A sporting chance: Top stars go all out to help poor children play
Print Edition
More and more Chinese athletes are getting involved in charity work to help children in impoverished regions have equal access to sports resources.
Zhang Lu, 31, captain of Chinese Super League club Tianjin Tianhai and project sponsor of a sports charity organization, is among them.
Zhang took a big step recently, transforming an unsurfaced playground into a standard football stadium for a primary school in the north Tianjin Municipality.
The new stadium is expected to put into use in a month and his team will continue to guarantee field maintenance and provide other support, an agreement signed on Tuesday showed.
Wang Guanghui, principal of the school, said pupils love playing football.
But it鈥檚 hard for the school to teach football as a core course due to limited resources.
鈥淶hang helped us to solve the biggest problem, so the children鈥檚 football dream can come true on the new field,鈥 Wang said.
Many people living in big cities think a standard football field is common to a school.
But in fact, lots of schools in remote and impoverished areas have been constrained by a lack of football infrastructure, according to Zhang.
鈥淐hildren may get injured when playing football on the unsurfaced ground.
鈥淪ome parents have to ban this activity for the sake of their children鈥檚 health,鈥 Zhang said, adding that the new field gave more children opportunities to improve their skills and inject life into the future of Chinese football.
In the past four years, Zhang has been teaching football classes and donating sporting goods and daily necessities for 16 schools in remote areas.
He plans to build two to three football fields every year for more schools in Tianjin, Liaoning and other parts of China.
Meanwhile, Zhang never forgets his responsibility as a captain of a football team.
鈥淚n recent games, our team performed well, which motivates me to do more for the children who love football, and in turn, the sports charity inspired me to achieve better performances in the following games,鈥 Zhang said.
In addition to football players, many athletes in other fields have also participated in sports charity work.
Zhang is not alone in his endeavors. Zhang Yuning, a forward with Beijing Guoan, brought a group of pupils from Beijing to his training base to let them experience the charm of football on site.
Zhang Lu wants to play a role in leading more people and athletes to join him. 鈥淚 hope that football culture will become a means of creating positive energy to help realize the Chinese dream,鈥 he said.
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