Passion and persistence harnessing high school hotshots
Though it didn’t exactly go according to plan, coach Yao Bo immediately vowed to come back stronger from his first taste of international competition — just as he’s always done.
With two wins and three losses, Yao’s trailblazing team of girls from Tancheng No 1 High School finished seventh at the nine-team ISF World School Championship in futsal (five-a-side indoor soccer), which wrapped up on March 20 in Rishon LeZion, Israel.
“It was our first competition outside China, and we knew little about futsal. The result was not satisfying, but we enjoyed it. We are confident of making progress in futsal in the future,” said Yao, the driving force behind his school’s rapid rise to national soccer supremacy.
Yao, a physical education teacher, had always dreamed of becoming a soccer coach, having fallen in love with the sport as a teenager.
“I was not as tall as other students back then in middle school, but I ran fast. Even a few dribbles would thrill me,” he recalled. “It seemed I was destined to be a soccer coach.”
In 2009, along with coach Jiang Qingchao, Yao began recruiting girls from middle schools to build a team at his high school, located in the small county of Tancheng in east China’s Shandong province.
It was tough going at first — many of the girls didn’t stay the course and dropped out, while goals and wins were scarce.
However, after studying videos of the game, taking coaching courses and devising detailed practice plans, Yao began to turn things around.
“The hard work and effort paid off. We began to win some games about a year later, so we felt we were heading in the right direction,” he said.
In 2011, the Tancheng No 1 High School girls won the first of their five Shandong provincial league titles, and, after being crowned China Schools Football Champions in 2017, the ISF event in Israel beckoned.
The school’s principal, Li Nan, believes the benefits of Yao’s work are not only felt on the pitch.
“It is our privilege to have a role in the shaping of young people, so we always attach equal importance to good sportsmanship and athletic performance,” said Li.
“Meanwhile, we work hard to ensure our girls’ team leads by example, not only on the field of play, but also in the classroom.”
Players manage to balance their study with their soccer skills, too.
“Every time we go out for games or training camps, we are asked to take our books and study whenever time is available,” said team captain Yang Chuanli.
One former pupil has even forged a career out of the game.
Xu Na, a member of the 2009 squad, majored in soccer at Henan University in 2016 and now teaches the game in a Tancheng primary school.
“My choice to become a coach comes from my high school coaches and their love for soccer,” she said.
Meanwhile, Yao continues to further his soccer education. He is now the proud owner of an Asian Football Confederation ‘C’ coaching certificate and in 2016 went on a three-month governmentfunded training trip to France.
“The training was very helpful. I got familiar with new trends such as position-specific practice and counter-pressing,” said Yao.
And as the trophies pile up, Yao now finds himself courted by other teams — not that he’s thinking of leaving.
“Of course, the offers are attractive but I grew up here. Most importantly, I hope to make my football dreams come true where I started,” he said.