Rural Soccer: the Way Ahead for Chinese Grassroots Football?
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RURAL SOCCER: THE WAY AHEAD FOR CHINESE GRASSROOTS FOOTBALL? By Trevor Lamb Bu yao shou qiu “Bu yao shou qiu !” or ‘no hands!’ a school teacher yells at the six year old who innocuously and playfully stopped the ball with the palm of his hand. It’s no use after I try to explain to the teacher that it’s ok to it slide, eliminating handballs is hardly the biggest challenge in Chinese youth soccer. Increasing player population remains the uphill battle most youth soccer clubs are currently facing. The teacher scratches his head. Change takes time in China. Simple soccer? Not in China Time and time again the football pundits have pointed to the same source of disappointment experienced by the Chinese men’s national team. It all starts with the youth. Yet, we find that the current situation of grassroots football development in China is in a state of decline. Ten years ago, following China’s first appearance in the FIFA world cup, there were over four thousand football schools throughout the country. Today that number has decreased to less than twenty, with the number of youth players following suit. Personally, as a youth soccer coach in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province with Sinobal FC I have learned that there are many factors to consider in developing ‘the people’s sport’ in the world’s most populous nation. In China, somehow the simplicity of the beautiful game is transformed into a never ending Chinese knot. The time most Chinese Children today spend playing football (or other sports) to academics is proportionate to the light the earth receives from the sun and moon, respectively. Have you ever heard of a football festival? Neither had I until my first day on the job when a group of coaches from our club went to a local middle school where we would organize a school wide football event. Soon after arrival there are hundreds of screaming children, ready to play football games, cheer on their school football team, and of course get autographs from the big nosed laowai . After several hours of exhausting our coaching enthusiasm the principal, teachers, and most importantly the children were all quite satisfied with the one day extravaganza and respite from routine classroom work. This is a typical activity organized by Sinobal FC, and other clubs and organizations involved in the 44 Cities Project enacted three years ago. However, while most all of the youth involved in such activities are delighted with their experience, the greater picture of grassroots football in China is hardly a pretty site. Many persons have been able to identify the macro problems with Chinese youth football development, stating that the soviet style training system is inappropriate for football development and a new system that is inclusive and expansive throughout the population of Chinese youth is the only way to provide and sustain quality at the highest level. Still, few have made collective efforts to successfully engage the next generation of soccer players, coaches, referees, and fans in China. Why? First of all, from the top down very few have been able to find business opportunity or profit in the Chinese youth soccer market. If this was not the case you can be certain that an economically successful youth soccer club in China would have been duplicated a thousand times over by now. Meanwhile, from the bottom-up perspective, the development of the sport encounters many more obstacles. Fake youths One key issue that remains like a snake in the grass is age verification. On more than a few occasions of asking Chinese soccer players (men and women) their age they have responded, “My age on my I.D. or my real age?” Traditionally it has been quite normal practice for players to fake their age, change their I.D. and sometimes even their name to gain advantage over their peers. Yet, few consider the crippling implications of such actions on the entire system of competitive youth soccer. Research in sports science shows that even in a twelve month calendar players born between January to March have a developmental advantage over peers born later in the same year. Magnify the effect by an additional year or two and the result is creating an environment where the development of a group of players is sacrificed for the betterment of a single individual, who many not even possess more talent than those same younger peers. The nationwide development of any team sport will be inhibited by such practices. Grassroots soccer in China, like this pitch, currently lies barren and in need of an injection of life. All work and no play makes Xiao Bo a dull footballer Even if there was no one faking age in China, youth football clubs would still encounter many difficulties. To put it simply, there’s too little encouragement from parents and teachers for children to play football competitively, or even recreationally. There’s too much responsibility and expectation on performance in the classroom for most city children to have any motivation or time to pursue even a friendly kick-a-around with neighborhood friends, nevermind regular organized matches. So a typical 11-year-old boy has an average of three hours of homework everyday, not to mention regular extracurricular classes and tutoring to attend. Forget playing the game, Xiao Bo never has a chance to even daydream about scoring goals or even watch any kind of professional football other than the occasional highlight of Lionel Messi and Christiano Ronaldo lighting up their respective leagues. Meanwhile there remains no football equivalent to recent retiree and basketball legend Yao Ming. Such a hero in Chinese football would be nothing short of inspirational. And inspiration is exactly what the overbearing youth environment of your average Chinese lacks. By the time that the ‘little emperors’ show up to the field they are only interested in smashing the ball in the back of the net with all their force. Concepts like ball control and team work are unfamiliar territory in their realm of play. Rural Soccer: The next frontier for Chinese grassroots football? Rural football – the way forward? Despite this, some stay optimistic. Football clubs and associations in China continue to search for new solutions to the convoluted situation of youth football. City-wide co-op projects between schools and clubs have been used to increase player population and seen successful results at elementary school level. Still as players age into their teenage years, conflicts with formal education makes football a lesser priority. One massive population yet explored by clubs is rural areas in China, where a majority of Chinese still live. It is there where more exceptions to the single-child policy are found, where the overbearing academic environment lessens itself, and where there exists actual space for playing fields. Such conditions make rural China a new frontier for the development of youth football. With the proper organization and incentive system established, the countryside could become a hotbed for football development and success in China. The only question that remains is who will take leadership of such a vast project? The future FIFA awarded China in 2009 for its substantial efforts to support, develop, and promote the game. However, at the local level, clubs not benefiting from such support have little incentive to continue their efforts and recruit professional and experienced employees. There’s always the advent of getting foreign clubs involved, and some big name clubs have established football academies in their name, but change comes from within. Chinese parents and children can only hope for more chances to play soccer, as the national side can only hope for a miracle player to come from the depths of China. .