Six years ago, Xu Zehui was in the early bloom of youth, how could he have imagined that his bond with the BGBC (Beijing High School Inter-school Football Championship) would be as hard to break as a predestined destiny?
The stage of bgbc has no luxurious funds, no complicated external reliance, only a group of football-loving high school students, who use their own feet to write about the fervor of soccer. Mention of neighboring Japan's centennial high school soccer league, people always envy its long history and excellent level, while China's high school league, but few people pay attention to. However, Beijing Guoan Football Salon, the city's soccer flag, has always been spreading the soccer culture with the heart of public welfare, and bgbc is the place of hope for those grass-roots soccer fans. 2021, Guoan Football Salon invites you to join us and join hands with a group of young people to promote bgbc.
On June 13th, the 5th bgbc was successfully concluded at the Juga Stadium, with Beijing West International School holding off One and One High School to take home the championship trophy. Since the inaugural bgbc in 2016, to the just-concluded fifth, five consecutive tournaments (suspended in 2020 due to an epidemic), Xu Zehui has always been involved in different capacities, witnessing the growth of this tournament among high school students in Beijing.
From duty to love
In 2016, Liu Yihe from Normal University High School founded the inaugural bgbc, "initially with no particular purpose but to provide more opportunities for students to play soccer." Four years ago, Liu Yihe said in an interview, "If I knew it was so complicated to run a tournament, I probably wouldn't have chosen this path. But now that we have started, looking at the reluctance in the eyes of those students who lost, we feel that we have a responsibility to continue this tournament."
First row: Xu Zehui (first from left), Li You (second from left), Liu Yihu (third from left)
Third row: Xiao Yang (first from right)
The "responsibility" that Liu Yihu referred to has also become Xu Zehui's belief in a subtle way. Over the past six years, Xu Zehui has been involved in bgbc in different capacities, from the initial filming of the event, to volunteering, to being a member of the organizing committee, and then to becoming the general manager of the fourth edition.
As his identity has changed, so have Xu Zehui's emotions about the BGBC. "At first, it was out of duty, but today, the love for this tournament has gone deep. It is like a child we raised together, from responsibility to voluntary contribution, and then to pure love now, this emotion is no longer severable." This change in emotion is also reflected in every young person who has grown up with the tournament.
Xiao Yang in illustration (center white)
"It's really done this far because of love and affection." Xiao Yang, a junior this year, said he joined the bgbc operations team as a note in 2017, assisted with field operations in 2019, and officially joined the organizing committee this year. It is the love of this tournament and soccer that has made Xiao Yang, whose studies are becoming increasingly demanding, give more time and energy to the bgbc.
At the suggestion of the tournament's special sponsor, Beijing Guoan Football Salon, the bgbc organizing committee has chosen "Love is greater than everything" as the tournament's slogan. "We also thought of some other slogans, but felt that this one better expresses our original intention of organizing this tournament." Liu Yihe, founder of bgbc, said.
Murray (second from right)
It's not just the organizing committee members who are passionate about the BGBC, but those players, parents, and coaches who are participating in the tournament are likewise participating in this high school self-created tournament with no official affiliation because of their love. "As a World Campus, this is the first time we have participated in such a public campus-based tournament. We were pleased with all aspects of the tournament, we love soccer and enjoyed it, and hopefully we'll be back next year." Said Murray, head coach of the winning team, King's West School.
Liu Junrong (center)
Zhu Dan, mother of Liu Junrong, captain of One and One Secondary School, said that participation in the tournament has become a tradition at One and One Secondary School. "My child heard about this tournament through alumni of One and One High School, who once participated in it and achieved good results. This competition is still somewhat famous among high school students, and the alumni love this competition and hope that their schoolmates will continue to participate and stick to it as a tradition. We also hope to keep passing it on like this, soccer culture needs to be accumulated and spread like this." Zhu Dan said.
Soccer changes lives.
Many parents do not want their children to play soccer because they always see soccer as an option for their children's future life work. Professional soccer has a low success rate and a high elimination rate, so it is difficult for "sensible" parents to choose between the college entrance exam and soccer. However, becoming a professional soccer player is not the only purpose and meaning of the sport. The children who participate in bgbc may not become professional football players, but most of them will change their lives because of soccer.
"I think every child needs a sport that he loves and is good at, and that will benefit him for the rest of his life. Our child is physically stronger, and I think it's because he grew up playing soccer. His coordination, stamina, and perseverance have all improved a lot because of playing soccer." Although playing soccer can bring about these beneficial changes, Judan says, there are other charms of soccer that she has only experienced this time around through her participation in the BGBC. "Before, there was no such municipal competition, and the kids lacked the opportunity to play against famous and powerful teams; at most, they had a friendly date, and that atmosphere was completely different from this kind of tournament. My feeling is that they represent the school to participate in this kind of competition, for each child's sense of group honor is a particularly big promotion. In addition, this kind of round by round fight to the final is very good for the children's mental training, we are very excited as spectators on the sidelines. As parents, we are proud that our children can play in such a competition."
Tears in the eyes of One and One High School players after the game
The final of this year's bgbc was not a perfect one, with One and One High School believing that the first goal scored by their opponents was controversial (the opposing team used an unofficial match ball to continue the match after the dead ball, and the referee did not make a call). Some of the players from One and One Middle School were agitated during the game, but their goalkeeper immediately went up to his teammates and persuaded them, "Remember we can lose the game but not the people."
