Shanxi focuses on rural football education

Passions are running high now that spring football league match is in full swing at Huangyadong School, a boarding school deep in the Taihang Mountains in Licheng county, Shanxi province.

The rural school offers nine-year primary and middle school education, and features football training. Every one of the school's 660 students has his or her own football, and all 19 classes have male and a female five-a-side football teams.

Students run for 40 minutes to warm up every morning, start football exercises at 10 am, and practice football for more than an hour after school on a field funded by the Shanxi provincial government and built in 2017. The field was once a shabby gravel playground.

As football training has become integrated with classes over the past few years, the school's football atmosphere has grown stronger and every student has the opportunity to learn and enjoy the sport.

"Football is a major part of our students' lives. It helps them develop a habit of exercising and a spirit of competition and cooperation," Principal Wang Jingyu said.

An aerial photo shows students do football exercises in Huangyadong School in Licheng county, Shanxi province, April 15. In 2017, the Shanxi provincial government allocated 2.1 million yuan to the construction of a professional football field at the school. The school's gravel playground was upgraded to an artificial turf field surrounded by a 200-meter track. [Photo/Xinhua]