FUTURE PLAYERS : Primary students receive training at the Silver Tide Football Club (COURTSEY OF SILVER TIDE)
Ni Bowen, an 11-year-old boy, has been playing football at Silver Tide for several years. "I love football. Playing football has brought me great happiness," said Ni, "I become stronger, and I get better grades in physical education." Whether he is winning or not, he enjoyed playing football and participating games together with his friends at the club at weekends.
"Today, parents' opinion about football is more rational than before," Gao said, "In the 1990s, most parents sent their kids to my club, hoping their children would become professional league players. Now parents don't expect them to make a career out of football. They just simply hope their children can fall in love with the sport, and have fun."
Gao and his club have witnessed the development of football in China. In the 1990s, many parents rushed to send their children to numerous football clubs in Beijing. On the opening day of Silver Tide in 1996, more than 300 children enrolled for training. However, during the decline of the Chinese football league, Gao also encountered a decreased interest in his club.
"After the reform plan on football had been released recently, many people called us, hoping to send their children here. I believe the plan will greatly promote development of China's football, and also juvenile football of course," he said.
Gao is confident that the development of school football will be good for his club. "School football can improve student's health. But school football also is limited. A physical education class is not long enough to carry out a real competition. Besides, school coaches will keep football class as safe as possible to prevent injury. But injury is not unusual in a real game," he explained, "True football lovers can only experience a real competition outside school. For children, football clubs like Silver Tide will let experience the real joy 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, which will in turn help us to reach the World Cup eventually," said Gao, "These missions are impossible to fulfill without firm support from the country."
Gao suggested the government provide more opportunities of communication with foreign football teams for football clubs. "To be honest, our experience is poor if compared to similar 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 lack real match experience," he recalled.
Gao hopes the country can establish a system that attracts 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 as well," he explained.
A system under construction
Educational experts stressed that the value of enhancing football education can benefit youngsters more than in the area of sports. They believe improving football education on campus will not only improve younger generation's physical quality, but also their moral values especially in team spirits and self-restraint.
There are over 5,000 schools that have set a good foundation of developing school football. According to the reform plan, there will be at least 50,000 schools of this kind 10 years later. The plan also points out that the target of promoting school football is to cultivate more football players and helping youngsters get familiar with rules and regulations.
While applauding the plan, many educators questioned that whether the country can clean away development barriers of school football within a short time. On April 7, Liu Peijun, an official with the Ministry of Education, gave answer to these questions at the first training course toward principals and management personnel of school football.
Liu Peijun stated that China will establish a special fund for constructing a school football faculty team in different ways including social recruit and inviting foreigners. Besides, the country will carry out a complete system to build a passage for talented students when it comes to training, foreign exchanges, opportunity of competition and career development. In the meantime, more attention will be paid to integrating 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 the importance of cultivating its young athletes, but it will never be too late to start laying the foundations for a better football environment," Gao said.
