Across China: Soccer scores new lives for left-behind girls

A pair of soccer sneakers are the prize possession of Ma Shitong, 12. Every morning before she sets off for school, she carefully cleans them and puts them in her schoolbag.

"I have only one pair of sneakers and I just wear them for soccer training. I would never wear them during the day, because wear and tear will break the fabric," said Ma, one of 56 girls that play soccer at Sanhe Township Elementary School, located in Shizhu County in Chongqing. The girls' soccer team of the school is one of the best in the province.

Ma is a left-behind child, her parents work in factories in Zhejiang Province about 1,500 kilometers away. Ma and her grandmother do not have enough money to buy another pair of sneakers.

Ma has a cheaper pair of canvas shoes which she wears when she is not training. They are small for her but she hardly cares.

This summer is crucial time for Ma. Her friend Li Chunju has been offered a place at a junior high school in downtown Chongqing, and Ma wants the same.

"I have to train hard and improve myself before I can go to a better school," she said.

The township school established a girls' football team in 2012. Chongqing women are known for hot pepper in their food and for tenacity in their character. These village girls who grow up in the mountains are healthy and active, so the school decided to offer them a fitting sports program, said school principal Sun Xiaoming.

"The village girls may be smaller and thinner than their urban peers, but they have better stamina and train harder. Our team has developed fast in the last three years, and now some of our girls are the best players in Chongqing," he said.

A total of eight girls have received offers from good schools including the high school affiliated to the Southwest University, he said. In a municipality-wide football match last year, Sanhe Township Elementary School beat Datianwan Elementary School, which is a soccer academy school.

At a friendly match between Sanhe and Datianwan on Tuesday, the girls tied 0:0.

"The girls from Sanhe are pretty tough and hard to beat. The urban children will learn from their opponents hard-working spirit," said Gao Changhai, the Datianwan soccer coach.

Usually it is hard for rural children to gain a place at an urban school, said school principal Sun.8 "Most of the rural girls, upon finishing junior education or senior high school, just get married or find a job. Football has given them an opportunity to expand their horizons -- they can study in the city, go to college and even become professional players," he said.

Ma Lingqiao, a sixth grader, wants to be someone like Argentinean star player Lionel Messi. "I'm not tall, but I'm quite agile," she said.

While her classmate, Ran Yufeng, can finish a 400 meter shuttle run in less than one minute 40 seconds. "My trainer said I've got talent. I want to be on the national team when I grow up," she said.

The girls spend at least two hours every day training and seldom rest at weekends.

Sanhe school now has four soccer coaches and it regularly sends them to soccer clubs in Chongqing so that they can better train the girls.

"Even if these girls do not become professional players, their lives would be different thanks to football," said school principal Sun. Endi