In the mist‑covered hills of the Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture, a modest coach is rewriting the narrative of rural sport. Coach Jifu Lama, once a young aspirant who received a Barcelona jersey from a friend, now runs daily training sessions that blend technical drills with life lessons.
His schedule is calibrated to the ages of the children, with early‑morning slots for the youngest and later sessions for older pupils. After each practice, Jifu personally drives the kids who travel the farthest back to their villages, ensuring that distance does not become a barrier to participation.
The origins of his passion are humble. With limited resources, Jifu once practiced on a basketball court, improvising goals and cones from whatever material was at hand. His father, recognizing the boy’s dedication, sacrificed a portion of their cornfield to carve out a dirt soccer pitch that would become the foundation of the program.
A Community Transformed
In September 2022, FIFA highlighted Jifu’s story on its social media channels, bringing international attention to the quiet revolution taking place in this remote corner of Sichuan. Armed with newly earned coaching qualifications and a stint studying youth development at professional clubs, Jifu returned home with a clear mission: to embed structured soccer programs into local primary schools.
To instill discipline and reward effort, he introduced a points system that grants children equipment or extra playtime for consistent attendance and good behavior. Fourteen‑year‑old Chen Yifeng is perhaps the most striking example of the program’s impact; after joining the pilot, he earned a place at a high‑quality middle school through a soccer admissions pathway.
The dirt pitch built by his father has since been upgraded to an artificial turf field, a makeover made possible with the support of Hisense. The first Liangshan Youth Football League, held in 2025, gathered 851 players from 50 teams, signaling a growing appetite for organized competition.
Xichang Aerospace School, representing Liangshan, captured the primary school boys’ title at Sichuan’s sixth Gongga Cup Youth Campus Sports Super League in 2026. The region has been designated as one of China’s pilot zones for integrating sports and education, now hosting 103 nationally recognized campus soccer schools.
Looking ahead, Jifu plans to take his youngest trainees to Xichang for inter‑regional tournaments this summer. He is also exploring the sale of locally produced agricultural products to generate supplemental income for the youth program, a move that could further sustain the initiative.
Jifu’s long‑term ambition is to establish a soccer club that serves villages across the prefecture, creating a sustainable pipeline that links athletic development with academic opportunity. His work exemplifies how grassroots effort, bolstered by national policy and private sponsorship, can transform lives in even the most isolated communities.