Members of Qiongzhong women's U15 football team attend a training session at Qiongzhong High School in Qiongzhong Li and Miao Autonomous County, south China's Hainan Province, May 12, 2022. (Xinhua/Hu Zhixuan)
A group of rural girls in south China's Hainan Province have found a different path in life through sports.
HAIKOU, May 23 (Xinhua) -- The girls kick off the day at the pitch for a one-hour football session. After training, they head to school.
This is the morning routine of the all-female football team from Qiongzhong Li and Miao Autonomous County, an impoverished area in south China's Hainan Province.
The team receives financial support from the county government, and each player is offered free education, dining and board to ease the burden on players' families.
Instead of getting married or leaving home for work like most of their peers, the girls chose a different path in life. Since the first-ever Qiongzhong women's football team was formed in 2006, over 30 rural girls have been admitted to college through sports.
Members of Qiongzhong women's U15 football team take an English language class, May 11, 2022. (Xinhua/Hu Zhixuan)
In Qiongzhong, only a few girls had ever even entered high school, due to a lagging economy and a narrow view of the world, let alone college.
Through years of hard training, the team has won several national-level matches and won the Gothia Cup, the world's largest youth football tournament, for three consecutive years from 2015 to 2017.
Huang Weiwei is a shining star in the team who has been top goalscorer several times. From a small village in Qiongzhong, the 14-year-old is currently attending middle school. Her home is far away from the downtown area and it always takes her father one and a half hours to ride her to school on a motorcycle.
When she was eight years old, a coach came to Huang's elementary school and saw her untapped potential for football.
Team member Huang Weiwei attends class, May 11, 2022. (Xinhua/Hu Zhixuan)
Since then, the little girl's life started to change.
She was brought to one of the best schools in the county to take on more comprehensive training and specially designed compulsory courses.
She has been to Sweden, Denmark and Norway, and cities like Shanghai, Beijing and Hangzhou for training and competitions. "I have broadened my horizons via football," said Huang.
Great efforts lead to better results, as Huang and her team have won several championships.
"She is the only child who ever played football overseas. Her father and I are very proud of her," said Wei Zhuqin, Huang's mother.
Huang leads her teammates in post-training stretches, May 12, 2022. (Xinhua/Hu Zhixuan)
"I want to get into a university by playing football, and I hope one day I can be capped by the national football team," Huang said.
Before the girl took up football, her parents had no idea of the sport's rules. Now, they have become great fans of their daughter.
"We often watch her matches on TV. Her father and I once went to an international football game in the downtown area to cheer for our daughter," Wei recalled.
In 2019, the Hainan Qiongzhong International Cup football tournament took place, featuring around 400 players of 21 teams from 17 countries and regions.
Hundreds and thousands of local people in the county came to watch the games. The world started to know about the small county and its women's football team.
Photo taken on May 11, 2022 shows the office buidling of Qiongzhong Women's Football Club. (Xinhua/Hu Zhixuan)
Currently, a professional football club has been formed and several schools in Hainan are seeking to cooperate with local schools to establish distinctive football classes.
Chen Xin, 28, is a player on the first batch of the Qiongzhong women's football team. Now, she is a football teacher in charge of Huang's class.
"I went to college and majored in physical training. I decided to come back home to be a football coach. I am lucky because football has helped me find my goal and now I am striving for a career in education," Chen said.