After the match, as the head coach of the opponent, Murray spoke highly of One and One High School. "I think this match was the most difficult one we've played in this cup, One and One High School is so strong, they are very strong from their tactics to their lineup to their technique, they are a very strong opponent. I think this match was particularly exciting and deserved the title of final." As for the controversies that arose during the competition, Murray believes that it is this imperfection that reflects the perfection of the game of soccer. "Of course there has to be controversy, otherwise it wouldn't be soccer. I feel that the referee is doing his job, the referee is also a human being, is a human being are not perfect. If the other team has some doubts, we also have some doubts, which makes soccer so attractive. I understand the players of One and One High School, but this is also a kind of growth for them, and this final will surely make them look back for many years."
Murray said he was surprised to learn that the meet was completely student-founded and organized. "I think it represents the level of leadership and the level of high school students in our country right now. The fact that all the high school students are holding a cup of this magnitude on their own, and it's in its fifth year, and that this effort has made their parents, and it's made us all feel that our country is very well educated, and that it's not just exams as the outside world would have us believe, makes me proud of them. I think both the organizers and the players who participate in the tournament have more or less changed the course of their lives because of this tournament."
Xu Zehui
Xu Zehui is precisely because she has been involved in bgbc's tournament operations since junior high school, so she filled out several majors in the college entrance exams, only in the end, she was admitted to the early batch of Beida University, and rubbed shoulders with the sports-related majors. "but for graduate school i would like to switch from opera, film and literature to journalism and communication, so that i can better help bgbc. as for future work, i also hope to engage in sports-related, and it is best if i can help bgbc all the time. from my personal point of view, there is no limit to the number of years that i can be involved." And soccer has also become Xu Zehui's favorite sport, "I fell in love with soccer from the beginning of my participation in bgbc, and now I'm a Bayern fan, and I usually insist on watching and playing football, and insist on meeting friends with football."
Xiao Yang, who is already a junior, has likewise embarked on a path of illustration he hadn't originally thought of because of bgbc. "It's safe to say I wouldn't be where I am now without bgbc, so I've always loved it." Although she didn't study broadcasting and hosting in college, years of live illustration on bgbc allowed Xiao Yang to make some name for herself in amateur illustration. "I gained a lot of viewers and a lot of feedback from players through various channels that they liked my style of illustration. I have also met many like-minded friends, and as a result have been given the opportunity to illustrate many other competitions, including the then Youth Premier League in 2017, and the 100 Teams Cup final and Network New Media Cup final last year. Illustration has become an integral part of my life."
Special sponsor Beijing Guoan Football Salon Youth Training Deputy Director Yang Pu watched this year's bgbc final as the guest of honor, and he believes that professional soccer is only a small part of soccer, not the whole thing. "I think it's important for every kid to get involved in sports, and it doesn't even have to be soccer. It's a good way to decompress and relieve the pressure of studying by letting them go out on the training field and the playing field after studying through competitions like this. Sweating it out is good for their physical and mental health." Yang Pu said.
The road ahead is long.
The bgbc, which has run five editions in six years, is now hitting a modest bottleneck.
This year's Organizing Committee Xu Zehui (front row, fourth from left) Xiao Yang (back row, second from left)
"In fact, thanks to our efforts, the help of our predecessors, and the support of the community, the tournament does not have many difficulties in plain sight now." Immediately after the fifth bgbc, the tournament organizing committee summarized the season, and we agreed that we need to plan a set of tournament arrangements and talent selection system that can run in the long run.
Most of the founders and organizing committee members of bgbc come from the BGBC, relying on the organizational strength of the school's newsletter to advance a great deal of the tournament's grassroots work. "It used to be supplemented with freshmen, but last year it was suspended for a year because of the epidemic, which cost the kids valuable time." Xu Zehui said.
Because of the special nature of the three-year school system for middle school students, as long as one year is not articulated, there will be a talent gap. "As long as our time and energy allow, we are willing to serve the bgbc, but we are definitely not enough, we must add new people. And one of the characteristics of bgbc is that the tournament and the participants are both high school students, we know each other very well and can meet the needs of the participating teams. But a few of us are getting farther and farther away from high school life, and we are less and less able to observe problems from a high school student's perspective." Xiao Yang said. "I think bgbc can't be detached from high school students, and Scholastic Society is an important bridge, bgbc can't be detached from high school students as the public. The reason the Scholastic Communication Society has moved more and more behind the scenes in these two competitions is because of the growing support of community forces like the National Security Salon, who are more than welcome to come and collaborate and support the bgbc."
This year's bgbc already has four official partners, as well as Beijing Guoan Football Salon, a special guest support partner. "I think this kind of amateur competition outside of the traditional soccer schools is especially good, I heard that this year is the fifth edition, with more than 20 schools participating, and I expect this tournament to attract more teams. The
Beijing Guoan Salon takes set photos of all participating players
While the difficulties on the surface are not considered a problem for the enthusiastic youngsters, the hidden concerns behind the tournament have begun to worry them. "We wanted to expand the tournament this year, but in the end, only 24 teams signed up and one dropped out. Many schools have told us that our own campus can't even come up with a seven-player team anymore. I'm worried about what school soccer will look like in five or ten years, and I wonder if, in the face of more and more temptations, there will still be middle school students who are attracted by the charm of soccer." Xu Zehui said without worry.
bgbc salon shoots warm-up film for this year's bgbc
Xiao Yang also lamented that after really participating in the organizing committee of the tournament this year, he was under more pressure than before, and had beaten the drum of retreat in the face of the unsatisfactory registration situation. But after the finals came to an end, he imitated the opening of One Hundred Years of Solitude and wrote this paragraph - "Years later, whenever Xiao Yang students stand on the explanation table, he will recall the distant general afternoon in 2017 when he first participated in the organizing committee interview."
