Youth league to grow soccer in the grassroots

Lishui district in Nanjing city of East China's Jiangsu province is aiming to further promote grassroots fitness all over the area as it was chosen as the permanent host of the provincial soccer youth league final game on Wednesday.

The decision was announced during the final game and closing ceremony of the 2019 league.

According to Zhang Weizhen, deputy governor of the district, the move is expected to lift the already national model fitness district to a new high and bring a new impetus to the local economy and tourism.

Lishui is in south central Nanjing, capital city of Jiangsu province and one of the economic hotspots and hottest tourism areas in East China.

This year's league consisted of U10 and U12 groups with 29 teams from all over the province. The teams played 96 games during the three-day session.

Despite the first three finishers of either age group, awards were given for best referee, coach, striker, player and most popular player to inspire more potential participants.

Seventeen clubs were licensed during the closing ceremony in a bid to standardize the league's operation as part of the effort to build the league into a model youth league nationwide.