The Nantong soccer team finished as runners-up in the 2025 Jiangsu Football City League, which concluded on Nov 1. The city has been exploring a practical and feasible way for Chinese soccer to improve its standing.

Over a century ago, Zhang Jian (1853-1926) founded over 300 schools and promoted an educational policy that prioritized morality, intelligence, and physical education.

Thanks to his efforts, every school in Nantong has built modern playgrounds, and soccer has become a common sport in all schools.

These measures have established a strong foundation for Nantong to develop seven Olympic champions, 24 world champions, and achieve 111 gold medals across the Olympic Games, World Cup, and World Championships.

Students play soccer on the playground. [Photo/ntfabu.com]

The "hometown of sports" has become a shining city card of Nantong.

In July 2015, Nantong was appointed as the sole pilot city for soccer reform by Jiangsu province. The city has launched two consecutive three-year action plans for soccer reform and has implemented support policies for professional soccer across three rounds, offering robust policy backing and assurances for the sport's development.

Chahe Primary School in Rudong county, as an example, clarified the direction of developing campus soccer in 2010.

To address problems such as parents' concerns about the impact of playing soccer on students' learning, the lack of qualified soccer teachers, and challenges in securing training venues and schedules, various parties provided supportive responses.

Special funds were allocated to the school for site and equipment upgrades. The Nantong Sports Bureau designated the school as a soccer training base and regularly sends experts to guide training, offering talented students opportunities to train with the city team. School training did not take up class time and soccer was included as part of the regular physical education curriculum.

The Nantong soccer team's members mostly originate from Haimen Codion and Nantong Zhiyun clubs. Their excellent performance highlights the success of local youth training efforts.

"With government support, our club collaborated with 11 primary schools and kindergartens to establish a competition system for selecting potential soccer players. For over a decade, children selected for the elite tier have received free youth training," said Dong Hui, director of admissions at Haimen Codion.

As of now, Haimen Codion has sent over 160 players to the youth training teams of various age groups under the Chinese Football Association.