3,000 more kindergartens to receive soccer programs

China plans to select another 3,000 kindergartens to become youth soccer nurturing grounds by the end of next year as the education authorities seek to nurture more talent from an early age, Ministry of Education said.

The country established soccer programs in the curricula of 3,570 kindergartens this year, said Wang Dengfeng, head of the ministry's Department of Physical, Health and Arts Education.

Kindergarten is a key stage in the development of children's sporting interests, habits, understanding and skills, and the schools will conduct play-oriented training to cultivate pupils' interest in soccer and their skills, Wang said.

China has more than 27,000 primary and secondary schools with soccer as their main physical education emphasis, involving around 27 million students, he said.

To qualify as soccer-focused schools, they must have at least one soccer course each week for all students. The students must also receive after-school soccer training and compete in matches, Wang said.

There were more than 120,000 soccer fields in primary and secondary schools as of September, but the country has more than 380,000 primary and secondary schools, he said.

"We built, renovated and expanded 32,000 soccer fields in schools from 2015 to 2018, and another 29,000 will be built by 2020," Wang said.

With a population of 1.4 billion, China has continually underachieved in men's soccer. Its national team has qualified only once for the World Cup, losing all three matches and failing to score a goal in the 2002 tournament. The women's national team has played in seven World Cups and was the beaten finalist two decades ago, but it has also underperformed in recent years.

Li Chunman, deputy director of the National Campus Football Expert Committee, said it is important that children know that even if their school focuses on soccer training, that does not mean that they are expected to become professional.

However, enjoying the game will help them develop social and teamwork skills and ultimately assist in their career development, he said.

The reason the Chinese men's team had performed poorly was that the nation tried to rush talent cultivation, Li said.

"All countries with good soccer teams start training early with teenagers and have a strict talent selection process," he said. "We should also focus more on campus soccer training."

It takes time to become a soccer power, Li said, and only earnest teaching, training, fair competition and strong public participation can help improve the country's soccer level.