Soccer helps students aim for new goals

Liu Duo, 18, one of the 10 students who failed the exam, said: "I started playing soccer in primary school. Female students could also join in, and I was captain of the girls' team. We didn't have a soccer field. We played on dirt covered with stones. One kick of the ball could raise dust. Our clothes were covered with dust, but I was happy and I loved the sport."

Although the facilities and the soccer activities Li organized were less than ideal－chairs represented goal posts, a basketball bladder was used as a ball, and the principal learned new skills online daily and then taught them to the students－the children stayed in school.

Unexpectedly, the school's soccer team won its first city-level championship in 2012, and then won a provincial championship in 2014. Its best result was third place in a national competition, which was also a record for the province.

As it gradually became known for its soccer education, the school received support from people across the country.

Since 2015, 37 "soccer students" have been admitted to key senior high schools in the city, opening a channel for such students to continue in education.

In recent years, Li has welcomed a "harvest season" because since 2018, students who gained entry to high schools through their soccer skills have started getting into colleges by passing the soccer skills test.

In 2020, six students visited Li to show him their college acceptance letters.

Those who failed the soccer skills test last year are Li's pride and joy, though, and in primary and middle school they won championships for his school. Three years ago, 14 of them were admitted to key high schools, but only four gained entry to universities last year.

Li believes that the main reason for their failure was a number of changes to the test rules prompted by the COVID-19 epidemic, so he called them back to campus to prepare for another attempt.

The principal and most of his students are members of the Manchu ethnic group, so he named his soccer team Xongkoro after the falcon that is the group's totem animal.

"This bird flies highest and farthest in our culture. I hope my students will have the ideals and perseverance to fly to great heights," Li said.

Zhou Huiying contributed to this story.