Guizhou football is more than just "Village Super."

Chief reporter Chen Yong reports When discussing Guizhou football, "Village Super" is undeniably prominent. Despite "Su Super" gaining more popularity, "Village Super" remains resolute. The national finals of "Village Super" are currently in full swing in Rongjiang, featuring 51 teams, comprising 41 teams in the finals and 10 teams in friendly matches, selected from a pool of 683 teams across 34 administrative regions and 36 competition zones.

"Su Super" is expanding horizontally, leading to similar leagues like "Gan Super," "Xiang Super," "Chuan Super," and "Han Super." After experiencing horizontal growth that spurred various types of "Village Super" across the country, "Village Super" is now focusing on vertical development to achieve national event coordination, thereby granting this competition a new developmental model and lasting vitality.

Perhaps we can define "Village Super" as a revolution in grassroots football in China: on one hand, it aligns with national policies for the revitalization and development of football, which is indeed the rightful path for football progression; on the other hand, it truly realizes the concept of "Football +," particularly the integration of football with cultural and tourism events, which represents the future direction of football development, as the industry can provide genuine vitality to the sport.

In terms of the overall layout of amateur leagues, the precursor to "Village Super" is the county-level social leagues promoted by the China Football Development Foundation in nearly one-third of the counties nationwide. The enhancement of events is driven by "Su Super" and the continuous emergence of similar events across various provinces and cities, along with the original amateur leagues within the club pyramid system and other distinctive amateur competitions. The revitalization of amateur leagues has become one of the most significant highlights and driving forces in the recent development of football in China.

However, Guizhou football is more than just "Village Super."

Beyond Rongjiang's "Village Super," another hallmark of Guizhou football is the Bijie "Western Youth Training Pilot" (a pilot program for the integration of sports and education in youth football training in the western region), which began on December 28, 2023, and includes eight regions nationwide, supported by the China Football Development Foundation. This is one of the two key strategic layouts at the national level, with the other being the focus on major cities for football development.

The grassroots Rongjiang "Village Super" and the official Bijie "Western Youth Training Pilot" naturally form the two major hallmarks of Guizhou football development. While "Village Super" is not satisfied with just developing vertically in Rongjiang to establish a national competition, the development of Guizhou football extends beyond Bijie, using the Bijie "Western Youth Training Pilot" as a catalyst to lead the overall development of Guizhou football.

Guizhou Province has established a regional development system of "one main and four auxiliary," with Bijie as the main focus and areas like Guiyang, Zunyi, Qiannan, and Qianxinan as supporting regions for football development. Core policies include building youth training centers at the provincial, municipal, and county levels, as well as improving the campus football and youth training systems. Supporting policies encompass enhancing the organizational framework for the Guizhou Football Reform and Development Joint Conference System and improving the "1+N" policy framework such as the "Guizhou Province Football Youth Training Center Construction Plan."

Such a layout clearly aligns with the original intention of the "Western Youth Training Pilot." Whether it’s the "Western Youth Training Pilot" or the key football cities, the approach of using a point to drive the surface is an inevitable requirement and direction.

On August 12, in Guiyang, with temperatures ranging from 21°C to 25°C, the heat was unbearable in North China, East China, and South China. Besides the comfortable temperatures, another characteristic of Guizhou's summer is its cloudy weather and low sunlight radiation. This extremely favorable weather condition makes it the best choice for football training and competitions during the summer vacation.

On the foundation of continuously developing and enhancing its event system, Guizhou has a more ambitious plan: the establishment of its own "Summer Training and Competitions" system, which will further upgrade to a national "Summer Training and Competitions" system, featuring larger-scale and higher-level events, complemented by a corresponding national "Summer Training" program. This system centers around Guiyang and radiates to cities like Bijie, Zunyi, Kaili, Duyun, Liupanshui, and Anshun, with high-speed trains connecting Guiyang to these cities in about 30 minutes to an hour.

Related measures include coordinating the planning of training venues and accommodation, organizing event systems and transportation, and providing comprehensive and quality services for parents. More importantly, unlike other places that focus solely on competitions, Guizhou's "Summer Training and Competitions" organically combines "events + training" based on its excellent weather, which aligns better with the inherent rules of football development. From the perspective of Guizhou football development, the comprehensive rollout of the "Summer Training and Competitions" will inevitably drive the construction of its youth training system.

This is a strategically insightful plan, one that is also aimed at the broader vision of Chinese football.

While leading Guizhou football development with its two major hallmarks and supporting the development of youth training in China through "Summer Training and Competitions," Guizhou is also constructing multiple development models for youth football.

Provincial, municipal, and county-level youth training centers are being built comprehensively; campus football is accelerating its development, and the system is becoming increasingly streamlined; social training institutions are being placed in important positions as significant means for enhancing youth training. For example, the Chasing Wind Youth Football Club, established by parents of players, represents an innovative model for social training institution development; at the professional football level, Guizhou Zhucheng Jinjing has currently entered the promotion group of the China League Two.

The core challenge of football development in the western region lies not in the system but in the scarcity of quality talents such as coaches. In addressing this key issue, Guizhou football currently showcases three models: first, accelerating the cultivation of its own coaches, referees, and other football talent; second, attracting excellent professional players from Guizhou back to support the development of youth football, such as Xiang Hantian returning to his alma mater, Guiyang Second Experimental Primary School, to teach, and former professional player Cheng Junlong returning to his hometown after starting a business in Shenzhen to invest in Guizhou Zhucheng Jinjing Football Club; third, attracting outstanding external coaches to assist in the development of Guizhou football, such as the hiring of former Tianjin Quanjian and Shenzhen FC coach Li Jichao as the head coach of the Chasing Wind Youth Football Club.

This is Guizhou football—originating from "Village Super," but not limited to it; focused on Bijie, but not confined to it; coordinated within Guizhou, yet with a vision for Chinese football.