People s Daily focuses on the development of Pu an youth football: Let Shanliwa fall in love with playing football

On May 27, the People's Daily reported on "Let Shanliwa fall in love with playing football", focusing on the exploration and growth of youth football in Pu'an County. The specific report is as follows:

Just after taking the ball across the midfield line, the boy took advantage of the opponent's goalkeeper's carelessness and immediately scored. The football drew a parabola in the air and fell steadily into the goal... Pu'an County, Qiannan Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province. In the junior high school men's group competition of the fourth campus football third-level league finals, Yang Qilong, a second-year junior high school student from Pu'an County Siyuan Experimental School, not only scored a wonderful long-range shot, but also won the championship with his teammates.

Xiao Xuan encouraged students on the sidelines. Photo by Yao Jingquan. Outside the stadium, a young man was very dedicated to watching. Every time Yang Qilong scored a goal, he was always particularly excited. The young man’s name is Xiao Xuan, who is a physical education teacher in the primary school department of this school.

In September 2020, Xiao Xuan graduated from Guizhou University for Nationalities and became a special post teacher at Lazishu Primary School in Xingzhong Town, Pu'an County. "Most of the children in the mountains have been to the town as far as the place, and most of their spare time play traditional games such as playing glass beads and cardboard." Xiao Xuan, who is a newcomer, wants to help the children broaden their horizons.

Xiao Xuan is responsible for physical education classes in six classes in the school. Because he is learning football special, he decided to take the children to try it out. He paid out of his own pocket to buy football and other equipment, and combined with the old goal sent by his friend, he started a football class on the basketball court. This new activity was quickly welcomed by students, and many children developed a strong interest in playing football.

After two months of observation, Xiao Xuan selected some students with good foundation and formed a campus football team to conduct training through the breaks, physical education classes and after-school time.

Yang Qilong was one of the first players when Xiao Xuan formed the football team. At that time, Yang Qilong was in the fourth grade of Lazishu Primary School. His parents worked outside, and his grandfather took him and his sister to live in his hometown. Yang Qilong recalled that since joining the team, his life has become fulfilled while playing football and studying.

Although the conditions are arduous, under Xiao Xuan's careful guidance, the children's football skills have improved rapidly. In 2021, Pu'an County began to promote and develop campus football and held the first campus football league in the county. The Lazishu Primary School Football Team ushered in an opportunity to show its skills. In this competition, the children were very successful and won the championship of the men's Group A of primary school in one fell swoop.

Xiao Xuan is teaching students passing skills Yao Jingquan Photo

After the football team of Lazishu Primary School became famous in one battle, its reputation gradually spread and more and more invitations to the game were received. Every winter and summer vacation, Xiao Xuan always takes the team out to participate in the competition, and football has become a window for children to look out of the world. "Not only go to the county town, I have also been to big cities such as Beijing and Hangzhou. The outside world is very exciting and has inspired us to study hard," said Yang Qilong.

In recent years, as Pu'an County continues to promote campus football, Lazishu Primary School has built a new football field, the children's training environment has been improved, and they have achieved good results in various competitions many times.

Last year, Xiao Xuan was transferred to Siyuan Experimental School in Pu'an County, and Lazishu Primary School welcomed a special post teacher in sports major. Seeing that the school football team had a new coach, Xiao Xuan finally felt relieved. In the new school, he replicated his previous experience, trained his children to play football from scratch, and worked hard to make more students fall in love with football.

Now, Guizhou has established a campus football four-level league mechanism with "vertical connection and horizontal connection" between school-level, county-level, municipal-level, provincial-level and primary schools, junior high schools, high schools and universities. The province has built 1,143 campus football characteristic schools, trained more than 1,200 football teachers, and more than 1 million students participated in campus football competitions at all levels, forming a development pattern of "school-school participation, layer-by-layer selection, and provincial leagues".