Since 2015, Chongming has launched the creation of Shanghai’s first “National Football County” and has included “popularizing campus football” as a long-term goal. Over the years, Chongming campus football has insisted on “people-oriented sports” and has explored a solid and distinctive development path through curriculum popularization, elite training, and event creation.
Not long ago, the 2025 Chongming District Youth Campus Football League (Middle School Group) concluded successfully. At the closing ceremony, the Chongming Middle School football team had a wonderful match with the Minben Middle School football team. With their fighting spirit, intelligent collaboration and sincere love, the young football players vividly interpreted the event theme of “Respecting the Passion and I’ll Be There Tomorrow”.
This event attracted a total of 37 teams and 579 athletes from 23 middle schools in the district to participate, contributing 69 exciting games.
Nowadays, in Chongming, there are not only football games, but also football courses covering primary and secondary schools in the district. Schools have teams and have football classes every week. In this way, all children can participate in football.
The courses have become popular and the teaching staff is constantly being built and expanded. So far, this district has trained a total of 6 AFC C-level football coaches and more than 60 D-level football coaches, allowing children in Chongming to receive high-level football enlightenment at their doorstep, and batches of “football players” are thriving.
On the basis of the popularization of football courses, the district encourages distinctive and differentiated development and has established elite training camp echelons for 10 age groups from U9 to high school to provide high-level growth channels for children with potential. In addition, combined with the district’s student population base, Chongming has also vigorously developed women’s campus football in recent years. In many schools, you can often see girls showing off their cool figures on the green field.
Chen Tie, director of the Sports Department of the District Youth Activity Center, said that Chongming currently attaches great importance to the development of women’s football. In recent years, the level of the Chongming High School women’s team has been gradually improving. In the past two years, it also won the second place in the municipal high school women’s elite football competition. In the next step, we must focus on starting from primary schools to lay a solid foundation for women’s football in the district and form an orderly and competitive echelon construction.
As the courses become more popular, a “connected and orderly” competition pattern is gradually formed. Up to now, a three-level league system covering primary schools, junior high schools and high schools has been established and improved. The district holds more than 200 football matches every year.
Chongming currently has 26 national youth campus football schools and 3 campus football kindergartens, and has trained more than 60 national second-level football players. Many students have been admitted to Tongji University, Shenyang Institute of Physical Education and other institutions of higher learning.
In the eyes of coaches and teachers, the deeper value brought by football is even more precious. Ye Luofeng, a physical education teacher at Changxing Middle School, observed that football makes children more confident and improves their learning and behavioral standards. Xu Leshan, captain of the Dongmen Middle School football team, feels that she can persevere better and her physical condition has improved. Regarding the balance between academics and training, Gao Feng, deputy director of the District Youth Activity Center, pointed out that scientific training does not conflict with serious study, but can promote students to develop stronger perseverance.
The significance of continuing to promote the development of campus football is not only to cultivate reserve talents, but also to make the “joy of playing football” deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, so that the sports spirit of teamwork, abiding by the rules, and tenacious struggle can be integrated into the blood of children and run through their growth process. Today, this globally popular sport is flourishing on the green fields of Chongming Campus.
Reporter: Jiang Xiaoyan
Editor: Gu Jiali
Editors: Li Lin, Lu Haihua
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Original title: “The “Popular + Elite” Road of Chongming Campus Football”
