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Qiongzhong Women’s Football Team: Steel Roses Blooming in Splendor

HAIKOU, China
Qiongzhong women's football team members are training on the field.

On September 23, the quarter-finals of the First China Youth Football League were held in Suzhou. The Qiongzhong U15 Women’s Football Team from China’s Hainan Free Trade Port, despite the injury of the main player Huang Weiwei, eventually won the sixth place after several tough fights, according to Convergence Media Center of Qiongzhong County.

Since 2006, the government of Qiongzhong Li and Miao Autonomous County has been promoting the “integration of sports and education”. Up to date, football classes have been available in more than 10 schools, where every student can receive training, education and accommodation, all for free. Huang Weiwei, from a disadvantaged background, seized this opportunity to study and play football at the same time. With her outstanding gift in football, Huang Weiwei became a daring “striker” girl on the field, winning 8 championships and 4 runner-ups with her teammates across China, Sweden, Denmark, etc. She has also won the honorary title of “Best Scorer” in many tournaments. She said she wished to enter a university via special enrollment programs for her football skills and achievements in the future and join the Chinese national team to compete for our country.

Many other girls share the same experience. Football has taken them to the world outside the mountains and onto the global stage, transforming their destiny. Since the first women’s football team was established in Qiongzhong in 2006, more than 30 players have been enrolled in the university through independent recruitment for sports talents, 56 have been rated as the Chinese National First-Level Athlete and 90 as the Second-Level. In this China Youth Football League, two players from Qiongzhong Women’s Football Team were selected into China U15 Women’s National Training Team for their excellent performance.

Source: Convergence Media Center of Qiongzhong County