Children at Sanhezhen Primary School in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality enjoyed a special football lesson on Tuesday morning with career coaches, team doctors and players from Chinese Super League side Chongqing SWM.
"I never thought I would be able to play football with professional players. They taught us many useful things and I learned a lot from them. It was so much fun," said Tian Qianping, a third grader at the school.
Located in a mountainous area over 200 kilometers away from downtown Chongqing, Sanhezhen Primary School is working hard to develop the students into truly strong and independent personalities. The majority of the student body is comprised of so-called "leftover children", whose parents live and work in other cities.
It is football that makes the school different. In recent years, the school has been intensively promoting football coaching and helping their students exercise by playing football matches. Its girls' football team is particularly successful, as it won the Chongqing School Football Championship in 2015 and ranked among the first class teams in the National Junior Football Championship.
The football lesson is Chongqing SWM's first such public activity this season. Coaches and players gave students their team flag, signed jerseys and team kits. After that, fitness coach Juan Torrijo led warm-up session, team doctor Yin Xijun explained how to treat sports injuries, and players such as Wu Qing and Dong Honglin led the children in a training session.
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