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RaIsIng the level of youth football teams and leagues is crucial for enhancing the sport. The football reform plan by the State Council， China’s cabinet， aims to cultivate football talent from a young age.
“Through the plan， I can see the future of not only juvenile football， but the future of China’s football，” commented Liu Pengzhi， Principal， High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China.
The school has been the chair school of the Chinese School Football Association （CSFA） since the latter was established in 2004， and Liu has chaired it since then. Liu concurs with the plan’s mid-term target to groom talented youngsters from primary school to college so as to provide football players.
“Adolescents are the key to the future of Chinese football，” she said. “As the CSFA chair， I am obliged to promote football in schools. Our school has been doing this [nurturing young talent] for 20 years.”
Bold decision
In 1992， Liu’s school established a football training camp， the Beijing Sangao Football Club， the first high school football club in the country. Six years later， she took the bold decision to build a 12-hectare football training base for the school in northwest Beijing.
“We have successfully combined school education with sports training，” said Li Lianjiang， Director of the Sangao training base and Deputy Principal of the high school. The training base has been turned into a regular campus with teaching facilities， a high-level faculty and professional football training facilities， including four fields.
There are 120 students in six grades； 20 students from each class form a football team. Han Shuo from Xuzhou， east China’s Jiangsu Province， is one of them. The 19-yearold has been studying at the school for six years. He and his schoolmates were chosen through annual nationwide selections among primary school students. They are still conventional high school students who will take the national college entrance examination after finishing their studies.
Like other students， Han takes the same courses in the day. All students at the training base are boarders and have regular night classes. Between the day classes and night classes， they train. This schedule is interrupted only before important matches when they need to spend more time to prepare for the games.
The Sangao training base encourages students to pay more attention to their academic studies. Li says a twohour training session daily is enough. The primary objective should always be education. “We hope to provide not only top-level football players but also masters and doctorates，” the director said. “The training base provides students opportunities to make the best of their gifts.” Han and his classmates have more experience of attending domestic and international football games than other high school students. They have played in Brazil， the United States and Japan.
“I really love playing football. It has become a habit. I will feel uncomfortable if I stop playing，” the teen said.
In June， Han will take the national college entrance examination. If all goes well， he will enter his preferred university， the Renmin University of China.
Besides many opportunities to compete with foreign juvenile football teams， the training base has also attracted foreign coaches.
Marko Tomic， its 31-year-old assistant coach， is from Serbia. A professional football player once， Tomic had to give up his career because of a knee injury. He spent four years at a sports university in his country and got his coach’s license. After working in Jamaica， he was introduced to Sangao in June 2013. “I fell in love with this country when I first came here in 2003，” Tomic said. “My dream is to become a good coach in China.”
Tomic thinks his students are all talented， though very different. He tells them， “Even with great talent， if you want to be a pro， you have to work hard.”
The training base also shoulders the responsibility of promoting school football across the country. It holds regular training for school football coaches and exchanges with other high school football teams from other places.
In the past 20 years， about 90 percent of students in the training base entered universities including the prestigious Peking University and Tsinghua University； the other 10 percent became professional football players.
“If the country opens football schools in the future， like the reform plan mentions， Sangao can be a blueprint for them，” Li said. “I endorse the principal’s suggestion of taking competitive sports back to the umbrella of education. That should be the future of sports. Modern education should be open， inclusive and diversified.”
A new lesson
When Gao Chao randomly kicked a football near a bus stop with his friends 40 years ago， he never thought it would lead to a career in the sport. But a sports school football coach discovered his talent and recruited him. Later， Gao became a football coach himself. In 1996， he quit his job to open the Silver Tide Football Club in collaboration with Beijing No.18 Middle School. The influential club in south Beijing aims to promote the sport among children aged between five and 13. “I love football. I hope children improve their health and learn team spirit from it，” the 47-year-old said. Foot- ball also instils collective honor， faith and perseverance， he added.
Gao calls the period between six and 11 a sensitive period for flexibility and suppleness. If children at this age receive professional training， they will have a strong body. Football can improve players’ reactions， observation skills and creativity， which can help them in other areas of their studies， he said.
Ni Bowen， 11， has been playing football at Silver Tide for several years. “I love football. Playing football has brought me great happiness，” said Ni. “I have become stronger， and get better grades in physical education.”Whether he is winning or not， he enjoys playing football with his friends at the club on weekends.
Gao finds today’s parents more rational about football.“In the 1990s， most parents sent their kids to my club hoping they would become professional league players. Now， parents don’t expect them to make a career out of football. They just hope their children will fall in love with the sport and have fun，” said Gao.
