TIBETAN SOCCER HAS GOAL OF SUCCESS

The rarefied air and the magnificent view on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau seem an unlikely backdrop for soccer fans discussing tactics such as the full press or the advantages of using a sweeper. However, Namlha Tsering, of Zeku county, Huangnan prefecture, in Northwest China's Qinghai province, combines both as the young Tibetan has made the sport his life.

A member of Generation Z, born in 1995, Namlha works as a graphic designer and created Phorpa, an official WeChat account featuring the soccer world on the highland. The members of staff relate the history and development of the sport, and count some of the glorious events in the modern game. Some posts are dedicated to the origin and current situation of Tibetan soccer and touching stories of Tibetan fans are told in a manner that shows both expertise and understanding. In other posts, global soccer events and related films are recommended.

"We hope our readers can learn about the diversification of this account, explore the possibilities of Tibetan soccer, and get inspiration from it and stay in tune with our development," he says.

Like many boys of the same age, Namlha has been exposed to the sport since high school. The most profound thing in his memory was the World Cup when Brazilian star Neymar's fluidity and skill left a lasting impression.

"Neymar is like an elf, dancing on the football field. The tacit understanding between his team and his smooth cooperation made me fall for football. As a result, I spent almost all my life in high school with football," he says.

The love for football also prompted Namlha to embark on a different path.

In a chat at dinner in 2019, his brother, with whom Namlha grew up together when they were young, recounted their high school soccer years with nostalgia, and the thought of launching an official WeChat account sprouted.

"We talked about the fact that many Tibetans love soccer passionately, but there had not been an account covering the sport in Tibetan. Thus the idea of starting one was born. With our constant and continuous discussion and debate, the account has gradually taken shape," Namlha says.

In the early stage of the planning, they discussed the current status of the print media as more and more newspapers and magazines have ceased publication, including China's famous football magazine Football Club that was in operation for 25 years.

"We believe posting articles on our official WeChat account helps people know more about football on the highland. And our love for the game made us decide to take action," he says.

In the past years, they continued to search for, and cultivate contacts by visiting many places. From being at a loss at the beginning when an interviewee turned away, and suffering a lot in the early stages, to being understood and treated with enthusiasm in the follow-up, his team gained a lot of valuable information for the content of the account. They have also collected and sorted out many stories related to Tibetan soccer. After a year of data collection, in-depth interviews, translation issues, creating a layout design and text proofreading, the Phorpa account was born.

"Phorpa refers to trophy in Tibetan. It is not only a simple noun, but also a symbol of honor in the eyes of the players, and it is also the cornerstone of expressing the emotions of players. All the love and cheers, sadness and tears, regrets and misses in the football world are related to it," he says.

"We hope to build a common and linked green highland for all the fans on the plateau."

Currently, only the Tibetan version is introduced. Namlha and his team have plans to launch a Tibetan-Mandarin bilingual version.

"We will work harder for this beautiful wish, a motivation for us. We know it is difficult and there is a bumpy road ahead of us, as long as we don't give up, we believe that we will be able to realize it," he says.

The magazine Season Zine founded in London in 2016 inspired Namlha. With just two issues a year, it covers the sport from a female perspective and interprets soccer as a fan. It was named in 2019 as one of the best indie soccer magazines in the United Kingdom.

"When we read Season Zine, we were attracted by its core content which gave us great encouragement. This magazine touches me not only for the typography style and the visual sense of surprise, but also the diversity and inclusiveness of the content. Creating this account is not only to record and share what we love, but also to build a belief worthy of people's trust," Namlha says.

"I think Phorpa may also have such potential. Because most of the people who love soccer in Tibet are fans, enthusiasts, and even amateurs. In structuring the account, we also start content creation with fans as the core. The emergence of Season Zine has proved many possibilities we envisioned at the beginning."

For Namlha and alike, soccer is a mixture of contradiction and art. It is no longer a pure entertainment sport, but blood that runs through the veins. For those who love the game, it can break through all restrictions. Soccer has all the imagination, energy and romance brought by competitive sport.

"Even in today's Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, although the air is thin, our love is not thin at all. The sport always runs through the heart of the plateau soccer lovers, and it is the spiritual sustenance of our life," he says.

For them, he adds, football is not just 22 players on the pitch. For everyone who likes football, it is a vast world full of unknown, free passion, and controversy.

"We hope that each subsequent post on our account will discuss different themes, and we hope to raise important and sharp questions from the perspective of Tibetan soccer. I hope this account can become a pioneer, and I hope it can resonate well, as its spirit and the advantage of football can help us tell a lot of human stories and become a true record of our time," he says.