Big-Time Goals

In recent years， China has seen booming popularity in training young football players thanks to the great support from the State government， creating opportunities for millions of boys and girls to chase their dreams. On March 20， 2016， the Chinese Men’s Football Team’s advancement to the final round of Asian Zone qualifiers of 2018 World Cup elevated the national cause of youth football training to a new height.

In the last two years， however， no young players emerged as standouts in international competitions. The U-17 National Youth Football Team was beaten by the U-16 Japanese team 1 to 5 and by Uzbekistan 0 to 5 at China Jiangsu Asian Youth Football Tournament this May.

What happened with the training？

Management

Over the last two years， China has made impressive breakthroughs in professional tournaments. Guangzhou Evergrande， for instance， walked away with the titles of the AFC Champions League in 2013 and 2015， which greatly restored the nation’s football morale. However， without superb foreign players， national teams are in dire need of successors to build on their work.

The key may lie in well-designed training programs to match China’s teenage football development， which should be produced by the Chinese Football Association （CFA）. China has too many training institutions， both good and bad， with their own institutional systems and styles. Coaches vary in quality.

In many ways， China still follows training patterns set by the former Soviet Union in thinking and concept. Tutors at colleges and universities employ outdated methods to train coaches of national-level youth football teams as well as middle and primary school-level trainers. Furthermore， China’s theoretical research can hardly meet the demands of professional football development： Coaches can’t grasp modern training methods， so their coaching abilities can hardly adapt to international norms.

As for campus football development， a lot of time has elapsed as CFA and China’s educational department have attempted to work together. Chinese educators want to produce stars like Messi and Ronaldo on the campus. Unfortunately， frequent conflicts between athletics and academics persistently plague development. For example， annual tryouts for centralized training usually coincide with the semester’s final exams.

China’s campus football should focus on popularization， which has already produced remarkable results. The task of discovering and upgrading top-quality football players should be accomplished by appropriate training institutions or the CFA.

For the long run， the State should enact relevant rules and regulations to enable kids to receive nine-year compulsory education and football training before the age of 15 – proper education will only assure and accompany sound development of campus football. When they turn 15， some seedlings can be replanted in other places and make their own choices for higher-level professional training at football schools or specialized training institutions.

Inspiration from Europe and America

All European and American soccer powers boast a history of development at least 100 years old – long enough to establish their own styles and training systems.

Germany， for example， comprehensively upgraded its training system for young players after inflicting heavy losses on the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 European Football Championship. The country established training centers linking 390 football associations serving 1.8 million young football players and 27，000 amateur clubs across the country. The German Football Association fostered thousands of excellent coaches for training centers for 22，000 school-age football players with great potential. More than 10 years of painstaking efforts returned the country to the world’s upper crust when fresh， young blood was injected into professional league games and the national team.

The United States is another example of recent success. Prior to the 15th World Cup in 1994， the country was known as a “soccer desert.” Within 20 years after the launch of Major League Soccer （MLS） in 1996， however， its men’s team has made the finals of the World Cup five times in a row since 2002， and made the final eight twice.

Today， in the United States， 25 million people play “soccer，”3.5 million of whom are aged between 6 and 18 and engaged in long-term training and competition.

Youth football training in the United States consists of pro- grams offered by the American Youth Soccer Organization， games for youth football clubs and youth teams of professional clubs， and competitions amongst schools. Most universities offer full-ride scholarships for outstanding soccer players， motivating many high school players to perform their best.

The formula for its success lies in sound concepts for football development， which is highlighted by three features： First， the game of football is clearly positioned with a distinctive division of labor. Both the government and all training institutions， including the U. S. Soccer Federation， regional football associations， educational institutions， and young player training centers， maintain their own accurate position. Second， training institutions are extremely professional. Young player training clubs at all levels operate their own clear-cut training systems and seek their own goals for development. Third， there is little conflict between academics and athletics. School football has established a complete system and organizations that afford competition. Despite the fact that they don’t interfere with the development of school football， football associations often provide their training programs at schools.

The training pattern for young football players in Germany is characterized by training camps， elite centralized training， and key purpose in training， while that in the United States features interschool league matches， junior clubs and junior programs from football associations.

Looking into youth football development in world powers， a long-term， stable development plan， a systematic， scientific training system， and the accurate positioning of relating organizations are undoubtedly the three treasures for the successful advancement of youth football. And China has a long way to go in such training in terms of aim and positioning.