Current location:opinions >>
The Rural Girls Chasing Goals on Football Pitches
opinions8882People have gathered around
IntroductionContact Us HomeNewsHighlightACWF NewsSocietyWom ...
- Home
- News
- People
- In-depth
- ACWF
The Rural Girls Chasing Goals on Football Pitches
December 11, 2023Qin Furong (4th L) instructs girls of a football team in practice in Shizhu Tujia Autonomous County, southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, Sept. 1, 2023. [Xinhua/Tang Yi] |
CHONGQING, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) — For the girls at a primary school deep in the mountains of southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, football is much more than a hobby.
"Football has provided us with a brighter future and presented us a broader world," said Qin Furong, who was once a member of the girls' football team at Sanhe Town Primary School in Chongqing's Shizhu Tujia Autonomous County. This year, Qin was enrolled at Donghua University in Shanghai thanks to her aptitude for the sport.
She is not alone. Over the past decade, many of the school's alumnae have been admitted to universities across the country, including Shanghai's Tongji University and the Beijing Sport University, in recognition of their football abilities.
Their life-changing journeys all started in 2013 when Sun Xiaoming, who was then the principal of Sanhe Town Primary School, had the idea to establish a girls' football team. He had thought it could be a chance for the students to receive better education and live different lives.
At the time, Shizhu was troubled by a teacher shortage, and students in rural areas often underperformed compared to their city peers and dropped out of high school.
Facing the bleak situation, Sun, who was also a physical education teacher, looked to improve his students' futures by nurturing football talent.
"The sport has no player height limitations, and it has low costs and can be played in a wide variety of places. And there were relatively few girls' football teams in Chongqing schools at the time, providing us with the space to develop such a team," he recalled.
For Sun, the greatest difficulty was working out how to persuade the children's parents to accept his idea.
To prove its feasibility, Sun sent Ma Qinglin, a pupil who showed great athletic talent, to another primary school for football training. Months later, Ma received a scholarship to study at the Chongqing No. 37 Secondary School. Her experience brought hope to other girls at the school and their parents.
In 2013, the school established a girls' football team consisting of 20 students.
Qin was among that number. "The conditions at that time were really hard, but we all treasured the opportunity to practice," she said in a speech while attending the opening ceremony for a new semester at the Sanhe primary school in 2023. "We used footballs made of rubber, and it hurt a lot when we fell on the cement of our training ground. Although we gained bruises during training, none of us thought of giving up."
In 2015, Qin joined the Chongqing campus football league together with 10 other alumnae from her primary school. Through their efforts, the team won the championship.
Over the past decade, nearly 100 students have joined the girls' football team at the Sanhe primary school. And over 70 of those students were later enrolled in schools in Chongqing's urban areas. They have become champions and runners-up in football matches above the municipal level 26 times.
This summer, Qin volunteered to help train the Sanhe school's girls' football team. Their playground has been lined with green grass, and the footballs the students use are no longer made of rubber. But what remains unchanged is that the students still take pride in playing football.
"Long and arduous as the journey is, we will get to our destination as long as we take real steps," Qin told the girls.
Students throw footballs into the sky during the opening ceremony for a new semester at Sanhe Town Primary School in Shizhu Tujia Autonomous County, southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, Sept. 1, 2023. [Xinhua/Tang Yi] |
(Source: Xinhua)
32.3KPlease understand that womenofchina.cn,a non-profit, information-communication website, cannot reach every writer before using articles and images. For copyright issues, please contact us by emailing: [email protected]. The articles published and opinions expressed on this website represent the opinions of writers and are not necessarily shared by womenofchina.cn.
Comments
Magazines
Projects
- 2023 Women Science and Technology Innovation Pioneer...
Photos
- People Enjoy Blooming Tulips in Jinan, East...
- Flowers Bloom Across China in Spring
Special Coverage
Tags:
Reprint:Friends are welcome to share on the Internet, but please indicate the source of the article when reprinting it.“Cultural Caravan news portal”。http://morocco.elfsignes.com/news-14d299924.html
Related articles
Pentagon vows to keep weapons moving to Ukraine as Kyiv faces a renewed assault by Russia
opinionsWASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin committed Monday to keeping U.S. weapons moving to ...
【opinions】
Read moreHulunbuir takes various measures to boost local tourism market
opinionsTourists ride horses at a scenic spot in Hulunbuir, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, ...
【opinions】
Read moreSpring scenery in Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in China's Chongqing
opinionsPeople enjoy spring scenery in Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in southwest China's Chongqing Municipali ...
【opinions】
Read more
Popular articles
- Verona confirms Serie A status for another year after beating Salernitana
- Yellow River's Hukou Waterfall returns to full force
- China's resort island opens two more duty
- Xi Sends Congratulatory Letter on 50th Anniversary of Cooperation Between China, WIPO
- Rangers are undefeated at .500 to keep World Series champs from a losing record with Bochy
- Scenery of Minjiang River estuary wetland in Fuzhou
Latest articles
Pope trip to Luxembourg, Belgium confirmed for September, 2 weeks after challenging Asia visit
Enjoy tangyuan on Lantern Festival
Minjiang River estuary nature reserve in Fujian, SE China
China strives to build stronger rural tourism
Kevin Pillar gets 1,000th career hit in Angels' win at Texas
Animals enjoy speical congee for Laba Festival
LINKS
- Sharon Stone is SUED for $35,000 for 'causing car crash' in Los Angeles
- Chris Hemsworth shows off his chivalrous side as he offers his arm to support Anya Taylor
- The Latest
- Arkansas lawmakers approve $6.3 billion budget bill as session wraps up
- Final cost in for Mets' sorry 2023 season $420 million in payroll plus luxury tax
- Jay Leno's dementia
- Kris Jenner launches eerily uncanny Christmas ornament of herself for $82
- Average long
- For decades, Moscow has sought to silence its critics abroad
- Mandisa's father reveals how he thinks she died and insists she 'did not harm herself'