Soccer inspiring hearing-impaired to succeed

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.

The club now has about 80 players of both sexes aged between 15 and 35, who are hearing impaired. They are not professionals. Many team members have jobs, working at fast food restaurants or on factory assembly lines, while others attend school. But they all come together at night to train.

Longren is the first officially registered disabled soccer club in the country and has been dubbed the "Barcelona Club of Chinese deaf soccer". It has had some success. The women's team won third place at the 4th AP Deaf Futsal Championships in Iran between April 29 and May 10.

The campus team from which the club was born grew out of a soccer fever that spread throughout the school when the Chinese men's soccer team qualified for the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Japan and South Korea.

It was the first time China qualified to take part in the event, and many students followed the matches, and developed an interest in playing the sport as a result. Their enthusiasm led Zheng, who was teaching at the school at the time, to set up a soccer team, which was approved by the school in 2003.

To train players properly, he purchased 100 books and many CDs to learn more about the game.

"Soccer has made the hearing-impaired players on the team more confident and optimistic," he said, adding that it is more than just a game, it's a tool that can help change people for the better.

For example, Chen Zhenhua, who was born in 1988, was a temperamental student before he joined the team, and was known for often getting into fights.

His irritable nature earned him the nickname of "Beast".

Since joining though, he has developed a passion for the sport and has become more disciplined, Zheng said, and even played on the Chinese team at the World Deaf Soccer Championships in Greece in 2008.

Longren has gone from being a local club to one that recruits nationally. These days, players not only come from Zhanjiang, but also from places such as Chongqing, and the provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan and Shaanxi, the coach said.

After many years of experience, Zheng said that he hopes to make hearing-impaired soccer more popular and more influential nationwide, and added that the club is preparing to create a domestic soccer league, hopefully with sponsorship.

That will attract even more hearing-impaired players, who could later go on to become coaches or referees.

Wang Liuqing, who plays on the women's team, said that frequently participation in training and competitions can inspire players to be courageous and overcome difficulties.

"It can also promote unity and cooperation, and can have a positive impact on your personality and mindset," she said.

Li Kangfa, Wang's husband, agreed, saying that soccer has brought him a lot of happiness over the years. The couple have played for the club for more than a decade.

Wang Han contributed to this story.