Gao and his club have witnessed the development of football in China. In the 1990s， parents rushed to send their children to Beijing’s numerous football clubs. The day Silver Tide opened， more than 300 children enrolled for training. However， during the decline of the Chinese football league， Gao also encountered a waning interest in his club.
“After the reform plan was released， many people called us， wanting to send their children here. I think the plan will greatly promote Chinese football，” he said.
Gao is confident the development of school football will be good for his club. “School football is limited，” he explained. “A physical education class is not long enough for a real match. Besides， school coaches tend to keep football classes as safe as possible to prevent injury. But injury is not unusual in a real game. True football lovers can experience real competition only outside school. For children， football clubs will let them experience the real joys of a team sport.”
When more youngsters devote their talents to football， it will be possible to develop China’s adult leagues and build a strong national team， he added. “It will， in turn， help us reach the World Cup eventually. But these missions are impossible without firm support from the government.”
Wanted： real experience Gao suggests the government provide football clubs more opportunities to interact with foreign football teams. “To be honest， our experience is poor compared to clubs in Japan，” he said. Last year， Silver Tide took part in a friendly match with a Japanese football club. “The skill level of individual players in the two teams was equal but we still lost the game because we lacked real match experience，” he recalled.
Gao hopes China can establish a system to attract good coaches for youth teams. “Not all professional players can become good coaches. We hope to learn more from foreign coaches from countries with mature youth football systems，” he said.
Educational experts believe improving football education on campus will not only improve the younger generation’s physical prowess but also their moral values， especially team spirit and self-restraint.
There are over 5，000 schools with a good foundation for developing school football. According to the reform plan， there will be at least 50，000 such schools by 2025. The reason for promoting school football is to cultivate more football players and help youngsters get familiar with the sport’s rules and regulations.
However， while applauding the plan， some educators have questioned whether the hurdles to developing school football can be overcome in such a short time. Liu Peijun， an official with the Ministry of Education， addressed the concerns at the first training course for principals and school football management personnel in April.
Liu said the government will establish a special fund for developing school football faculties with recruits from competent members of the public and foreigners. Talented students will be helped with training， foreign exchanges， competition opportunities and career development. Attention will also be paid to integrating the current infrastructure facilities based on a new management mechanism. A national juvenile school football leading group will be responsible for the overall development of school football.
“China may have been a little slow to focus on cultivating its young players， but it is never be too late to lay the foundations for a better football environment，” Gao said.
“Through the plan， I can see the future of not only juvenile football， but the future of China’s football，” commented Liu Pengzhi， Principal， High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China.
The school has been the chair school of the Chinese School Football Association （CSFA） since the latter was established in 2004， and Liu has chaired it since then. Liu concurs with the plan’s mid-term target to groom talented youngsters from primary school to college so as to provide football players.
“Adolescents are the key to the future of Chinese football，” she said. “As the CSFA chair， I am obliged to promote football in schools. Our school has been doing this [nurturing young talent] for 20 years.”
Bold decision
In 1992， Liu’s school established a football training camp， the Beijing Sangao Football Club， the first high school football club in the country. Six years later， she took the bold decision to build a 12-hectare football training base for the school in northwest Beijing.
“We have successfully combined school education with sports training，” said Li Lianjiang， Director of the Sangao training base and Deputy Principal of the high school. The training base has been turned into a regular campus with teaching facilities， a high-level faculty and professional football training facilities， including four fields.
There are 120 students in six grades； 20 students from each class form a football team. Han Shuo from Xuzhou， east China’s Jiangsu Province， is one of them. The 19-yearold has been studying at the school for six years. He and his schoolmates were chosen through annual nationwide selections among primary school students. They are still conventional high school students who will take the national college entrance examination after finishing their studies.
Like other students， Han takes the same courses in the day. All students at the training base are boarders and have regular night classes. Between the day classes and night classes， they train. This schedule is interrupted only before important matches when they need to spend more time to prepare for the games.
The Sangao training base encourages students to pay more attention to their academic studies. Li says a twohour training session daily is enough. The primary objective should always be education. “We hope to provide not only top-level football players but also masters and doctorates，” the director said. “The training base provides students opportunities to make the best of their gifts.” Han and his classmates have more experience of attending domestic and international football games than other high school students. They have played in Brazil， the United States and Japan.
“I really love playing football. It has become a habit. I will feel uncomfortable if I stop playing，” the teen said.
In June， Han will take the national college entrance examination. If all goes well， he will enter his preferred university， the Renmin University of China.
Besides many opportunities to compete with foreign juvenile football teams， the training base has also attracted foreign coaches.
