Group photo of some members of the Mulan women's football team.
The rhythm of the training match within the Mulan women's football team is equally intense.
The Mulan women's soccer team members do not fall behind when competing with the men's soccer team. The pictures in this edition were taken by Lin Weihang, a reporter of Shenzhen Evening News
Shenzhen News Network, October 27, 2021 (Shenzhen Evening News reporter Lin Weihang) In the Amateur Football Circle of Shenzhen, women's football teams are rare, and this team has been insisting for 18 years. Shenzhen Mulan Women's Football Team is the earliest amateur women's football team established by Shenzhen non-governmental self-organization, which has been active in major football venues in Shenzhen, and for 18 years, the team has been the home of Shenzhen playing girls.
From cheerleaders to kicking girls
Shenzhen Mulan Women's Football Team was founded in early 2003 by members of several amateur men's football cheerleading teams in the football section of the former Tiantian Earth Association website. They often trained and played under the leadership of men's football players, and later attracted many female football fans to join, and then they had their own team.
Girls who love to play football in China are not common, referring to the first "touching the ball" experience, Mulan player Zicha smiled: "Most of our team members were recruited into the football team at school because they could run, and then gradually liked the sport." Of course, there are exceptions, such as team member Liu Qiong. She said that when she was in junior high school, in order to get close to the handsome boy who played football, she pulled her classmates to form a football team together, and later found that she really liked the feeling of going in and out with her teammates on the court.
However, due to the small number of Women's Football Teams in Shenzhen, there is a great distance between women and men in terms of size, strength and speed on the field, so many girls will face the problem of "difficulty in playing football" after graduating from college. After graduating from college, Zicha joined the Mulan women's football team by chance: "At that time, on the website of the Heavenly Earth Association, I asked 'Where is the ball kick?' Then someone pulled me in. ”
After years of development, Shenzhen Mulan Women's Football Team continues to recruit new players. Now there are both veterans like Zicha and college students like Ye Cheng'en in the team. Zi Cha said: "We play football just to have fun, everyone encourages each other on the court, and when they are tired, they chat together on the sidelines. Moreover, many team members come to Shenzhen from other cities to live, where they can get to know more friends and accumulate resources in all aspects. ”
The hardest part is keeping the players
After the establishment of Shenzhen Mulan Women's Football Team, it became a hot spot in Shenzhen's amateur football circle from 2005 to 2007, with 2 to 3 games per week. However, since 2009, many players have chosen to leave the stadium for a while because of marriage and children, career sprints and other reasons. At its most difficult, the entire team consisted of only 20 to 30 members. During this time, some veteran players such as Orange and Purple Tea have been inseparable from football, and since 2013, they have continued to absorb new people and retain veterans, so that the Mulan women's football team has been revitalized.
Li Lishan, vice captain of Mulan, introduced: "Find some sisters who have played football in high school and college, or zero-based sisters who want to learn to play football, and players who have retired from the women's football professional team. In 2017, a management team with captain Luo Yawen and other veteran players as the core was gradually formed, volunteering to do logistical management for the team, and formulating a series of competition formats and training modes, and the team has been better developed. ”
At present, there are more than 200 people in the WeChat group of Shenzhen Mulan Women's Football Team, 50 to 60 people who are more active, and about 30 people who sign up to play football almost every week. However, Li Lishan believes that for the women's football team, keeping the players is still a problem. "In addition to a regular weekly rookie training and two regular competitions, we also regularly host events such as year-end networking, tour groups, or occasional dinners. These activities, as well as greetings from daily life, can bring the team closer together. ”
Team member Liu Qiong joined the Shenzhen Mulan women's football team in 2017 and temporarily left the stadium in 2019 because of the birth of a child: "But I did not feel that I left the team, and the sisters and sisters in the group would often send me blessings and ask about my situation, which made me feel very warm." ”
Kicking girls are still scarce
Now, Shenzhen Mulan women's football team has two regular season games a week, in order to prevent sunburn, tanning and do not affect work, the game is generally scheduled in the evening. Li Lishan smiled: "Many men's football teams want to play with us, and every time they open an appointment, they basically fill up the annual tournament in less than a week. I really appreciate the love of the friendly men's football team for us. ”
Now in addition to the Mulan women's football team in Shenzhen, there are also Teams such as Gehrema Women's Football, Bao'an Women's Football, Shenzhen Witch, Shenzhen International Women's Football and Yiyi Women's Football, and the development trend of amateur women's football is good. But overall, women's football teams and players are still scarce, and most of the people who can go out to play are men's football teams. Li Lishan said: "When other women's football teams make an appointment to play but can't get together, they will also pull our team members over to help. ”
Lei Shunbin, a male player who once played against the Shenzhen Mulan women's football team, said: "Playing with the women's team is still very fresh, and it will be very happy. Many of the women's players are good at their skills, and it's fun to play with them. Before the game, we will also discuss the rules, tell the players to reduce physical contact, try not to shoot hard, etc. ”
Interestingly, there will also be male players in some women's soccer teams, and Chen Xinghui joined the Mulan women's football team two years ago. He said: "When we played with the men's football team, we worked as a foreign aid in the Mulan team, generally playing as a central defender or goalkeeper, mainly because we were worried that the opponent's unconscious actions on the attack would be inappropriate for the female players. We need to run back and forth to play in the team, make up positions more quickly, and have more physical contact with each other. ”
Mulan is their other home
Over the past 18 years, Shenzhen Mulan women's football team has witnessed the development of amateur women's football in Shenzhen. Zicha believes that in recent years, more and more girls have played football in Shenzhen, and their skills have become better and better, and she hopes that more girls can stick to it.
In these 18 years, Zicha also did not play football for 6 years because of marriage and children. "I have a lot of feelings for this team and I can't just let it go." Therefore, after the children grew up, Zicha decided to return to the stadium: "The family is very supportive, in fact, just like doing yoga and Pilates, it is a sport that can bring happiness and health to everyone." ”
Also making a comeback after giving birth to a child is Liu Qiong: "In the game, everyone experiences victory and defeat together, emotional resonance, and emotional ups and downs will have emotional closeness." In Mulan, everyone's feelings are very deep. The reason why I have been staying in Shenzhen is because of my feelings for Mulan. What touched me the most was that some of the team members left Shenzhen to develop in other places, and we will also leave her in the WeChat group, and when she returns to Shenzhen one day, everyone will come out to play football and get together, as if welcoming her home. ”
The fresh blood in the team is also gradually resonating with everyone in training and competition. Ye Chengen, a senior in college this year, joined shenzhen Mulan women's football team two years ago: "When I encounter difficulties in life and study, I rarely tell my teammates. But when I came to the stadium and played football with my big sisters, I was full of motivation again. Ye Cheng'en will graduate next year, and she said that she hopes to stay in Shenzhen to develop, and she also hopes to stay in the Mulan women's football team and continue to play football with everyone.
Source: Shenzhen News Network
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