This is probably the most special football field in China. The green lawn is hidden in the clouds, and the roses in the middle circle are in full bloom in the depths of the mountains. This stadium is the China Women’s Football Rose Dream Stadium, located at Wawu Primary School in Zhaojue County, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan at an altitude of 2,700 meters. There is a row of scarlet letters on the roof of the school, which makes the mountain village school a dream place. And it was Qubi Shigu, the principal of Wawu Primary School who planted this dream seed.
There used to be only four students here, who went to school in the cowshed and played football in your field every day. Now, there are 226 students in the school, and the children also have a very beautiful football field. It is Qubi Shigu’s persistence for 20 years that has made the children here walk out of the mountains and made more and more children change their lives through football. In 2003, after graduating from Xichang College, Qubi Shigu went to Zhaojue County, Liangshan, Sichuan Province to become a rural teacher. At that time, Wawu Primary School was actually not a school, but a shabby cowshed. There were only four students, a blackboard and a few cows in the cowshed. In the traditional concept of Yi people, it was useless to study, so it was better to herd cattle. Qubi Shigu made home visits one by one and told them that only reading could get them out of the mountains.
Later, there were more and more children in primary schools, and the cowshed could not sit down, so they moved to adobe houses. Before long, the adobe house collapsed and they moved to the open space in the village. In order not to let the children suffer, Qubi Shigu secretly took out the 50,000 yuan deposit at home and built three big tile houses. At this time, it was a little like a school. Mr. Qu Bishigu fell in love with Roberto Baqiao when he was studying in the county town. He also liked playing football very much, but when he came here, he found that the children here were far away from the sport. Teacher Qubi also gradually realized that if children in the mountains want to communicate with the outside world, they must play football. There was no football field in the school, so Mr. Qu Bishigu led parents and students to plow the ground with cows and then tread it down, so a simple football field came out.
This stadium is dusty when it is windy, muddy and uneven in rainy days, and it is common for children to get injured. It is such a venue that many children have a football dream. In 2017, the first football team of Wawu Primary School was established. From March to June every year, the annual football league will be held in your land next to the school. Qu Bishigu said that maybe one day, they can walk out of the mountains through football and realize their dreams. Perhaps it was the moment when the seeds came out. Seven children from Wawu Primary School were selected for the training camp of Real Madrid Club in Zhaojue County. Under the front line of non-profit organizations, Qubi Shigu once took the team to Beijing to play games and met with the U13 echelon of Guoan at the Workers Stadium.
Qu Bishigu said, if there is no football, how can children go to Beijing? Later, Qu Shigu realized a problem, why can’t girls play football? Girls, like boys, should have the right to play football, so he began to form a women’s football team. In the traditional concept of Yi people, it is unsightly for girls to wear shorts, but slowly parents see that their children have changed a lot through football. Whenever there is a school competition, parents watch these girls play football around the stadium. Although many parents simply don’t understand it, such a warm scene was hard to see before. Wawu Primary School can have an enviable stadium, which is to some extent due to the women’s football team she formed.
In 2022, Wawu Primary School was selected as the supporting project of women’s football in rural campus, which was initiated by Ant Public Welfare Foundation. The China women’s football team tied Japan and won the runner-up. We once again witnessed the spirit of women’s football girls never giving up. At the same time, China women’s football team and many people. Together, we did a meaningful thing on Alipay, that is, provided a stadium for these girls, and more than 600,000 users gave their love on Alipay. Last December, the second China Women’s Football Theme Stadium, donated by China Women’s Football Team and Alipay, replaced the original clay ground and put it on the Liangshan Mountain. What makes Qu more gratified than Shi Gu is that a key junior high school in the county took a fancy to several girls who played well, and the initial dream became a real football, which really brought more possibilities to girls. Teacher Qu Bishigu has always believed that playing football can also be another way for children to get out of the mountains. Even if children stop playing football in the future, he hopes that sportsmanship can accompany them all their lives. Now Qubishigu has been in this school for 20 years. He said, I want to work for another 20 years and continue to protect the dreams of the children here. I hope all the children here can go out and never come back.
