In the agitated battlefield of youth, 405 teams, 9,589 valiant warriors, sweated in 1,443 matches and scored 5,356 times. These figures, like bright stars, light up the night sky of China's youth soccer tournaments.
The wide coverage and participation have been unprecedented; the fierce competition and deep influence have been revealed. The docking of the Women's U19 group with the Women's B League is just a prelude; the glory of the championships of the Men's U13 to U19 and the Women's U13 to U17 witnessed the splendor of this moment.
After four months of competition, the tournament has had a huge impact, but for the China Youth Football League, this is just the starting line. In the future, the Primary School Division tournament will officially join the fray; the U13 to U17 divisions will be in full swing with qualifiers; and the U19 division is expected to make a qualitative leap from the existing 26 teams. It is foreseeable that the second edition of the tournament in 2023 will be even more spectacular, with exponential growth in statistics.
The tournament was full of highlights and value. From the coaches to the players, from the tournament office to the local government, to the tournament security staff, everyone worked together and put in hard work to make the tournament a success.
After the fierce competition, the youth soccer players got a comprehensive improvement. Shandong Taishan U13 team did not perform well in the group stage, but four months later, they won the championship with their strong belief. the head coach of the U17A team, Nishitani Toshiki, said that the tournament was a valuable learning opportunity for both the youth coaches and the players.
Innovations in the rules of the tournament, such as the narrowing of venues in the U13 and U15 divisions and extra time in the final group stage, have greatly increased the pace and intensity of the matches. the elevated tournament system in the U19 division has led to more frequent confrontations between the stronger teams, and Luneng Soccer School U19 head coach Han Peng believes that every match is extremely valuable.
The Football Association, through the youth training digital platform, comprehensively carries out data analysis and statistics, establishes a database of outstanding players, and forms a player growth file. This is not only the importance of players, but also the affirmation of coaches.
Players such as Yang Mingrui from Dalian and Lv Mengyang from Tsinghua High School showed excellent soccer talents, and coaches such as Tao Jin from Shanghai Shenhua and Zhou Haibin from Shandong Taishan were also outstanding. The outstanding performance of the referees ensured the smooth running of nearly 1,500 matches, fully reflecting the coaches' and players' love and sense of responsibility for soccer.
The inaugural tournament was fully broadcast with TV-grade broadcast standards and attracted more than 70 million viewers. All these achievements are the driving force for the Chinese Youth Football League to keep moving forward.
However, the tournament also faces shortcomings, such as insufficient preparation time and financial pressure. China Youth Football League is looking forward to the participation of more responsible and visionary enterprises to jointly promote the future of Chinese soccer.
