On Friday, the first day of the new school year, some former Sanhe soccer players participated in the opening ceremony for the new school year. They shared stories of their former coach and school team. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
Ten years ago, headmaster Sun Xiaoming founded a 20-member girls' soccer team at Sanhe Primary School in Chongqing's Shizhu Tujia autonomous county, then a state-level poverty-stricken area. Now 19 of them have grown up and got into Chinese universities thanks to their outstanding skills on the soccer pitch.
On Friday, the first day of the new school year, some former Sanhe soccer players returned to the primary school and participated in the opening ceremony for the new school year. They shared stories about their former coach and team.
Sanhe Primary School in Chongqing's Shizhu Tujia autonomous county boasts a girls' soccer team made up of left-behind children since 2013. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
"If they had not chosen to play soccer, they would probably never have an opportunity to get a higher education," Sun said in an interview.
"Soccer opens a new window for those girls in remote mountains and it changes their lives."
Last year, eight former Sanhe players entered universities as sports talent. This year, 11 more successfully followed the same path. Many of them are now students at local normal universities. One attends Beijing Sport University. Two attend Shanghai University of Sport. And one even got into prestigious Tongji University.
In 2013, Sun, a physical education teacher for 20 years, became headmaster of Sanhe Primary School. Located in the deep mountains of southwestern China, the school had limited teaching resources and most of its students were left-behind children whose parents left to work in urban areas. In many cases, the children were taken care of by their extended families, usually grandparents.
Sanhe Primary School in Chongqing's Shizhu Tujia autonomous county boasts a girls' soccer team made up of left-behind children since 2013. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
At that time, few of those students could go to high school or university because of limited education resources and family finances. Girls faced more barriers because of traditional ideas held by rural families that women should look after the family first.
To help more girls pursue an education, Sun, the headmaster, decided to nurture some sports talent so that girls could enter good schools based on athletic prowess.
"Soccer is relatively cheap and easy to learn, and it's suitable for the rural kids," Sun said.
He picked 20 girls from the fourth and fifth grades and provided free training and living arrangements. The team has claimed many titles in local and national campus soccer tournaments over the years.
Sanhe Primary School in Chongqing's Shizhu Tujia autonomous county boasts a girls' soccer team made up of left-behind children since 2013. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
On Friday, the first day of the new school year, some former Sanhe soccer players participated in the opening ceremony for the new school year. They shared stories of their former coach and school team. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
On Friday, the first day of the new school year, some former Sanhe soccer players participated in the opening ceremony for the new school year. They shared stories of their former coach and school team. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
By Tan Yingzi
