Hebei Quzhou U18 football player prepares for "Dan Qingshang"

Reprinted from: People's Daily - Hebei Channel

In recent days, Quzhou County, Hebei Province has accumulated strength to empower the local young players who are about to go to the 2025 "Handan Bank" Handan U18 Youth Football Challenge (hereinafter referred to as "Dan Youth Super") through teaching competition exchanges, event selection and other methods, and ignite the enthusiasm of young people for football.

College football players will hold a teaching competition with players who will participate in the city U18 competition. Photo by Ma Haihong

On the afternoon of August 19, a special teaching competition was underway on the sports field of Shangshu Middle School in Quzhou County. Ji Boyu, Song Yikun and other college students from famous universities who came out of Quzhou formed a "football senior team" and competed on the same stage with the members of Quzhou U18 team. The "Football Senior Team" players gave meticulous demonstrations and explanations to the small players from running and controlling skills. "The skills taught by the seniors are so practical, I feel that the competition is more confident!" The small team members who are about to go to the battle said they have gained a lot. "School has a while left. If you have any questions, you can come to us at any time." The college students enthusiastically sent invitations to the small team members, showing the inheritance vitality of Quzhou campus football "bringing the old with the new".

These "football seniors" are witnesses to the decade of development of Quzhou campus football. In 2015, after Quzhou became a national youth campus football pilot county, it has successively established 29 national youth campus football specialty schools, built a multi-level event system, and has trained 59 national first- and second-level athletes. Ji Boyu and Song Yikun are the first beneficiaries. Now, they are studying in the sports training majors of Wuhan Sports College and Yanbian University, and they actively return home to help their juniors during the summer vacation.

The 18th Quzhou County Football Championship that ended previously also brought "fresh blood" to the U18 team. Li Haoge won multiple key goals with his "lightning" breakthrough. Goalkeeper Tang Kaiyang stood out with his all-round performance of 7 saves and 5 accurate long passes. The rookie represented by them was successfully selected for the U18 team in Quzhou. It is understood that this event, which has been held for 18 consecutive years, has formed a talent training echelon through the "adult competition + children's competition" model. The winning team also held a series of teaching competitions with U18 players to improve practical combat capabilities through competitions instead of training.

At present, Quzhou U18 team has completed the pre-match assembly. Wang Lianhe, deputy director of Quzhou County Education and Sports Bureau, said: "We hope to help local young players accumulate experience and improve their level through these events and exchange activities, provide talents for Quzhou U18 team and even higher-level teams, and continue to inject vitality into the construction of a strong sports county in Quzhou and the development of youth football."

It is reported that the 2025 "Handan Bank" Handan U18 Youth Football Challenge will officially start on August 24. This event, which brings together 18 teams from 20 counties (cities, districts) in Handan, is not only a stage for sports competition, but also will deeply integrate the history, intangible cultural heritage and other cultural elements of each county (cities, districts) in Handan to create a unique cultural experience. (Han Fuqiang, Bai Liying)