Players practice headers on the school field in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, August 3, 2011. [Photo/China Daily]

At first, nothing

In an old two-story building near the field, Yilamu has worked painstakingly over the past decade in a 15-square-meter room with a display of the trophies his players won in various tournaments, plus a bed and a hot plate.

In 1999, Yilamu was appointed deputy chairman of the Xinjiang Football Association. Moving into his office, which is rented from a primary school, and sitting in front of his desk, a dining table he bought from a barbecue restaurant, Yilamu felt the future of Xinjiang soccer was fairly dim.

"I had nothing then. No money, no players and no idea."

In 1994, soccer had become the first sport in China to turn professional, and its profound reform lit a fire under the development of the soccer market. A Xinjiang soccer team joined to play in a second-division league, but failed to advance into the professional league and was dismissed in 1996.

"Few people in Xinjiang knew they had a soccer team then," Yilamu said, "but I gradually found the rich soccer soil waiting to be tilled, the pure and passionate love for soccer at the grassroots level, especially among the children and teenagers."

Soccer in many rural areas across Xinjiang was the only entertainment for preschool children and students. "You can see enthusiastic children and teenagers play soccer everywhere in places like Kashgar, Urumqi and Yili, and there are also regular matches among schools," he said.

In 2002, as part of a program to support Chinese youth soccer, the Chinese Football Association induced Soong Ching Ling Foundation to fund a soccer school in Urumqi. Yilamu became the president. The next year, the association helped Yilamu select the first batch of 80 young soccer players, most of them under 15, out of 695 candidates from all over the autonomous region.

The foundation grants 500,000 yuan ($78,000) to the school every year. The Urumqi municipal bureau of sports provided 1 million yuan for the startup.

Yilamu signed a 10-year lease with a local technical school to use facilities including a field, stands and a two-story building as the students' dormitory. The region's sports bureau paid 2.5 million yuan to renovate the old facilities.

Star alumni

In the following years, the school has solidified the reputation of Xinjiang soccer by winning various tournaments and contributing talented young players to national teams and professional clubs.

In 2005, the Xinjiang soccer team, consisting mainly of students from the school, went to the final game of the 10th National Games of China, a first in the history of Xinjiang soccer. In the decisive qualifying match, a 16-year-old named Bali shot the winning goal.

Bali and another player from the school, Metjon, were recruited to the national Olympic men's soccer team and were signed up by two professional clubs in the Super League, the top soccer league in China.

More than 20 other players from the school have played professionally in the second division. Two were chosen for China's national under-19 and under-15 teams, and two more for the national beach soccer team.

In 2006, the region got its first professional team, with a roster filled mostly by players from the school. Xinjiang Football Club of Sport Lottery was founded to play in Chinese soccer's second division. In the next three years, more than 20,000 spectators on average went to Urumqi Stadium to support their home team.

In contrast to the blooming of Xinjiang soccer, the general Chinese soccer environment, after 17 years of professionalism, is suffering from bribery scandals, is struggling in international play, and faces a meager supply of future players. The Chinese Olympic team did not qualify for the 2012 London Games, and hopes for the 2014 Brazil World Cup look dim. Only about 7,000 players under 18 registered with the Chinese Football Association last year, compared with 500,000 in Japan.