Soccer tournament attracts almost 600 players in bid to start tradition

Qingdao's first soccer tournament at the community level recently kicked off in Licang district.

The competition started on Oct 8 and will end on Nov 15. Nearly 600 amateur players from 24 teams organized by residential communities in Qingdao will compete for the champion team title after the group stage and elimination rounds.

Some local professional players such as Zhao Shutian and Chen Gang－both former members of the Chinese national football team－attended the tournament's opening ceremony.

The competition is organized by the city's sports bureau and sponsored by the Qingdao soccer management center. It is also supported by the Licang district education and sports bureau, the Qingdao soccer association, and a local sports company founded by former Chinese national soccer team member Qu Bo.

It aims to promote a concept of "making sports a family tradition" and boost the prosperity of sports culture in urban communities, organizers said.

"Through the tournament, we want to organize a group of residential communities that highlight the development of sports in Qingdao, and also help the city's community soccer become more popular," said Tian Weiguo, director of the Qingdao soccer management center.

As a city with one of the largest numbers of professional soccer teams and players in China, Qingdao has invested huge resources to promote the development of soccer at the community level.

Since 2015, the city has invested 30 million yuan ($4.46 million) annually in building soccer facilities for various communities.

By the end of this year, it is scheduled to have set up about 657 soccer fields for the public, local officials said.