Wei Haiying, a girl from Tunchang, Hainan, scored two goals off the bench at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics to help the Chinese women's football team reverse the score and advance to the final. After retiring from the army, Wei Haiying took up a coaching position and continued to work related to football education. Now, she is helping her former alma mater, Hainan Middle School, to cultivate the reserve talent of women's football.
1. How did you get on the road of football back then?
When I was a child, my main sport was to practice athletics, and then there was a women's football team in Guangdong Province, and at that time, the echelons of Guangdong Province and Hainan Province were not separated, and the Guangdong Provincial Echelon came to Hainan Province to select young players. My middle school played with another middle school, but our school didn't have a football team, so we temporarily found some athletes from other sports to compete, including me. I didn't know how to play football at the time, but coach Feng Rongcan, who came to Hainan with the Guangdong team, thought I could, and he asked me at the time: "Do you like to play football, do you want to go to Guangzhou?" ”。 I did not go to Guangzhou at that time, and I did not know where Guangzhou was, at that time, Hainan traffic was not very convenient, generally out of the island is to take a ship, summer vacation I followed my sister to take a boat for two days and one night, to Guangzhou Provincial Sports School.
When I arrived in Guangzhou in July 1983, I remember about 40 people participating in the training camp, and then I stayed in Guangzhou and started my football career.
2. In the semi-finals of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games against Brazil, you scored 2 key goals on the bench and sent the Chinese women's football team to the final. What are some particularly deep memories of this game?
I had my ankle injury in the first game of the group stage, and then I was resting and getting back to form. In the semi-final against Brazil, Ma Yuanan suddenly changed me to the court, and I was also surprised. But as athletes, we all had a competitive spirit, and I was anxious when the team was behind. When I scored the first ball, I felt that my ankles still hurt when I pushed with my arch, and I didn't dare to exert my strength, but I was absolutely confident in shooting from that angle.
This ball really touched me, because '96 was the first time in the Olympic Games that there was a women's football event, and it was one of the highest level events for women football players, so I thought I had to stick to the Olympics. After being injured in the first game of the group stage, I felt very disappointed, my heart was very painful, and there was no one to comfort me in a foreign country at that time, and it was difficult to adjust psychologically. These two goals in the semi-finals are a great encouragement to themselves, which means that their efforts have been recognized, and it is still exciting and happy to think of these two goals.
3, speaking of injuries, I would like to ask you to share more, because for athletes, injuries are inevitable things, especially in the important event stage of injury, which has a great impact on athletes, and may even become a lifetime regret. What advice do you have for young players today about injuries: What are the places to pay special attention to to minimize injuries? Once there is an injury, how to adjust the state as soon as possible physically and psychologically?
In the process of athletes' sports, injuries are inevitable, and there will often be some small injuries or major injuries, especially in the big competition, the blow to athletes is very large. The most memorable thing was that in the first game of the '96 Olympics, I was injured. This is the first time that there is a women's football event in the Olympic Games, and I have been preparing for this Olympic Games for a long time, but I was injured in the first game of the olympic games. This taste is very uncomfortable, and it is really the whole person who will collapse.
Injuries hit themselves hard, both psychologically and physically. If I had to give some advice to the current players, first of all, I should pay attention to keeping warm during training; secondly, I must be self-disciplined, which is also the most important thing, to work and rest on time, and to protect my body. Usually, it is necessary to strengthen the training of physical strength, ensure their muscle strength, and reduce the risk of injury. In terms of mentality, even after the injury, you must have a correct and optimistic attitude, and cooperate with the doctor to actively accept treatment. Now doctors will make scientific rehabilitation plans, coaches will develop effective training methods, as long as the players can cooperate well, I believe that the injury will soon pass. Athletes suffer injuries and have to believe they can adjust to their best.
4. Who are you most grateful for in your career?
In the whole football career, I am most grateful to my football enlightenment coaches, Feng Rongcan and Guan Zhirui, who went to Hainan to select me to the football team. Coach Feng Rongcan has been very patient in cultivating me in those years, imparting his personal skills to me, and working overtime to accompany me to practice and improve. Coach Feng Rongcan is in his 90s this year, and I visit him every time I go to Guangzhou.
When I was a child in the provincial sports school, the conditions in the sports school were not particularly good, and all of us female footballers would go to Feng's house to watch the ball. At that time, Feng Zhi's mother was still alive, and he was very filial to his mother, which also affected us ignorant teenagers.
I would also like to thank the two head coaches Shang Ruihua and Ma Yuanan, who have also helped me a lot in my career, and it is because of them that I have the opportunity to embark on a higher platform in football.
Special thanks to my father. He didn't support me playing before, but when I got into the national team, he followed the team to the game and was proud of me, which was a big change. Another gain is that football has made many people know me, not only as family and friends, but also by everyone in society.
5. You can say that you have been dealing with football all your life, looking back on your football career, what do you think is the biggest experience or harvest that football has brought you?
