Coach Wang Zhanjiang had to hold back tears when her team from Hebei province won the final of the 2019 girl's national high school soccer championship in October.

The 2-0 victory over Nanya Middle School in Changsha, Hunan province, means the teenage players would represent China at a world-level game, the International School Sport Federation's World School Championship in soccer, though the game has not yet been scheduled.

"I can't believe we won another championship. It's like winning the lottery," said Wang, who has been a coach for almost 10 years.

The team, representing Hebei Baoding No 1 High School, won its first national championship in November last year. The China High School Football Championship is the country's most prestigious soccer event for schools, and gave Baoding the chance to represent China at the ISF's 2019 championship in Belgrade, Serbia, in April.

They finished fifth among 16 competitors, a result Wang was happy with. Before last year, the soccer teams at the school, which was founded 37 years ago, had never won a national championship.

"Going abroad was already unbelievable, not to mention the fact that we made it into the top eight teams," Wang said.

Experience counts

The 38-year-old was a professional player for a Hebei team for 12 years, before joining the school as a coach. At the championships in Serbia, she was surprised to run into a French instructor who had trained her to be a good coach three years ago. Wang spent three months at a training program in France.

The girls' team representing France finished second in the championship in Serbia, and defeated the Baoding side 2-1. But Wang said just being in the same competition highlighted her team's achievement. "You know, I just come from an ordinary school in a small city," she said.

Wang said there was a gap between her players and their counterparts from other countries, who were "more skilled, more experienced in international games and physically stronger".

After the Serbian championship, the French instructor said he expected to see Wang and her players at the next one.

Wang promised that their teams would meet again, adding that a fighting spirit was the key to winning international games. "We never give up," she said. "The players always get back on their feet after falling to the ground."

Since the Baoding school's first national championship last year, it has won five more national competitions. Li Baoxue, the school's president, said, "It's really not a lottery win, but a burst of power" based on the skills and strengths the young players had acquired.

The six coaches' and players' love of soccer was one of the main reasons they had won national championships, Li said.

He said passion for the game was why players can endure harsh training, and why head coach Zhen Jinzhu had stayed in his job for over 30 years and overcome many difficulties.

By the end of the 1980s, a lack of competition and training led to many schools in the area discontinuing their soccer programs, Li said. The boys' team at Hebei Baoding No 1 High School was disbanded because there was no competition.

But the girls' team persisted and was one of the top school teams in the province for about 10 years before its breakthrough national championship, Li said.

The school is planning to build another field for its soccer teams and resume training for the boys, he said.

Tough approach

Head coach Zhen, 58, has cultivated two players for China's women's national soccer team, Wang Liping and Liu Shanshan. Since 1984, Zhen has insisted on a strict training schedule for his charges, who now number 150 and include the high school players plus some from nearby primary and middle schools.

The players need to get up at 5:30 am and do strength and technique training from 6 am to 7 am. They repeat the routine from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm, six days a week.

Wang Lisuo, the deputy president of the school who is in charge of sports education, said "nothing can stop him, not even snow or rain".

"There's a crazy enthusiasm in this man for soccer－h(huán)e always sees good players as treasures," Wang Lisuo added, noting that Zhen often scouts primary schools in the city for promising players.

Zhen asked Wang Zhanjiang, one of the best players he trained, to work at the school after she retired from playing in 2010. "The tradition needs to be passed down," he told her.

The head coach said recruiting new players was the most difficult part of the job. "Most parents refuse us directly, while some players give up within a month after joining training," he said.

Some parents are also concerned that soccer training will take away from their children's study time. "They think playing soccer will not give their kids a bright future," Zhen said.

Opportunity

He Na, who is from a village in Gaoyang county, Baoding, allowed her 10-year-old daughter to join the girls' team six years ago, so the girl could gain admission to the school. "This school can provide a much better education than those in the villages," He said.

She said girls chosen by the coaches can study at primary and middle schools near the high school for the convenience of training. After graduating from middle schools they are admitted to the high school.

Her daughter Zhang Aijing went on to become one of the school's championship-winning players.

"After graduation, I believe she can easily gain admission to a good university as a sports student," she said, adding that she wants her daughter to continue playing soccer.

According to coach Zhen, more than 200 universities recruited female soccer players this year, about twice the number last year.

"This is a good sign that our country is placing more importance on soccer," he said, adding that he is not as worried as before about recruiting talented players.

As a defensive midfielder on the school's high school team, Zhang Aijing said she could never have imagined a national championship or even playing in an international game.

"Playing soccer is more interesting than just learning in the classroom," she said, "and I can become physically stronger."

Zhang, who fell in love with soccer in the fifth grade, said the biggest benefit of playing soccer is the team spirit.