To help more children and families understand football and experience the joy of football, the AFC Fun Football and Happy Family Grassroots Football Day Event was held at Beijing Gaoxin Youth Football Training Center on May 13 2018.

The event was hosted by the AFC, and undertaken by the CFA and Beijing Football Association. The organizer invited six member clubs under Beijing Football Association which excel at children’s football promotion. Children from Beijing Laoshanxili kindergarten, National Government Offices Administration kindergarten and Fengtai kindergarten were also invited to the training center and play the games. As one of the exhibitors, Chelsea FC set up game areas and brand promotion areas at 11-man, 5-man and beach soccer fields in the training center, and sent two top youth training coaches to play side by side with the children.

To promote the grassroots football development among AFC member associations, the AFC adopted May 15 as the AFC Grassroots Football Day. A key part of this year’s Grassroots Football Day celebration and the biggest highlight of this event would be the parent-child games. As the event was held on the Mother’s Day, many parent-child games were played during the event, such as mommy-baby football match, football factory adventure, football bobble, hand-in-hand game and other interesting games. These games not only inspired interests towards football and create a healthy football environment, but also showed the importance of family support in football development and helped the children grow and play football happily.

CFA Executive Committee Member Lin Xiaohua addressed the opening ceremony that football education is an integral part of education in school which is attached great importance to by the CPC and the Chinese government. Football can build outstanding characters in addition to a strong body. Football can help children improve in various aspects, including coordination, observation, rule consciousness and team spirit. The CFA actively responds to the call from the AFC and promote the AFC Grassroots Football Day. By staging these events, we hope more children can find football appealing and experience the joy, jointly supporting the fitness-for-all program and making China healthier.

The event was attended by CFA Youth Department Director Liu Xifu, CFA Youth Department Senior Supervisor Guo Xiao, Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sports Party Group Member and Deputy Director and Beijing Football Association President Yang Haibin, Beijing Football Association Executive Vice President Wang Jiangtao, Beijing Football Association Executive Committee Member and Beijing Gaoxin Youth Football Training Center Board Chairman Fu Chunming and other guests.

(edit：李鑫)