(Photo: CGTN)

As professional male football teams from around the world vie for the coveted FIFA World Cup in Russia, a group of girls in southwest China's Chongqing city are kicking their way into a better education.

Sanhe Primary School lies in southeastern Shizhu County, which it is administered by the metropolis of Chongqing. In fact, it's a three-hour drive from the city center. Many of the nearly 1000 students at the school come from the countryside. Over half of them are left-behind children, whose parents have moved to inner-city Chongqing to find work, leaving their offspring in the care of their grandparents.

At first glance, Sanhe Primary might seem like any other educational institution; yet this is no ordinary school. It stands out due to its focus on sport, and one sport in particular: Football. 

The school has invested heavily in football, a policy championed by the principal, Sun Xiaoming. He has built its girls’ team up from nothing, even borrowing almost 80,000 US dollars for a brand-new football field.

“Football has no requirement for the height of players,” Principal Sun says. “Our students don’t meet the requirements of height for basketball and volleyball. People over 190cm are rarely seen in Shizhu county.” But when it comes to football, he says confidently, “Our countryside girls have the ability to play.”

Principal Sun’s thinking is clear. Sanhe were the 2017 and 2016 Chongqing City U13 Women’s League Champions, and on the back of this success, he is able to work with inner-city Baihua Primary School, which selects the best players from Sanhe and offers them a better quality education in Chongqing itself. Out of 16 girls now training in the U13 group at Baihua Primary, 15 are originally from Sanhe.

One of them is Tan Siqi. The 12-year old transferred from Sanhe Primary School to Baihua two years ago, and since then has developed into a star player. Thanks to her footballing prowess, she has been promised a place at the prestigious 37th Middle School, has received a national award for her achievements, and is even looking at the possibility of attending a summer training camp in Spain.

Despite the accolades, as a girl in what is perceived as a very male sport, she has received her fair share of disparaging comments. But she doesn’t let it affect her confidence.

Tan Siqi recalls one conversation about football she and her teammates had with a parent. “Isn’t it a sport played by boys?” the parent asked. “And now you girls are playing it.” But Tan was defiant. “Girls can play football just as well,” she responded. “Boys and girls are equal. Why do grown-ups always believe that boys perform better than girls?”

And tellingly, Tan Siqi pointed out: “In China, the national women’s football team outperforms the male football team.”