| Changing Chinese Football from the Bottom Up! |
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| Wednesday, 07 July 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Rowan with Ian Rush in Beijing In the 1980’s, Rowan Simons took his love of football and an interest in all things Chinese to China and the rest is history! Rowan is currently Chairman of China ClubFootball which helps promotes grassroots football as well as charitable and English learning opportunities. Rowan’s adventures in Beijing have been the basis of his highly successful book, Bamboo Goalposts, where he covers both life in China and China’s love-hate relationship with the beautiful game. Here Dimsum.co.uk catches up with Rowan as he gives readers the low down on Chinese football, life in China and why China maybe able to make it to Brazil... Rowan Simons – Author of Bamboo Goalposts and Chairman of China ClubFootball www.dimsum.co.uk – Christopher KL Lau Dimsum.co.uk: What exactly is China ClubFootball? What were your aims and objectives when you first started and do they remain the same after so many years? Rowan Simons: ClubFootball was established in 2001 and is the first foreign-invested football enterprise to focus on amateur football in China. Our original aims and objectives were to introduce to China the concept of grassroots football clubs and instill the ethics of fair play; to build an integrated network of all stakeholders that makes football so powerful and so popular in Britain and other traditional football nations. Our aims and objectives remain exactly the same today, but the ways in which we approach the challenges have changed quite radically. We started with a rather naive view based on transplanting to 21st century China the amateur club model founded in Britain over a hundred years ago. It didn’t work and, over a process of continual experimentation and adaptation, we have created a new model that instills exactly the same principles of fair play and active participation while meeting the actual political, cultural, educational and economic conditions in China. We encapsulate this vision through the concept of "Learn Football, Play Football, Live Football" which integrates junior coaching and adult competitions with off-the-field activities (including media, sponsorship and loyalty programmes). Dimsum.co.uk: What have China ClubFootball achieved in terms of developing grass roots football in China since its inception? Rowan Simons: Although the registration of ClubFootball as the first foreign owned amateur club was itself a breakthrough, the real practical impact has come over the last six years - since we started dismantling our previous preconceptions and started building China-specific solutions that remain true to our core UK-inspired amateur values. Learn - Our junior coaching project started in 2004 in one school. This year, we will deliver over 2,000 coaching courses at 20 locations citywide. With support from sponsors including Allied Pickfords and MasterCard, ClubFootball is now the No.1 private operator of extra-curricular football courses in Beijing. Play - To encourage more local participation, we swapped our focus for adult players from 11-a-side football to 5-a-side football in 2004. The 11-a-side game has still not grown significantly since then, while we have attracted nearly 100 5-a-side teams to our regular league competitions, making them the largest year round football competition in Beijing. Live - To build football's huge network of friends working inside, around and outside the game (and to further incentivize people to get involved in supporting their own club), we have developed a retail partner programme that now has over 100 corporate members and a club membership programme that offers discounts at all partner establishments. Our bilingual websites receive over 4 million page views each year and 100,000 people receive our tailored newsletters for juniors, businesses, media and fans. At our websites, our members and their families, friends and work colleagues can find over 10,000 photos of themselves having fun playing football. Dimsum.co.uk: China ClubFootball representatives now appear on local TV as experts, host promotional events and attend football conferences worldwide; how much of an impact do you think you have made on the local football scene?
Rowan on CCTV 9 Rowan Simons: In some ways, ClubFootball started in the media because the original impetus came after I started presenting English football on Beijing TV in the mid-nineties. Very simply, I became tired with fans approaching me to complain about Chinese football without one of them having any good suggestions or actually getting off their sofas to do something themselves. Since ClubFootball started, the media in China have been quite good to us. Beijing TV even invested in our launch and media support continues to be absolutely crucial, not least because we have no money for advertising. I truly believe that our consistent and incessant repetition of the core values we attach to football on various media and industry platforms has had a positive impact on the local football scene. I am meeting more and more people who know about ClubFootball and who play in our leagues or have kids in our coaching courses or whose girlfriends use our membership card to get discounts at top hairdressers and spas! As Chinese football has lurched from crisis to crisis, I think we stand almost alone as the true protectors and promoters of football here. Dimsum.co.uk: Do some of the teams which come and play in China have a genuine interest in developing the game and fan culture? Can fan culture in China be defined? Rowan Simons: Most top European clubs which have visited China have failed to grasp the underlying problems and those that do get the scale of the difficulties in building sustainable fan bases, tend to leave very quickly or scale back projects to meet limited PR objectives or in the hope of finding a Chinese superstar. To date for Europe, football in China has been more about extracting revenues from TV and merchandising, licensing, appearance and player image rights rather than developing the game. To define Chinese fan culture, I think we are looking at a subset of "entertainment" culture rather than a culture in its own right. As, in general, Chinese people do not belong to amateur clubs or teams and are continually frustrated and angry at the level of their own professional and national teams, they tend to see football for what it is when there is little happening at home, a TV entertainment product. Just as fans of films and dramas can admire several actors at the same