Honing young soccer players in schools is one of the main highlights of the recently revealed soccer reform plan of the Chinese government.
The plan calls for soccer to be mandatory in elementary and mid-school curricula. Across the country, around 50,000 coaches will be deployed and 20,000 academic institutions will be injected with training programs that offer professional-level coaching.
The country eyes to produce more professional soccer players by 2020.
Chinese icon Sun Ke expressed his support for the government's strategy, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported. He said that "the plan is great for children to take part in the sport and give their parents a lot of confidence."
"The plan now can make sure little soccer enthusiasts study while they play soccer. The future of the sport will get better each day," Sun added. The 25-year-old started in a Jiangsu Province elementary school team before making it to the Jiangsu Sainty club.
The roadmap was passed by the country's central reform group headed by President Xi Jinping, who is widely known as an avid soccer lover.
In a statement, President Xi, who has been bothered by the country's poor soccer performances, enthused that "we must develop and revitalize soccer to ensure we are a strong nation of sports. It is the desperate desire of the people as well."
China has been excelling in other sports such as badminton, table tennis, shooting, gymnastics, weightlifting and diving; however, the country's national soccer team has not been faring well in the world stage.
The men's team was qualified only once in World Cup, in 1992. Its current rank is 82.
For the nation's women soccer players, the team has been struggling to bring back its glory days in 1999 when they managed to snatch a runner-up tilt in the World Cup. In 2011, the team did not qualify.
Part of the soccer reform plan is to build two additional training bases for the country's soccer teams.
The government looks forward that this could be a significant platform in achieving its goal of putting both the men's and women's team in the world's top soccer teams.
The newly re-organized full-fledged Chinese Basketball Association's president, Cai Zhenhua, stated that it aims to raise the awareness of the sport in China.
This is apart from its vision of hosting the World Cup, whose next viable bidding will be for its 2026 edition. Russia and Qatar are set to host the 2018 and 2022 editions respectively.
"Along with our long-term plan to improve the environment of soccer and the popularization of the sport, China, as a big country, should bid to host the World Cup," Cai remarked, clarifying that the edition it will bid for is yet to be decided.