Students take a break after a training session at the Evergrande Soccer School. The school plans to boost student numbers to about 2,300 this year.

Better promotion

However, insiders believe the game should be better promoted, not only in dedicated soccer schools, but also throughout society as a whole.

"We don't see children playing soccer in public places because we don't have a profound soccer culture," said Xie Liang, a veteran commentator for Radio Guangdong. According to Xie, only when the country develops a healthy soccer culture - not for the thrill of winning, but for the fun of participating - will Chinese soccer improve.

Although a large number of soccer schools were established in the 1990s when the country founded its own professional league, they focused more on training than academic studies, especially as a few retired professionals, including former internationals Gao Fengwen and Zhao Dayu, founded their own establishments. However, the schools were unsuccessful, partly because there were few promising players in the domestic league, but also because of the country's failure to win any trophies in Asia in the past few decades, or make it through to the World Cup finals, according to Xie, who wants to see greater involvement in the game at all levels nationwide.

"We should boost the number of young people playing soccer. To do this, the game should be better promoted on all campuses and not just in soccer schools," he said.

Contact the author at: qiuquanlin@chinadaily.com.cn