Mountain coach gives wings to soccer dreams

It's 6 pm, and the summer heat still lingers over the mountains of the Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture in Sichuan province. Children begin making their way to an artificial-turf soccer pitch in Ganluo county from villages scattered across the hills.

Some carry boots in their hands, others clutch worn soccer balls. A few have just finished their homework at coach Jifu Lama's home before heading to training.

Jifu places cones across the field and tells the players to warm up. In 90 minutes, darkness will descend over the mountains. After practice, he drives the children who live farthest away back to their villages. "I worry about them walking home alone at night," the 24-year-old said.

Jifu has a set schedule for his young charges during the summer holiday.

Children around 10 years old train from 8 am to 9:30 am. Boys around 12 follow until 11 am. Girls of the same age arrive in the evening, from 6 pm to 7:30 pm. Training is on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and weekends.

Some children live only a five-minute walk from the pitch. Others spend nearly 40 minutes trekking mountain roads to attend practice.

For Jifu, these daily routines are another way of pursuing the sporting dream that eluded him as a youngster.

Years ago, he searched for places to train, hoping soccer would carry him beyond the mountains. After realizing that becoming a professional player was beyond his reach, he returned home to help a new generation discover and master the game.

What began as one boy's solitary pursuit in the mountains has become part of a broader shift in grassroots soccer. Through improved facilities, school soccer programs, expanding competitions and a more structured youth training system, children in rural areas are gaining new pathways for personal growth and education — part of China's broader effort to develop soccer from the grassroots level.