育联盟之一。

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，北京的昆仑鸿星冰球俱乐部开始了在俄罗斯大陆冰球联赛(Kontinental Hockey League)的第一个赛季，该俱乐部将拥有一支CWHL女子球队。

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.

该女子联盟成立于2007年，在波士顿、安大略省布兰普顿、多伦多、蒙特利尔以及艾伯塔省卡尔加里拥有球队。与美国国家女子冰球联盟(National Women’s Hockey League)不同，CWHL尚未给球员发薪水——前者拥有四支球队，全部都在美国境内——但有望从下一季开始给球员付酬。来自中国的一笔投资将有助于促成此事。

“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.

“本次扩展将对世界各地的女子冰球以及女子体育产生重大影响，”CWHL主席布伦达·安德烈斯(Brenda Andress)在接受电话采访时表示。

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.

五年的合约将职业女子冰球带入亚洲这个尚待开发但有大量赞助商机会的市场，它也表明，中国在努力为2022年北京冬奥会组建一支有竞争力的球队。

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，新球队必须遵守相同的联盟政策，通过选秀和自由球员制度添加新球员，不过昆仑鸿星的阵容有望包括来自中国的球员、华裔北美球员以及非华裔球员。今年，昆仑也将组建青年女子球队。

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.”

昆仑鸿星的创始人岳欣禹在一项声明中表示，他的球队是“中国国家俱乐部”，通过与该项目的国家监管机构合作，“我们将备战2022北京冬奥会”，“在中国推广这项运动”。

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.

昆仑鸿星将由迪吉特·墨菲(Digit Murphy)担任教练，她担任过CWHL的波士顿刀锋队(Boston Blades)和布朗大学队(Brown University)的教练。去年，她帮助创立了美国联合女子长曲棍球联盟(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，”安德烈斯说。“她设计了训练计划，对中国队来说，请她当教练很有帮助。”

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，前美国国家冰球联盟(NHL)教练迈克·基南(Mike Keenan)被任命为昆仑男子队的教练，该俱乐部还请了几位前冰球明星帮助设计训练计划，包括鲍比·卡彭特(Bobby Carpenter)和菲尔·埃斯波西托(Phil Esposito)。根据国际冰球联合会(International Ice Hockey Federation)的数据，中国逾13亿的人口中，有1101名冰球队员。

“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.

“毫无疑问，它会扩大球迷群体，增强人们对这项运动的喜爱，”安德烈斯说。她提到《多伦多星报》(The Toronto Star)的一篇文章称，有2200万中国观众观看了在匹兹堡企鹅队和纳什维尔掠夺者队之间进行的斯坦利杯总决赛的第一场。

Even if N.H.L. ratings in China are rising, the sport has yet to embed itself in the fabric of the nation.

NHL在中国的收视率在上升，但这项运动还是需要融入该国的机制中。

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，昆仑男子队不得不搬到近800英里外的上海，那里的观众有时只有700人左右，其中很多还是收到了免费门票。去年，《环球邮报》(Globe and Mail)从一场比赛现场报道称，周边商品放在“一张小桌子上售卖，包括三条士力架和三个塑料杯的焦糖爆米花”。外国银行的规定有时也导致给球员支薪的困难。

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.

岳欣禹是私募公司金砖资本管理有限公司和中国环保能源有限公司的创始人。他的投资组合包括生产手机内容的公司、电视台、互联网供应商和网络浏览器。

The Chinese have recently shown a propensity to invest and expand their imprint on sports companies from the West.

中国人最近表现出对西方体育公司进行投资、扩展影响力的倾向。

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.

中国地产集团大连万达拥有马德里竞技俱乐部的部分股份，前不久还买下了摇滚马拉松系列赛。下赛季，NHL将在上海和北京举办季前赛。自2002年姚明在休斯顿火箭队开始新秀赛季以来，中国已经成为NBA国际市场推广的首要目标。

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.

虽然国际球队通常能为运动员带来增加收入的机会，但并不能保证一项体育运动取得实质性发展。多年来，WNBA的队员冬季在国际上比赛，以获得比在美国更高的收入。很多球队的所有人是富商，他们的兴趣更多的在于拥有一支球队的新鲜感，而非扩展女子篮球的影响力。

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，她的联盟细致评估了向中国扩展的风险，昆仑鸿星创建女子冰球队的诚意“对我们来说极为重要”。

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月开始的CWHL赛季日程尚未确定，不过昆仑鸿星将赴北美参加数场比赛，每支北美球队将至少来中国一次。

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刚刚结束第十个赛季，拥有一些女子冰球顶尖球员。安德烈斯主张缓慢而稳定的增长，虽然球员没有酬劳，但她与NHL的球队、球员协会以及摩森康胜(Molson Coors)等公司建立了合作关系。

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前不久刚结束第二个赛季，上赛季它不得不应对财务困难。下赛季，这两个联赛将没有来自加拿大和美国的国家队球员，因为她们在为2018年韩国平昌冬奥会做准备。

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.

等这些球员可以参加2018年至2019年赛季的比赛时，CWHL将成为一个诱人的选择。安德烈斯表示，她希望与中国的交易将最终推动女子冰球运动向更好的方向发展。

“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.”

“我认为体育有地位，有号召力，我觉得我们没有充分利用它的号召力，”安德烈斯说。“但是，你想一想CWHL意味着什么：在冰球场内外为女性创造就业机会；我们的球员有机会发表自己的意见；我们肩负着成为年轻人楷模的使命——让年轻人懂得接受自己的先天条件，不接受欺凌，接受自己的身体形象，接受在这一生中自己的身份。”

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.”

她还说，“我认为体育界需要更多地利用她们的号召力，宣传她们的信仰，提高女性的地位，增加女性的声音被听到的机会。”