Chinese parents save American football team
Print Edition
Luck ran out on Hangzhou Clovers American Football Club when, after the worst of the coronavirus outbreak in China, the owners allegedly made off with the money.
But just several months later the team of 12 boys and girls aged 6 to 7 is up and running again after their devoted parents got together to save the club from extinction.
Fan Yelin watches as his son kitted out in the team鈥檚 green and with the number 23 and his name 鈥淐aesar鈥 on his back, evades an attempt to snatch a red ribbon dangling from his waist.
They are playing flag football, which has similar rules to American football but tackling is not allowed so players need to rip off a flag from their opponent鈥檚 midriff.
The sport is typically played by children as a precursor to American football.
They are doing their weekly training on a small artificial football pitch on a rooftop in Hangzhou in east China鈥檚 Zhejiang Province.
Fan, who says there is only one American football pitch in the city of 10 million people, was instrumental in rallying his fellow parents when the owners seemingly vanished in the spring.
The self-styled American youth football development company allegedly took off with the families鈥 pre-paid fees. Some had forked out 40,000 yuan (US$6,000) for two years of coaching.
With China re-emerging from the pandemic following a nationwide shutdown in February, the children were desperate to get back on the field.
鈥淲hat really hurts us is not that the tuition fee was not paid back, but that our children had begun to finally like this sport and they鈥檇 only played for a year,鈥 said Fan.
鈥淗aving them give up would have made us really sorry. Then I thought: If the company is gone, we will do it by ourselves. We will rebuild the team and get back the coach.鈥
Fan said he went door to door to gather all the parents together and they readily agreed with his plan, even though they had to pay again for the training pitch, two coaches and other expenses.
鈥淎fter all of this, maybe a four-leaf clover really is a lucky thing,鈥 Fan said.
Police are looking into the case, but the parents do not expect to see their money again. The company also had teams in other major Chinese cities, allegedly leaving more parents out of pocket and their children kicking their heels.
Chen Xingyu knows a bit about American football having spent some time in the United States.
鈥淔or children of this age, the sport is more like a fun game compared to basketball and soccer,鈥 he said, explaining why he steered his 7-year-old daughter, Lisa, towards American football and not the two most popular sports in China.
Chen said family friends are often surprised that Lisa is involved in flag or American football, which is largely unknown in China and usually associated more with males than females.
But the NFL says it is growing in the world鈥檚 most populous country. According to its figures, more than 50,000 children under 12 are playing or learning regularly in organized training programs.
Chen said the Clovers鈥 tale 鈥 businesses running into dire straits during coronavirus and then allegedly taking off 鈥 is not an unfamiliar one.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 more common since the epidemic because for a lot of these kids鈥 training centers (in sport and education) they demand that you pay up front so they can expand their business,鈥 he said. 鈥淎nd then the epidemic broke out, everyone had to stay at home, all business stopped and their source of income got cut off.鈥
With the team saved and China now largely back to normal, despite the continuing virus threat, Fan sees only better days ahead. 鈥淲e want more kids to join us so we can have enough children to become a complete club and build our own culture,鈥 he said. 鈥淎nd we want more people to know about our story so we can inspire them.鈥
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