A Leg Up

June 2016 was a month for football， or soccer as the Americans call it. European teams battled it out in France for the European Cup， those from the Americas vied for Copa America in Houston， Texas， USA， and China’s Chongqing hosted a competition between 80 football teams from the Chongqing Football Talent Alliance （CFTA）： Chongqing Talent Cup. Founded in December 2015， CFTA is a league for players aged seven to 12. Wei Xin， a former national team member， serves as the league’s chair.

Kids’ Competition

Despite the fact that the country still lags behind the rest on the planet in football， China does not lack fans. Chongqing Lifan， Chongqing’s professional team， finished at the bottom of the standings of Chinese Super League （CSL） and struggles every year. Nevertheless， the team’s attendance has remained impressive. Accordingly， the city has seen a boom of youth football clubs. Unfortunately， after years of development， such clubs still have few opportunities to experience real competition.

“School teams don’t play each other，” remarks Huang Shilong， who owns Soccer， one of the CFTA clubs. “That’s why some of us decided to create a football league in Chongqing to help young players realize their full potential.”

China’s youth football is divided into primary， junior high and high school levels. Primary school leagues usually require players to be in the fifth-grade， at least. “Many extremely-talented players can’t play solely due to age，” continues Huang. “We want to offer games for every age group， and standouts can move up to an older league.”

Before the founding of the CFTA， Huang and his team studied development of youth football in well-developed countries. Players participate in 80 to 100 games a year， which means they engage in a competitive match every three or four days.

“Young Chinese players each participate in only three to five games annually，” Huang explains. “Lionel Andrés Messi was recruited by Barcelona when he was 12， and he had been playing since he was five. In primary schools in China， however， football players can’t get on a team until Grade 4， and don’t participate in matches until Grade 5 or 6. Such a system doesn’t work. That’s what our union league is meant to change： We facilitate top-quality contests for young players.”

Demands

The CFTA has expanded from the original eight to 16 clubs despite high thresholds to join： Each club must have at least 100 members， five professional coaches and five available pitches in addition to paying league dues. Huang’s Soccer features 10 pitches， 10 professional coaches and 200 trainees backed by 2 million yuan of registered capital.

“Actually， the requirements to join are not excessive，” illustrates Huang. “In recent years， Chongqing has seen a rapid devel- opment of youth football， and our union league was born to meet popular demand.”

Statistics show that in 2015， the local education commission invested 50 million yuan in football， and this year that number will top 80 million yuan， just for schools in Chongqing. In 2015， 500 primary and middle schools had official football programs， involving a total of 500，000 to 700，000 students.

“Chongqing has a population of about 30 million， doubling that of the Netherlands，” continues Huang. “Football is tremendously popular in the city， which is an advantage for our union league.” He believes that such a business presents great potential alongside big challenges. “We are still in the nascent stages before commercial operation，” explains Huang. “Our daily operation mainly depends on the income of our clubs. We have to spend a lot on referees， a cost we cannot pass on to players and their parents.”

Star Making

Over the last few years， many clubs in the CSL have produced impressive results in Asia and even globally by spending massive sums of money to invite foreign players to league matches and Asian Club Cups. However， many question if such investments help the development of football in China at all. Ultimately， the country must produce its own stars， a wish shared by every manager of the CFTA .

“Almost every club manager hails from professional background，” Huang declares. “We know how to foster football talent. Only by producing our own stars can our country become truly strong in the sport.”

As planned， the CFTA will select the best players in every age group for national competition， and afterwards they will travel abroad for further training. “In Chongqing today， over 7，000 boys from each age group receive football training， so selecting two or three standouts is easy，” Huang adds. “This is the best way to ensure that our clubs are profitable and that the CFTA produces stars， which immensely benefit prospects for the future.”

“Above all， we love football， we love what we are doing， and we are willing to stick to it for 10 or 20 years，” he concludes.“We believe that we can make a difference to football in Chongqing.”