From the national team to campus football! If only there could be a few more Jia Xiuquan...

Written by/Nan Nan In June 2024, while at home in Beijing, Jia Xiuquan received a call from an investor of a Chinese second-tier team, expressing interest in having him return to coaching. It had been nearly three years since the 61-year-old Jia Xiuquan stepped down from leading the Chinese women's national team. Over these years, his life has been uncomplicated; aside from exercising, he enjoys watching the Chinese Super League and occasionally European league broadcasts. Football remains a significant part of his life, but he has transitioned from being a participant to an observer. Observers have their own thoughts, and Jia Xiuquan politely declined the invitation. A few days later, the same number called him again, with the same request and the same response.

Although he has been away from professional football management for many years, Jia Xiuquan's qualifications and abilities are still appealing. Soon, his phone rang again with the same request, but this time the investor was already in Beijing and hoped to meet with him. Since the story of Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang, "three visits to the thatched cottage" has been regarded as the highest courtesy in seeking talent. Jia Xiuquan hesitated, not because of his own attitude, but because he was unsure how to decline the other party's generous invitation in person. Thus, he turned off his phone for three days.

After three years of reflection, Jia Xiuquan had already made his decision. If he were to rejoin Chinese football as a participant, he wanted to change his role; in recent terminology, he would call it changing "tracks."

In Nansha, Guangzhou, the second elite exchange tournament for century-old prestigious schools gathered 16 teams from across the country. During the "Master Sharing Session," Jia Xiuquan's opening remark was a heartfelt "Thank you." These four words are light yet represent the accumulated experiences of this seasoned figure in Chinese football over the past six months. "I am now also a grassroots coach at a school," said Jia Xiuquan. "For a long time last year, I coached a team of 2011 and 2012 age groups, which is considered elite training. After experiencing it myself, I increasingly realized how challenging it is for you all, so I truly appreciate you." Last November, after the selection of the "rising stars" youth football elite ended, Jia Xiuquan lived with over thirty children at Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Nanyang High School, becoming a participant in Chinese football once again.

Once the first Chinese player to play abroad, an Asian Footballer of the Year, and the best foreign player in the J-League, Jia Xiuquan has served as the head coach of professional league teams, national teams, and the women's national team. He has participated in the Olympics and the Women's World Cup. No one has surpassed Jia Xiuquan's football life before the age of 60. Even the two Japanese coaches participating in this year's century-old prestigious school cup are familiar with his experiences in the J-League. Kyosuke Akizuka, the head coach of Hangzhou High School, clearly remembers, "He (Jia Xiuquan) had conflicts with Ramos; he was quite famous in Japan." After turning 60, Jia Xiuquan has a clear understanding of his role: he is a student, learning how to communicate with thirteen and fourteen-year-old children and teaching them in language they can understand.

No one taught Jia Xiuquan how to communicate with these children, and the kids have little concept of who he is; most of their understanding comes from their parents. Football has bound the over-sixty Jia Xiuquan to these children, serving as a bridge for their communication. In Shanghai, Jia Xiuquan eats and lives with the kids. Every morning at six, he knocks on the doors of the children's dormitories. He personally oversees morning exercises, agility training, and fundamental skills practice. The children who pass the elite selection are already among the best in their age group, but in Jia Xiuquan's view, they still lack coordination, proper technique, and concentration—these are what he considers "fundamentals."

For these children, the phrase "simplicity is the ultimate sophistication" might be too obscure; instead, the word "practice" is more straightforward. What is practice? "It is the continuous repetition of standardized actions to develop good habits," Jia Xiuquan explains. The first step of practice is inspiration; from the swinging of arms during each movement to the contact point of each pass, Jia Xiuquan demonstrates for the children. Once, twice, three or four times, ten times... This is not just a simple accumulation of numbers but a training of muscle memory and psychological adaptation. For these thirteen and fourteen-year-olds, simplifying complex concepts and leading by example is more effective than hearing tales of Jia Xiuquan's legendary career and honors in professional football from their parents. Only by being humble can they clear their minds and focus entirely on keeping pace with Jia Xiuquan.

