The Zhidan girls who returned home: In the end, one's own affairs cannot be separated from one's own people.

Tong Gege (center) and Sun Pingrong (right) are the future of Zhidan football.

Nan Nan reports from Zhidan. On the third day of the Century-Old Schools Football Elite Exchange Tournament Primary School Group (hereinafter referred to as the "Century-Old Schools Cup"), Zuo Qiang quietly walked into the Zhidan Youth Training Center. She had just led her team to play a match in the county. Zuo Qiang didn't tell anyone and stood alone on the sidelines watching the game. She was watching not only the children from all over the country who came to Zhidan for the competition, but also the referees and venue staff on the field, many of whom were her former students.

After watching the game for a while, Zuo Qiang crouched down, touched the turf under her feet with her hand, then walked to the natural grass field on the other side, bent down again, and gently touched the grass. This was not Zuo Qiang's first time at the youth training center. Last month, when the General Administration of Sport of China came for an inspection, Zuo Qiang was busy at the center for nearly a month. When everything was finalized, she was deeply moved. "I was so excited that I kept touching it with my hand, thinking, 'Is this real?'" she said.

Zuo Qiang

Zuo Qiang is one of the representative figures of Zhidan football. She was among the first batch of female football players from Shaanxi and represented the province in national competitions. When Zuo Qiang was a child practicing football, there were only two primary schools in Zhidan county—Shizhen Primary School and Chengguan Primary School. In her words, there was only one team of girls playing football in the entire county at that time, about ten or twenty kids.

Zuo Qiang's training ground when she was young was a dirt field. At that time, except for a small bustling area in the center of Zhidan county, most places were traditionally rural with many wastelands and no one took care of them, so there were many stones on the training ground. Before each training session, Zuo Qiang and her teammates had to follow the coach to pick up the stones on the field. After picking up most of them, they would start training. The next day, when they came again, the stones were back. "I couldn't understand why the stones were never completely picked up," Zuo Qiang said.

Zuo Qiang is a celebrity in Zhidan women's football. Even wearing a hat, many staff members at the Century-Old Schools Cup had already recognized her on the sidelines, including Wang Maomao, the deputy head of the competition group. Wang Maomao is also a celebrity in Zhidan women's football. In 2014, during a training camp in Germany, Wang Maomao and her teammates were received and encouraged by national leaders.

Wang Maomao

Wang Maomao was born in 2002. For her generation, the training ground changed from dirt to concrete. The school she attended, Shadaozi Primary School, had a small playground that could only accommodate 5-a-side football, with boys and girls training together. At that time, she wore canvas shoes with rubber studs, and the soles would gradually wear down until they formed a hole. Gao Furu, the head of the competition group, is one year younger than Wang Maomao. She trained at Shizhen Primary School, which also had a concrete ground. Gao Furu has a strong impression of the ground, saying she "slipped easily." At that time, there was only one decent field in the entire Zhidan county, and only children who played matches on Sundays could train on the grass field on Saturdays, but even that field was not ideal.

But now, the Zhidan Youth Training Center has two natural turf fields, equipped with lights for night games. Dozens of children of different ages train here. The campus league is divided into different age groups, and the annual schedule is packed with matches. Zuo Qiang stood by the field and said, "Now these kids have such good conditions at such a young age. If I were younger, I feel I could overcome any difficulty."

As Zhidan was designated as a pilot city for the integration of sports and education in the western region, the facilities here have improved. But what truly drives Zhidan football forward is not the facilities, but the various people who have gone out from here and come back.

After the establishment of the Zhidan Football Association in 2003, one of its founders, Ding Changbao, began sending children out one by one to see what football was like outside. Wang Maomao is the most well-known name. Her reason for playing football was simple: "Because there were no other recreational activities at school, and football was the only novel thing." Her first stop was Henan, accompanied by only two girls from Zhidan. There, she felt the team lacked cohesion. Later, Wang Maomao transferred to Jiangyin No.2 Middle School in Wuxi, Jiangsu. Jiangsu has always been a strong province for women's football in China, and Wang Maomao immediately felt the gap: "They had been training since childhood, and they trained together. Our physical condition was not as good as theirs, and the technical gap was even greater."

Wang Maomao has a younger sister named Wang Lanlan, who also played football under her sister's influence. She was sent to Suzhou Sports School, which is a top-tier institution for women's football in Jiangsu Province. Wang Lanlan's coach was former national team player Song Xiaoli. After only a few weeks, Wang Lanlan found that the training here was completely different from what she had experienced before. "We practiced technique and tactics on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and strength training on Tuesday and Thursday," Wang Lanlan said. "I had never trained like this before." In Suzhou, Wang Lanlan's level improved rapidly. She not only won the provincial games championship but was also sent to Yunnan to play in the Women's League One for two years.

Her sister was not so lucky and could not get better opportunities for a long time. So, after a deep conversation with her father, Wang Maomao decided to use football to get into a university. Before Wang Maomao, only a handful of girls from Zhidan had entered university through football. But after her, more and more people took this path. Gao Furu entered Ningxia University, Tong Gege was admitted to Chengdu Sport University, Sun Pingrong went to Hebei Institute of Communication, and Cao Jing was admitted to Fudan University in Shanghai...

