It has been a remarkable year for Chinese soccer since China’s central government launched the overall reform and development plan to reestablish the sport. With vast amount of money invested to foreign clubs and proven players in transfers, we are now having the opportunities to see much more interest in developing youth soccer besides Chinese Super League (CSL).

Youth soccer, however, is pretty large a systematic project, which needs continuous efforts from a variety of experts and practitioners from schools, organizations and professional clubs particularly.

Among those who invest in youth soccer, the 5-time CSL winner Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao FC is one of the bests. The club established a soccer school in Qingyuan, Guangdong Province, together with La Liga giants Real Madrid FC. Based on the RMB1.1bn investment at early stages, the Evergrande Real Madrid Soccer School is the largest residential soccer academy with most pitches and most students in the world. More importantly, the alliance will enable Chinese juniors to be trained under the guidance from Spanish coaches. As reported, Guangzhou Evergrande also hired 24 trainers and coaches from Real Madrid to develop the club's youth academy.

Unlike other joint soccer schools in China, what distinct Evergrande Soccer School from others was the establishment of the Spanish Branch in October 2014. It has seen over 50 Chinese players be sent to Spain where they can get special trainings. The School really outstood at the 2015 Soxna Cup.

Furthermore, Guangzhou Evergrande and Real Madrid expanded their strategic deal last September. Despite that the terms of the new deal were not revealed, both sides can outreach to more areas through the joint soccer school. Without a doubt, Real Madrid is intended to capitalize the club’s presence in China while Guangzhou Evergrande is trying to introduce the world’s leading soccer to its youth academy through the partnership.

In addition to the two clubs, a Spanish sports consulting company named SOXNA also played a major part in developing the program of Evergrande Real Madrid Soccer School. As the Real Madrid’s regional marketing partner in China, SOXNA has close connections with several famous soccer clubs in Europe. With expertise in youth soccer, SOXNA has created a series of unique teaching methodologies through collecting and analyzing the most successful experiences of the soccer specialists and authoritative sources from Europe. The company alongside Federation of University (School) Sports in China and Real Madrid jointly launched School Soccer Master Plan in China to train youth soccer coaches and to develop exchanges among juniors through soccer.

Following Evergrande’s and Real Madrid’s joint efforts in soccer school, Guangzhou Evergrande’s city rival Guangzhou H&R FC also partnered with Premier League giant Chelsea FC in May, 2013. The Meizhou-based Guangzhou H&R Chelsea Soccer School is the branch of Chelsea Soccer School, which is headquartered in London. The H&R Chelsea School adopts same model of instruction and teaching material to the Chelsea Soccer School.

In daily trainings, the young players get trained with the help from coaches who were sent to H&R Chelsea School from Chelsea Academy. And the School will select those talented players and send them to train in England. 

The H&R Chelsea School also established the H&R Cup, an elite soccer completion among young soccer players across China. The completion does not only serve as a platform to examine their players and to communicate with others, but also plays a significant role to promote the School and H&R’s brand.  

Now, the likes of Arsenal FC, Liverpool FC and Inter Milan FC are also exploring the youth market in China. And integrated soccer schools, with both international and domestic backgrounds, are really leading the way in youth soccer in the market.

At the upcoming China Football Summit 2016, the representatives of the above soccer schools and SOXNA will share their insight on the development of Chinese youth soccer under the background of the country’s strong interest in the sport.

Hong Youqiang, President at H&R Chelsea Soccer School, will give a speech about the impact that soccer culture has on youth soccer player cultivation.

David A. Lopez Martin, vice president at SOXNA and General Manager at SOXNA Asia, will introduce the company’s presence in China as well as the commercial opportunity lies in grassroots soccer.

China Football Summit 2016

The China Football Summit 2016 (CFS 2016) will be held in Shanghai from 26th to 27th May. The Summit will concentrate on the following topics, namely analyses on the governmental reform and policy around the game, the campus soccer plan and the impact of media rights on professional leagues etc. The CFS 2016 will assemble a list of experts, who are interested in Chinese soccer, to substantially discuss how much commercial potential that Chinese soccer holds. 

The China Football Summit 2016 will be hosted by Pioneer Sports. Yutang Sports will fully track the CFS 2016 as a supportive organization. Pioneer Sports is a professional sports company with expertise in soccer-related services and strategic management around soccer. The company is dedicated to serving as a professional exchange platform for Chinese soccer and international soccer.

For more information, please access http://www.pioneersports.cn/Football2016/index.html