China News Service, Neijiang, March 13th: Title: Sichuan Zhongzhong deeply cultivates the development of women’s football, helping the “sonorous rose” to move towards a broader world
The author wishes joy
Passing, dribbling, catching, shooting... On the football field of Zizhong Stadium in Zizhong County, Neijiang City, Sichuan Province, the "Steel Roses" played their hearts out under the leadership of Liao Junfeng, principal of Zizhong County Youth Sports School and head coach of women's football team Sweat adds a "hotness" to early spring.
Zizhong women's football players are training.
Photo by Wang Lei
In 1986, Zizhong established the first women’s football team in Sichuan Province.
The conditions for the Zizhong Women's Football Team were very difficult when it was first established. There was no formal venue, and the team members used backpacks to carry large and small bags of competition items to various places to participate in competitions.
The Zizhong women’s football team broke out by relying on the “back-to-back spirit”.
And this group of young women's football players who are galloping on the green field are also led by the "back-to-back spirit", constantly making breakthroughs and achieving new results.
This group of female football players maintains more than 300 training days all year round, with an average training time of no less than 2 and a half hours per day.
Thanks to their continuous efforts, in the "Chick Phoenix Plan", an international charity project launched at the beginning of this year to help cultivate women's football talents in western China, the 14 members of the Zizhong Women's Football Team were selected from the first batch of nearly 100 women's football U15 players from Guizhou, Shaanxi, Sichuan and Chongqing. The team members stand out and will go to Germany for training and competition in August this year.
"I am very happy and excited. It is a rare opportunity to go to Germany, a world football powerhouse, to study and train." Tao Siqi, a member of the Zizhong Women's Football Team who was selected into the "Little Phoenix Plan", is full of expectations for this trip. She hopes that she will train in Germany During this period, they can not only improve their personal technical level, but also learn their teamwork skills and come back to share them with more team members.
Tao Siqi, 15 years old, became involved with women’s football five years ago.
"Playing football has made me more confident, my teamwork skills have also been improved, and I have gone to more places." Tao Siqi wants to become an excellent football player, stand on a higher platform, win glory for the country, and contribute to China. Football contributes.
This time, the "Little Phoenix Plan" will send 22 female football players to Germany, and the proportion of Chinese women's football players exceeds 60%. This is a microcosm of the development of Chinese women's football in recent years.
Zizhong has established a campus football mechanism for mutual promotion between schools and sports, and insists on starting campus football from childhood. It has successively established 16 national campus football schools and kindergartens, and the county government has listed 48 campus football schools, covering all school stages from kindergarten to high school. There are nearly 100,000 students taught football.
The strong football atmosphere also laid the foundation for the selection of Zizhong women's football players.
"In Zizhong, everyone has feelings for women's football. Parents and teachers are very supportive of football, which has expanded the selection options." Liao Junfeng said that Zizhong has also established a team selection mechanism that connects school and sports, and established a Zizhong County women's football selection group. Every year From time to time, three methods, including school recommendation, professional selection, and league mining, are used to select female football players from primary and secondary school students in the county and establish a reserve football talent pool.
Zizhong women's football players are training.
Photo by Wang Lei
In the past year, the Zizhong Women’s Football Team has made great achievements. In addition to winning championships and runner-ups in provincial competitions, it also won the fourth place in the country in the women’s junior high school U14 group in the second China Youth Football League in 2023 and the fourth national championship in 2023. Good results in the third place in the women's group of the "Sports School Cup" football competition.
The basic conditions have improved, the selection of talents has become wider and wider, and funding has increased... As the Zizhong Women's Football Team has achieved more and more results, the conditions for the Zizhong Women's Football Team are also constantly improving.
In Liao Junfeng's view, in the past, many members of the Chinese women's football team joined the team with the idea of "getting subsidies for playing football." Nowadays, more and more players like Tao Siqi are joining the team out of interest.
Nowadays, the "Bei Zhuang Women's Football Team" has achieved a leap forward, but in Liao Junfeng's view, there are still shortcomings in the future development of the Zizhong Women's Football Team.
"According to the normal structure of a football team, it should be equipped with a head coach and two assistant coaches or a goalkeeper coach and a team leader, but currently we only have one coach per team, and we are still very short of coaches." Liao Junfeng said that the Zizhong Women's Football Team is struggling The "carrying spirit" of struggle has always inspired the coaches who lead the Zhongzhong women's football team.
Zizhong women's football players are training.
Photo by Wang Lei
According to reports, the Zizhong Women’s Football Team has also attracted students from Chengdu, Deyang, Yibin and other places to join.
Since the team was founded, a total of 126 "Steel Roses" have been admitted to higher education institutions such as Hohai University, Chengdu Institute of Physical Education, and Sichuan Normal University through the "blessing" of football.
Zizhong became a reserve talent base for the Sichuan Women's Football Team in May 2020, and was named the Chinese Football Association Youth Women's Football Training Center by the Chinese Football Association in February 2024.
In recent years, the Zizhong Women’s Football Team has gradually transformed from an amateur youth training model into a professional team, and is also responsible for providing talents to Sichuan Province and even the national team.
In the future, Zizhong will take advantage of the country's emphasis on the development of women's football in the west, continue to polish the golden sign of "Zizhong Women's Football", improve the level of Zizhong Women's Football, promote the sustainable and high-quality development of Zizhong Women's Football, and let more "sonorous roses" move towards a better future. A vast world.
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