Marko Tomic， its 31-year-old assistant coach， is from Serbia. A professional football player once， Tomic had to give up his career because of a knee injury. He spent four years at a sports university in his country and got his coach’s license. After working in Jamaica， he was introduced to Sangao in June 2013. “I fell in love with this country when I first came here in 2003，” Tomic said. “My dream is to become a good coach in China.”
Tomic thinks his students are all talented， though very different. He tells them， “Even with great talent， if you want to be a pro， you have to work hard.”
The training base also shoulders the responsibility of promoting school football across the country. It holds regular training for school football coaches and exchanges with other high school football teams from other places.
In the past 20 years， about 90 percent of students in the training base entered universities including the prestigious Peking University and Tsinghua University； the other 10 percent became professional football players.
“If the country opens football schools in the future， like the reform plan mentions， Sangao can be a blueprint for them，” Li said. “I endorse the principal’s suggestion of taking competitive sports back to the umbrella of education. That should be the future of sports. Modern education should be open， inclusive and diversified.”
A new lesson
When Gao Chao randomly kicked a football near a bus stop with his friends 40 years ago， he never thought it would lead to a career in the sport. But a sports school football coach discovered his talent and recruited him. Later， Gao became a football coach himself. In 1996， he quit his job to open the Silver Tide Football Club in collaboration with Beijing No.18 Middle School. The influential club in south Beijing aims to promote the sport among children aged between five and 13. “I love football. I hope children improve their health and learn team spirit from it，” the 47-year-old said. Foot- ball also instils collective honor， faith and perseverance， he added.
Gao calls the period between six and 11 a sensitive period for flexibility and suppleness. If children at this age receive professional training， they will have a strong body. Football can improve players’ reactions， observation skills and creativity， which can help them in other areas of their studies， he said.
Ni Bowen， 11， has been playing football at Silver Tide for several years. “I love football. Playing football has brought me great happiness，” said Ni. “I have become stronger， and get better grades in physical education.”Whether he is winning or not， he enjoys playing football with his friends at the club on weekends.
Gao finds today’s parents more rational about football.“In the 1990s， most parents sent their kids to my club hoping they would become professional league players. Now， parents don’t expect them to make a career out of football. They just hope their children will fall in love with the sport and have fun，” said Gao.
Gao and his club have witnessed the development of football in China. In the 1990s， parents rushed to send their children to Beijing’s numerous football clubs. The day Silver Tide opened， more than 300 children enrolled for training. However， during the decline of the Chinese football league， Gao also encountered a waning interest in his club.
“After the reform plan was released， many people called us， wanting to send their children here. I think the plan will greatly promote Chinese football，” he said.
Gao is confident the development of school football will be good for his club. “School football is limited，” he explained. “A physical education class is not long enough for a real match. Besides， school coaches tend to keep football classes as safe as possible to prevent injury. But injury is not unusual in a real game. True football lovers can experience real competition only outside school. For children， football clubs will let them experience the real joys of a team sport.”
When more youngsters devote their talents to football， it will be possible to develop China’s adult leagues and build a strong national team， he added. “It will， in turn， help us reach the World Cup eventually. But these missions are impossible without firm support from the government.”
Wanted： real experience Gao suggests the government provide football clubs more opportunities to interact with foreign football teams. “To be honest， our experience is poor compared to clubs in Japan，” he said. Last year， Silver Tide took part in a friendly match with a Japanese football club. “The skill level of individual players in the two teams was equal but we still lost the game because we lacked real match experience，” he recalled.
Gao hopes China can establish a system to attract good coaches for youth teams. “Not all professional players can become good coaches. We hope to learn more from foreign coaches from countries with mature youth football systems，” he said.
Educational experts believe improving football education on campus will not only improve the younger generation’s physical prowess but also their moral values， especially team spirit and self-restraint.
There are over 5，000 schools with a good foundation for developing school football. According to the reform plan， there will be at least 50，000 such schools by 2025. The reason for promoting school football is to cultivate more football players and help youngsters get familiar with the sport’s rules and regulations.
However， while applauding the plan， some educators have questioned whether the hurdles to developing school football can be overcome in such a short time. Liu Peijun， an official with the Ministry of Education， addressed the concerns at the first training course for principals and school football management personnel in April.
Liu said the government will establish a special fund for developing school football faculties with recruits from competent members of the public and foreigners. Talented students will be helped with training， foreign exchanges， competition opportunities and career development. Attention will also be paid to integrating the current infrastructure facilities based on a new management mechanism. A national juvenile school football leading group will be responsible for the overall development of school football.
“China may have been a little slow to focus on cultivating its young players， but it is never be too late to lay the foundations for a better football environment，” Gao said.