The children in Shanghai only know that Jia Xiuquan belongs to someone who has always stood at the pinnacle of Chinese football, but they, and even their coaches, do not realize that campus football is a completely unfamiliar territory for him. In fact, not only is Jia Xiuquan hidden in a school in Shanghai, but former Chinese women's national team head coach Wang Haiming is also concealed in a private school in Zunhua, Hebei. Individuals like Jia Xiuquan and Wang Haiming appearing in the field of youth training in campus football is more about returning to simplicity after experiencing the complexities of Chinese football. When they are no longer entangled in the interests of professional football and no longer pushed forward by the pressure of honor and results, they can dive into campus football more purely, without worries, only with their original intentions. After being an observer for three years, Jia Xiuquan's current goal is clear—to nurture some talent for Chinese football with his limited power.

Because of this, for the youth training coaches in campus football, Jia Xiuquan is no longer just an image they can glimpse through television or the internet, but a vivid individual at the "Master Sharing Session" in Nansha. Decades of experience in professional and competitive football have not made Jia Xiuquan unattainable; rather, in his eyes, he and the coaches at the century-old prestigious school cup are no different—both are youth training coaches, only older and with more experiences. In fact, he believes that many on-site coaches have more hands-on experience than he does in youth training. Therefore, Jia Xiuquan is humble, calm, and does not engage in grand discussions about World Cup tactics or Olympic match footage, focusing only on personal experiences. Only personal experiences can resonate deeply in each other's hearts; only through these experiences can the resonance be profound, heavy, and enduring...

In such a face-to-face setting, no one cares about the rumors from the world of professional football, and no one attempts to unveil the truth behind various stories. Instead, everyone is concerned with how to alleviate the children's anxiety before the game, how to help them express their nature through football, and how to encourage more children to play and excel. If Jia Xiuquan did not have the determination to nurture talent for the nation, he would not appear at the elite exchange tournament for century-old prestigious schools in Nansha. If he had not resolutely left his former comfort zone, he would not have immersed himself in campus football, taking on the roles of grassroots coaches in their twenties and thirties.

In 2018, when Jia Xiuquan took over as head coach of the women's national team, he had "no reaction, no thoughts, and no waves." Now, in campus football elite youth training, he has even less reaction, thought, or anxiety; what he possesses is a calmness after shedding superficiality and a commitment to simplicity. When grassroots coaches in campus football have the opportunity to communicate face-to-face with a veteran like Jia Xiuquan about "how individual performance can organically combine with the whole," and when the children from Peking University Affiliated High School can discuss offensive and defensive techniques with a former national team head coach, our campus football receives more professional advice in areas it previously could not touch. For campus football, Jia Xiuquan represents a dimension reduction, but it is not a setback; rather, he tells the stories of professional football in a language that campus football can understand. Good stories will always find an audience.

Yukimura Amamiya, head coach of the Hong Kong-Macao student team in the Hengqin Guangdong-Macao Cooperation Zone, told Jia Xiuquan that the Gamba Osaka club's honor room still displays photos of him playing; Kyosuke Akizuka from Hangzhou High School waited two hours upon hearing about the "Master Sharing Session," just to get a photo with Jia Xiuquan to share with his Japanese colleagues on social media. When questions about the gap and catching up between Chinese and Japanese football arose during the sharing session, the marks left by Jia Xiuquan years ago are still vividly remembered by Japanese footballers. At that time, Jia Xiuquan was one of the models for Japanese football to imitate and one of the treasures of Chinese football.

As Jia Xiuquan began to step out of his comfort zone, although there are only a few individuals like him who once stood at the pinnacle of Chinese football now entering campuses, it is evident that campus football needs more such cases. In fact, campus football is also prepared to welcome figures like Jia Xiuquan. The Chinese Football Association stated at the end of last year during the "Revisiting the Long March"—2024 Chinese Football Development Seminar that professional coaches should have youth training coaching experience and provided specific guidelines on the duration of such experience. Everything is ready.

We hope to see more people like Jia Xiuquan...