YINCHUAN, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- On the playground of a kindergarten in Lingwu in China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, a group of 6-year-olds are running cheerfully in a five-a-side football match, and Ye Zhongzhi, a football coach, is watching with appreciation.
"They're not skillful enough, but they already tried their best," says Ye, adding that this kindergarten has professional coaches to help kids learn about football through football classes twice a week. Lingwu is a small city with a small population, but a large number of football lovers.
Recently, football class has been introduced in five local kindergartens. According to Yang Jianbin, the director of the youth activity center of the city's sports bureau, there are 19 schools that feature on a national level and 54 student football teams in Lingwu.
"Almost all of the students here can play football, and 30% of them are football lovers," Yang said, "We have built up a school cultivation system for football talent."
However, back in the early 2000s, Ye Zhongzhi would never have imagined the prosperity of football in such a small city. There were no decent football courts, nor professional coaches in 2006. "It was hard to set up a football team, because of a lack of students. Many parents especially in the urban area thought it a waste of time, and that it wouldn't do any good for their children's studies," Ye said.
He had to go to the countryside to find players and persuade some rural parents. In 2013, Ye's football team in Lingwu First High School won the regional championship twice in the school football league. Football began to gain more fans and attract more attention in local schools.
In 2015, developing football in schools was promoted to strategic importance level across the country, attracting 648 million yuan (about 94 million U.S. dollars) from China's Ministry of Finance and another 19.6 billion yuan from provincial level funding initiatives. As the financial input grew, the number of football lovers increased.
"This year, we organized a Youth Football Training Camp. Many parents crowded into our office to sign up," said Yang Tao, the chairperson of the local football association. The latest official data shows that there are already over 20,000 football-featured schools and 102 football-featured pilot counties across the country.
Recently, the Chinese Football Association (CFA) started a football initiative in 10,000 kindergartens nationwide. So far, Lingwu, as one of the football-featured pilot counties, has gradually built up a comparatively comprehensive football league system in primary schools, middle schools and high schools.
"The school football program aims to popularize football culture, also to cultivate and select football talent. On the other hand, we hope students can grow strong both physically and mentally through this sport," said Yang Jianbin.
