A training course for principals of 36 youth sports clubs and traditional sports schools in Tibet Autonomous Region recently came to a close.

Migmar Dhundrup, principal of a middle school in Ngari Prefecture, just finished experiencing the equestrian sports. He told reporters that by experiencing swimming, rock climbing, and equestrian sports, he felt the charm of sports more intuitively.

Migmar Dhundrup said that many young students now only pay attention to studies and not to exercise and they have poor physical fitness as a result. From the perspective of the principal, this training course clarified what is needed in the next step for teachers and coaches of physical education in order to better develop campus sports and improve students’ physical fitness.

"A lot of people think that high-altitude areas are not suitable for competitive sports. In fact, as long as the sports are adapted to the conditions of the plateau, they can achieve the same purpose of exercise," Li Weidong, head of the Competitive Sports Division of the Tibet Autonomous Region Sports Bureau, said.

He said that Tibet attaches great importance to the development of its traditional sports program for young people. Tibet also encourages children to go out of the classroom and onto the sports ground, in addition to their studies, to develop their awareness of and interest in exercise so that they will have the passion to choose sports in the future.

"These traditional sports are being launched onto one campus after another," Li Weidong said. For example, he said that the Tibet Mountaineering Association is currently bringing rock climbing to the campuses of Lhasa Experimental Primary School and Lhasa No. 1 Primary School.