Reporter Wang Shaoheng reports At the end of 2023, a team from the Foshan Football Association defeated Guangzhou in the semi-finals of the U10 group of the Guangdong Football Championship to advance to the final. Unfortunately, they lost to Shenzhen in the final and finished second. Despite only finishing second, Pan Hanzhang's team has equalled the best result in the history of the Foshan Football Association in the provincial championship. Being able to fight a bloody way to the finals in the encirclement of Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Meizhou, the three key football development cities, proves the strength of this team, and also shows the sudden rise of youth football development in Foshan.

The team representing Foshan in the provincial competition is from Foshan Nanhai Qixi Turtle House Club. This club team won the championship in the Foshan City Competition, and then qualified to represent Foshan City in the provincial competition. Pan Jianbin, the manager of the 7-up Turtle House Club, is also a celebrity in the South China Sea football industry. Pan Jianbin has always been in business, and the 7-Up Turtle House was originally just a niche pet house with pet turtles as its business. However, Pan Jianbin's son changed everything.

The South China Sea has sprung up, and Foshan is full of flowers

Pan Jianbin's son likes football very much and has been practicing since he was a child. Gradually, Pan Jianbin found that the level of his son and his teammates was quite good, and the idea of forming an elite team to impact the championship gradually germinated in his heart. In order to pave an upward channel for his son and to better focus on youth training, Pan Jianbin joined the Nanhai Football Association in 2021 as the chairman of the youth training committee, responsible for echelon construction. At that time, his main job was to organize and arrange youth football training and matches. In his position, seeking his job, there is a general lack of funds in football youth training, Pan Jianbin paid out of his own pocket, with Qixi Turtle House as a backer, he invested a lot of money in youth training.

Many people who are rooted in youth training have not achieved much for decades. Pan Jianbin was clearly lucky. Working in the Nanhai Football Association, Pan Jianbin has many football resources that are not accessible to social clubs. For example, Pan Hanzhang, a heavyweight in the Guangdong youth training industry, guided. Pan Hanzhang has served as the youth training director of the current Chinese Super League team Meizhou Hakka for many years, and has single-handedly built the youth training system of Meizhou Hakka. It was not until Meizhou Hakka systematically introduced Japan youth coaches that Cui Hanzhang gradually took a back seat in the club's youth training.

At Cui Hanzhang's suggestion, Pan Jianbin began to gradually bring the echelon of the Nanhai Football Association to Meizhou Hakka for training, so that the children can experience the atmosphere of professional football youth training up close, and also let these children realize the gap between themselves and the professional echelon players. After a few trainings, Pan Jianbin's children have improved quickly, and some of them can even show abilities that are no less than those of professional echelon children. In this regard, Pan Jianbin said: "China has never lacked good seedlings, but we have our own social reality. ”

The reality he said was that there was an imbalance in the development of football on campus. At present, the biggest problem in the development of campus football in Foshan is the difference between schools, and not every school attaches importance to the development of football. In some schools, there are no stadiums, and it is quite difficult to effectively develop campus football. In this regard, Pan Jianbin believes: "It is precisely possible that there are children who are suitable for playing football in this school, if that is the case, it is a pity for both children and Chinese football." ”

Coach Pan Hanzhang also has the same feeling: "As long as we pay attention to it, we can develop youth football." Just like the South China Sea, the momentum of football development is quite good right now. In the past, the football pattern of Foshan was dominated by Chancheng District, but now it seems to have entered a situation where a hundred flowers are blooming and all districts have a good momentum. The same is true in the province. Guangzhou has always had good results in the provincial competition, but in 2023, Guangzhou will not have a single gold medal. It seems that Guangzhou lost the gold medal, but this is actually a good thing for the development of Guangdong football. ”

Having deeply experienced the youth training of professional clubs, and now devoting himself to the youth training of social clubs, Cui Hanzhang himself has a process of adaptation. In his opinion, the youth training of professional teams and the youth training of social clubs should play a complementary role. "The overall requirements are different between professional clubs and social clubs, and I have to adapt to them slowly. I can't be like I do with professional players, everything is extreme, but the children's love for football is the same. As long as they are constantly guided through scientific training, they can also produce results. He said.

The revitalization of southern football is equivalent to the revitalization of Chinese football

Regarding the direction of the development of Chinese football, Cui Hanzhang also has his own views. He said: "If we let go of utilitarianism, there will be real hope for Chinese football." ”

What is Utilitarianism? He explained: "We have to admit that in the adolescent stage, the powerful child does have a big advantage in confrontation. Children with good physical conditions are indeed prone to show strong competitiveness in the adolescent stage. But we have to pay attention to a very important quality - ball quotient, football awareness, that is, what we call football talent, this is innate, can not be practiced. ”

"Why is there less children in the south when materials are selected now? Players with good body and strength are easier and faster to get results. Children with good skills and good minds may be gradually eliminated in the competition, and football selection should not be like this. Coach Choi gave the example of Kenei Kubo: "Players who are relatively poor in physical condition but have good minds, we need to give them more opportunities to learn how to survive in such a competitive environment." For example, Kubo's figure is poor among professional players, but his mind and technique are quite good even in La Liga. Many of our children's physical conditions are much better than Kubo's, why are our grades getting to where they are now? Youth training must let go of utilitarianism in order to have hope. ”

Coach Cui has compared the children of the professional echelon and the social club, and he believes that the children of the social club are mainly lacking in the degree of training, and from the perspective of the upside alone, there is not much difference between the two youth training systems. Professional teams are more likely to show competitiveness because they have plenty of training time, but that doesn't mean that social clubs can't produce high-level youth talent.

Therefore, Pan Jianbin insisted on setting a high threshold for selecting team members, and his determination to take elite training was very firm. "Popularization needs to be done, but there must also be people to do elite training, and we must provide children with a good enough upward channel, so that we can cultivate talents for the future of Chinese football through multiple channels and comprehensively."