Women's team captain Wang calls on girls to pick up sports
China beat South Korea 3-2 in the AFC Women's Asian Cup final last month. Captain Wang Shanshan was named the MVP.
Chinese women's football team captain Wang Shanshan is encouraging more girls to pick up sports and support the development of women's football.
China rallied back from 0-2 down to beat South Korea 3-2 in the AFC Women's Asian Cup final in Mumbai, India, last month, becoming the Asian champion again after 16 years. Captain Wang was named the MVP.
"I hope this trophy can help encourage more girls to participate in sports activities, to support football, especially women's football," Wang said while taking part in the launch of the second phase of Nike Boundless Girls, a project unveiled days before International Women's Day to promote sports and healthy lifestyle among girls.
Saying that the power of idols is important in the world of sports, Wang revealed that she herself was inspired and encouraged by the "older generation" of Chinese women's footballers before deciding to pick up the sport herself.
"I used to play football on shabby grounds and pitches filled with mud and coal cinder," she recalled. "Now the infrastructure is much improved. Apart from pitches, the number of youth leagues has increased significantly. Young footballers are definitely blessed with more reasons and better conditions to enjoy the sport."
Wang Shanshan (front center) is among the ambassador athletes of the Nike Boundless Girls project.
Wang said football and sports can help girls to find confidence and happiness.
"More girls are into sports nowadays, whether it's football or other disciplines. Some may make it a career, some may not, as long as they feel happy and believe it is meaningful," she said.
"Life is not planned, but chosen… Sports also taught me how to shoulder responsibility. It's a teamwork that requires endless efforts and progress."
Wang also encountered setbacks in her career. Due to a knee injury, she had to rest for eight weeks before the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. After returning to the team, Wang devoted all her time to hard training to recover and find form.
"Despite injuries and poor form, I never thought of giving up. That's self-discipline and power of passion for the sport," she stated.
The Nike Boundless Girls project was launched in 2019. Over the past three years, it has visited 323 primary schools in China and managed to get more than 30,000 girl students involved in sports activities.
China's women's soccer team captain Wang Shanshan.
