Naturalizing China's talent search

More bucks for chasing pucks

To inspire greater participation, the governing body of Chinese hockey has significantly raised the salaries of players involved in the national program leading up to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

To earn a decent livelihood on the ice was long a wild dream for China's dedicated hockey veterans due to the niche sport's lack of profile and investment. But a new generation is embracing the Chinese Ice Hockey Association's recently unveiled plan to boost wages for players recruited by the national teams.

National adult team members, both men's and women's, will earn as much as 40,000 yuan (about $5,800) a month, while the country's under-18 players will receive a monthly subsidy of at least 6,000 yuan, according to the association.

That's a far cry from North America's National Hockey League, where the average annual salary is nearly $3 million, but it's motivating enough for China's low-profile players.

"The salary boost for me is unimaginable given such poor earnings in the past. It's a big allure to attract more talent and a great motivation for the current players to work harder toward our goal," Sun Rui, former national women's team captain, said on Tuesday.

To put the pay hike in perspective, a men's national team member currently earns about 3,000 yuan a month - less than half of the average monthly wage of Beijing citizens in 2017, according to Hu Jiang, coach of China's men's team at this year's Asian Winter Games.

With the aim of delivering a medal in hockey at the Beijing Olympics in 2022, more support in logistics, facilities and training expertise will be provided to the national program, backed by the central government.

The Chinese Ice Hockey Association also announced on Tuesday it has signed a partnership with Longgang district in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, to stage home games of the national women's team in the new Canadian Women's Hockey League season, which opens in October.

"I am expecting to play in a real professional league and I've been prepared for this tougher challenge, which will toughen us for the bigger goal of finishing on the podium at the 2022 Olympics," said current women's team captain Yu Baiwei.

Sun Xiaochen