Football fever ignites Nantong

Two players compete on the football pitch in Nantong. [Photo/Nantong Daily]

The football fever in Nantong, Jiangsu province, is buoyed by football tournaments like the Nantong Youth Campus League and the Nantong Home Textile City Challenge this summer.

The city now is home to over 4,000 sports fields, including 560 football pitches. Schools such as Zilang No 1 Primary School and Chahe Primary School have integrated football into their curricula, with every class having a team. These efforts have led to 241 national campus football schools with distinctive features in Nantong.

Nantong was named a national pilot zone for youth campus football reform ‌in 2018. It is now home to several pilot counties and a Starry Sky training camp. The city's youth football teams consistently rank in the top three in provincial competitions.