Due to American football's rough-and-tumble nature, many Chinese parents may be reluctant to let their children take part in the sport.

Richard Young, managing director of NFL China, is well aware of the situation. His son plays the sport and he said the safety aspect of the game was being improved continually.

"We are all about safety. We are working hard on it and we firmly believe we will make the game safer," Young said. "It's a contact sport, people always get hurt, but people always get hurt in soccer and in doing yoga. The key is for us to make it safe."

While many people believe parents of a single child would stop their children from playing such a fierce sport, Young believes playing American football would benefit those children.

"American football can make you an outstanding and successful person. In other sports you can hide from an opponent but in football you lineup against the same person every single play. If he's bigger and stronger than you he will push you down every single play and you have to deal with it," Young said.

"You can't move, you have to learn to overcome that adversity, and that's why I want my son to play, because it's going to make him a better person," he said. "I don't know whether he will become a professional athlete or not, that's not why I do it. I want to make sure he doesn't quit when faced with difficulties, and that's what American football teaches you. It's not just power, it is how to work with people and how to be tough."

Young also has no concern about cultural differences as he believes American football will be as successful a western product as red wine in China.

"It doesn't matter whether you are Chinese or you are from Europe, you don't have to be French to enjoy wine," Young said.

"It's like the same thing in sports, we are the fine wine of sports, and we automatically believe people will like our depth, our complexity. And the nuances inside the games will draw you in, whether you are male or female, Chinese or American, wherever you are from.

"It's not culture difference between the US and China why it is not popular, it's just we haven't been here long enough," Young said.

- Tang Zhe

(China Daily 09/23/2012 page8)