Soccer inspiring hearing-impaired to succeed

Players learning cooperation and lessons for life on field

When the soccer field lights up at night, many onlookers come to cheer for the team in Zhanjiang, a coastal city in western Guangdong province.

Zheng Guodong, head coach of the team, usually stands at the center of the stadium and uses sign language to guide his players as they train and practice tactics.

As hearing-impaired players, most aren't able to communicate traditionally, Zheng said.

"But they get information through sign language," he told China Daily.

The team trains at the stadium at least twice a week when it is preparing for competitions. It belongs to the Longren Soccer Club, which was established in 2015, and grew out of a campus soccer team at Zhanjiang Special Education School, which was started about 20 years ago.