Looking back on my football career, it is true that I have been dealing with football all my life. I began to learn to play football at the age of 12, then entered the provincial sports school, the provincial team, and finally entered the national team. After retiring from the military, I went to Hong Kong, started from the lowest level of coaching classes, and then took the coaching certificate to become a coach, and also worked in administrative work. But in the end, he felt that football was a favorite sport for him, and chose to return to football again and continue to serve as a coach. In 2016, I returned to Hainan to coach the girls' football team of Hainan Middle School, and then founded a football club, and have been doing youth training and campus football training. Looking back on my career, the biggest impact of football on me is that I have the ability to live independently very early, and I have a strong ability to withstand pressure. If I had to make a new choice, I believe I would still choose to play football and play better than before, because the surging mood when I played for the national team is hard to forget.
6. When playing football, is there any idol who has always inspired him?
We were not as developed as information in that era as we are now, and we could not see live broadcasts at any time, and many games were recorded. At that time, I liked the Dutch Three Musketeers the most, and I admired Van Basten the most, who was also my idol. Van Basten plays very smartly and I imitate his style of play in the game.
7. What is the current situation of the establishment of a football training center in Hainan Middle School?
I returned to Hainan in 2016 and set up the Football Training Center of Hainan Middle School and the girls' football team of Hainan Middle School, and these children are about to enter their third year of high school. Now there are 28 players in the first batch of players in the team, these children are specially recruited to enter Hainan Middle School, at the beginning there were only 5 places, and slowly accumulated to the present.
In fact, we old women's football players have feelings, want to continue to carry forward the spirit of women's football, and return to their hometown can drive the development of women's football. I am a graduate of Hainan Middle School myself, and the school leaders are also very supportive of the women's football team, which is very fortunate.
The team is currently based on school football, and the children will learn cultural classes normally, usually after school in the afternoon. The training time is about an hour and a half, because there are self-study classes in the evening, so the time is very tight. We are very much in line with the school's idea of trying to get the children to learn cultural lessons without giving up on special training in football. The children are doing very well in this regard and the grades are very good. Our campus football is still in its infancy, and I hope that the members of the Hainan Middle School girls' football team can go to a good university and embark on a better platform.
8. Do you feel that it is difficult to recruit girls to play football? Does it take a lot of work to convince them or convince parents?
The Hainan Middle School where I am currently located is the best middle school in Hainan Province, and the women's football team here is also a relatively high-level team. Some parents want their children to come to this school and join us. However, our enrollment quota is very small, and for the children who want to play football but cannot be selected, the future direction is another problem, and the number of people is not enough to make the construction of the echelon somewhat difficult. At present, we are working with primary schools to select outstanding children from younger children, so that parents realize that children who play football well can also enter Hainan Middle School, so that parents will be more supportive of their children's football. We will also guide parents to communicate with them more, so that parents can actively cooperate with their children to play football, such as paying attention to the learning of the players' cultural classes, and ensuring their achievements, parents will have no worries. Now many colleges and universities are recruiting women's football, with the current situation to let more parents understand women's football, let more parents see the prospects of women's football in the future, let parents see their children have the opportunity to go to college after playing football, which may make the development of women's football smoother. In short, it is still necessary to be down-to-earth so that girls have a platform to play football, thus driving the growth of the women's football population.
9. In terms of training competitions and learning culture lessons, how do you think the women's football team members should balance?
At present, we still hope that children will mainly take cultural classes, early reading, evening self-study, etc. must be attended on time, and football practice is also carried out after school in the afternoon. I think that children who play football, both men and women, should pay attention to the learning of cultural classes, and in the mode of campus football, coaches should communicate with the class teacher in time and pay close attention to children on and off the field.
10. In the process of carrying out women's youth training, what difficulties have been encountered, and how are they overcome later?
It is indeed very difficult to develop football youth, especially women's football, and if we do not insist on it, it may be even smaller in football. I hope to be able to do my part in cultivating players, so I have also set up a club, there are a lot of youth coaches in the team, usually send these coaches to the grassroots, to the school to do training for children, these are dependent on our club to support, long time is still very difficult.
There will also be some problems in terms of social support. From a small point of view, children need the support of parents first, and secondly, the support of school leaders. In a big way, the government and the Football Association need to increase their support. If you want to catch women's football, the funds are relatively tight, Hainan side in many cases to rely on themselves to create a platform for children, in fact, some of the situation is to hope to let children enter a better university through playing football.
11. What is the biggest feeling of carrying out women's football youth training in these years?
The popularity of women's football is not enough, the development is more difficult, relying on the performance of one or two youth teams is difficult to make the overall situation of women's football improve, I hope that the government can provide more help to women's football youth training.
12. Are there any specific goals for the next few years?
The specific goal is not to talk about, at present, it is hoped that the platform of the Hainan Middle School Girls' Football Team can be used to allow children to study well and go to a good university after graduating from high school. There are not many athletes who can enter professional teams and national teams, and it is also possible for children to take other paths through football.
13. Finally, what do you want to say to the girls who are still playing football?
I would say that since you have chosen football, stick with it. I am proud of the girls who still insist on playing football, because football can exercise people's will, let people understand the power of team spirit, and exercise their ability to withstand pressure, which can help them go better on the road of life in the future.