Street soccer key to improvement for Chinese kids

Parents need to change mind-set

Former Dutch star -Edgar -Davids suggested Chinese parents encourage their kids to play soccer, which may help their children get -better habits.

"You have to teach your kids the best habits," Davids said in an interview with the Global Times on Thursday in Beijing. "You need to have discipline, dedication and concentration to be a good football player, but it is also these things needed to become a good student and have a good job. All the things are parallel."

The 41-year-old thinks that players who achieve on the pitch can also succeed in their studies.

"A lot of parents don't think that way," the former Ajax -player said. "A lot of parents are afraid of their children going to be football players. I think if they do great in football, they can also do great in school ... If a kid does only studying, he can have more problems later on in life than anybody else."

Recent years in China have witnessed increasing pressure from parents who have pushed their children to focus too much on studying rather than getting enough physical exercise. This resulted in a -decrease in -fitness, which is highlighted in media reports of children fainting in school middle--distance runs.

At the launch of the second season of Football Dream, a reality TV program aimed at developing China's youth footballers, Davids also advised street -soccer as key to bringing Chinese soccer to a higher -level.

"Street soccer is normal for us [Europeans]," the former Netherlands international said. "It's a philosophy, it's not like 'OK, we play like this and then like that,' this is why street soccer is essential, because you have to do everything, attack and defend, there is no role like 'hey, I'm a defender,' it's up and down and that's how it starts."

Davids became a player-coach in his later playing days. He said being a coach has -offered him more perspective.

"When I became a manager, I saw more than just football. As a coach, you have to facilitate their talents, you have to teach them the basics," Davids said. "It is about football but also making better human beings, even if you do not become a professional football player."

This season's Football Dream provides the selected players, aged from 14 to 16, opportunities to train at two Europe-based clubs, Italy's Inter Milan and England's Tottenham Hotspur, in a bid to bring advanced training experience to the hopefuls.

From the amateur to the professional level is a long haul, believed Davids, who was nicknamed the "Pitbull" due to his tenacious style in midfield.

"You need guidance, a long-term strategy, if you really want to succeed, you really have to be willing to invest a lot of money on the youth system, not only in the first team. China needs to do that if it wants to be a power nation in football," Davids said.