Zuo Qiang said that football changed the fate of these Zhidan girls. The educational resources in Zhidan are far inferior to those in the big cities of the province. If they didn't play football, these girls would likely go out to work after high school and then get married early.

Most of the children who left Zhidan still miss their hometown. Wang Maomao returned to the Zhidan Football Association for an internship in her senior year of college, and after graduation, she officially began coaching the younger age groups. Sun Pingrong has been returning to Zhidan every winter and summer vacation since her sophomore year to help. Before participating in this tournament, she had just led her team through the Shanxi Provincial Games.

Gao Furu just graduated in June this year. The Century-Old Schools Cup is the second major tournament she has participated in. This time, Football Association Chairman Ding Changbao appointed her as the Secretary-General of the Association. Many detailed tasks have fallen on the shoulders of this girl who is less than 1.6 meters tall. Someone asked Gao Furu, since she had gone out, why did she come back? She said, "I cannot let go of Zhidan football in my heart."

The outside world is wonderful. Liu Ruirui played in the Women's Super League, Tong Gege trained at the IMG Academy in the US for several months, and there are also the Wang sisters, Gao Furu, Sun Pingrong, and Cao Jing. These Zhidan girls have experienced a lot, both bitter and sweet, and what they bring back is far more than just skills.

When Wang Lanlan was at Suzhou Sports School, her coach required her to eat two eggs every morning. Now, she has brought this rule to Zhidan. When going out for matches, the children from Zhidan, like her in the past, don't eat eggs in the morning and don't understand protein supplementation. "We watch over the children every day, they must eat, and their diet should include both meat and vegetables," Wang Maomao told the girls, "Losing a game is not scary; losing is to win better." Gao Furu taught the children: "You not only need to learn to play football, but also to understand football. Through football, you can see the outside world." She used Cao Jing, who was admitted to Fudan, as an example: "If you rely solely on academic courses, you might only get into an ordinary university or a vocational college, but through football, you have the chance to get into a better university."

After introducing Korean coaches, Zhidan began to build its own youth training system according to Korean standards. However, communication with parents and children still relies on these Zhidan girls who have returned from outside. In addition to learning the training methods and tactical ideas of the Korean coaches, Wang Lanlan believes her role is to help the Korean coaches solve problems they cannot handle, such as communicating with parents. Ultimately, matters of Zhidan football must be handled by the people of Zhidan.

Zuo Qiang has not spent much time with these children, but she has already seen that she can learn from them. "I feel that sometimes I am like their student. When they have good ideas or new concepts, I listen carefully and have learned a lot from them," Zuo Qiang said.

In Gao Furu's eyes, Wang Maomao is her role model. "Sister Maomao is one year ahead of me and also plays midfield. I want to follow her example," she said. In the coaches' eyes, Gao Furu also has the shadow of Wang Maomao, while Wang Maomao's role model is the generation of Zuo Qiang. Now, they stand on the same field, and the power of role models is being passed on.

Zuo Qiang said these girls have the same fierce determination she had back then. She recalled that Wang Lanlan once fractured her left hand, had 18 steel pins inserted, and returned to training before the plate was even removed. "If she hadn't truly loved football and devoted herself completely to the sport, I don't think she would have suffered such a serious injury," Zuo Qiang said. "The fierce determination they had as players can still be seen when they lead teams now. These kids haven't changed."

Some have returned, while others are still striving outside. The answer to the question of whether to return or not is different for everyone. Zuo Qiang is also a bit conflicted: "To be honest, if you consider a better life or career development, it's still better to go out. But I also hope they can come back and contribute a little to Zhidan football."

Gao Furu's answer was simple. She hopes to return and help develop Zhidan football, but also feels that she needs to go out and see more. Now, there are more opportunities for Zhidan football to go out. Children even have the chance to participate in matches in Russia and Kenya. Wang Maomao thinks further ahead. Zhidan has a population of only 150,000. If the youth training center can radiate to the surrounding areas of Yan'an, it would be better to improve the football level of the entire region. Tong Gege, who will soon graduate from Chengdu Sport University, believes she is not suitable for coaching. She wants to learn some experience in event operations outside. "More and more players who have played in the Women's Super League or even the Women's League One are returning to Zhidan, which has largely compensated for the shortage of coaches. But we still lack high-level event operation personnel. I hope to learn more outside so that in the future I can fully enrich Zhidan's football talent pool," Tong Gege said.

The Zhidan girls do not have a unified answer, but Wang Maomao said something that may represent the thoughts of everyone: "I hope that these children we are coaching can represent Zhidan to fulfill the dreams that our generation did not achieve." She wants to lead the children out of Zhidan, into national competitions, and show Zhidan's style on a higher stage.

When Zuo Qiang crouched on the sidelines, carefully touching the natural turf with her hand, she felt that "any difficulty can be overcome." In fact, what made her feel that difficulties could be overcome was not the turf under her feet, but the people who had left Zhidan and then returned.