time, so Chinese football fans follow several clubs and stars! This has become known as the "serial supporter syndrome". Once you look at a map and see how far away Chinese fans live from Europe and so how far they are from any emotional attachments, it is easy to understand why many Chinese fans support clubs from four or five countries and none of them very deeply. It is also clear that European clubs will have to start spending in order to develop loyal fans in China and that is not the way they like to work. Dimsum.co.uk: How receptive are local amateur players and youths to the events and training schemes that China ClubFootball organize? Rowan Simons: When we started, nearly all ClubFootball's members were expats and we will always view our members from over 80 countries as our best ambassadors as we encourage Chinese people to get involved. They understand football and they bring their enthusiasm to China, whatever their sphere of work or study. With the whole world living in Beijing and enjoying organized football every week; local people started asking questions of themselves. Then they started asking if they could join in. In that respect, the process is similar to over a hundred years ago in Argentina, Italy, Brazil, Germany, Holland, France and several other nations where locals spotted British workers playing a strange game when they knocked off. The rest is history and we will never catch up again! This spirit is also promoted by many Chinese who have studied abroad and return to China with a new found interest in their sporting lives. These returnees are now becoming young Chinese parents who see beyond academic cramming and are allowing their child to choose his or her after-school activities. Together with our flagship foreigners, these Chinese groups are spearheading the word of mouth growth of ClubFootball. Today, about 50% of our active players are Chinese and, since most foreigners are already involved, this ratio will continue to rise as we expand. If there is one innovation that shows best how we have adapted to suit local market demands, it is our campaign to "Play Football, Speak English". All our coaches are British or European nationals, so very few of them can speak Chinese very well. Happily for us, this means our courses take place in a natural English environment and this has unlocked a lot of Chinese interest. We are not sure whether the slogan "Play Football, Speak Chinese" would work in the UK but, in a China where every parent recognizes the importance of learning English, it is a winning one here. Dimsum.co.uk: Aside from promoting football, do China ClubFootball do any charity or educational work in the Greater Beijing area? Football for Life Students Rowan Simons: Grassroots football clubs which grow out of communities are born with strong charitable instincts and football itself delivers real education in terms of team building, leadership skills as well as providing a secular moral compass based on the universal concept of fair play. However, this is not enough and we are committed to using our growing network of responsible citizens to provide support to those less well off in society. Since 2004, ClubFootball has raised nearly US$100,000 for charities including UNICEF, Red Cross and Huiling with the support of top clubs such as Manchester United and sponsors including MasterCard and Virgin Atlantic. In 2008, we realized that our efforts actually diverted potential charitable funds away from football, just when football itself was the very solution being considered by more and more charities. Indeed, football has proven to be one of the most successful ways of building confidence and promoting community cohesion and so we teamed up with a charity called CAI, which is dedicated to improving the lives of children in migrant worker schools, some based very close to our current operations. Our "Football For Life" campaign is the first time in China that a registered charity and a community football club have co-operated to provide youngsters who are not registered for state education in Beijing to receive the same high quality and fun-based football coaching programmes as their city neighbors for free. The project launched in 2009 with a pilot project for 150 boys and girls. This expanded to 240 kids in Spring 2010 with the support of many organizations and individuals, including Nike and several media partners. You can see the initial results in a report posted by Sohu.com at: http://s.sohu.com/20091202/n268632540.shtml Dimsum.co.uk: What are the fundamental issues hindering the development of Chinese football? How have China ClubFootball sought to overcome these issues in their own way? Rowan Simons: The factors hindering the growth of football in China include politics, education, culture and, for different reasons in the cities and the countryside, economics. Politics. The Chinese Football Association is a government controlled organization in line with China's 1994 Sports Law. However, China's Sports Law is in direct breach of FIFA's constitution, specifically Article 17, which requires football associations to be independent of government and hold independent elections. As the Chairman of a legal football club trying its best to uphold FIFA's constitution but officially excluded from the CFA, I have pointed out this fundamental contradiction on many different platforms and asked for help in clarifying the correct position. This issue was not censored from the Chinese version of my book published by Xinhua and my comments were widely syndicated inside China online and in state newspapers. CCTV and the BBC have subsequently posed this same question directly to the football 'authorities'. FIFA's standard response remains that "FIFA has never received any complaint from the Chinese Football Association about government interference". Ironically, I would say that ClubFootball's relationship with the Ministry and the CFA has improved over the last few years. Despite pointing out a legal contradiction, the reality is that everyone in football needs to get behind the game rather than in front of it and no sport can survive today without government backing - rather than control. The same is true in the UK. Indeed, the CFA invited me to accompany Vice Minister Cui Dalin, who is in executive charge of football in China, to visit the UK last year with a senior delegation including representatives of the State Council. Since that visit, I have been invited to advise the national Schools Football project and ClubFootball is helping deliver Premier Skills coaching courses in Beijing for the British Council and Beijing Olympic City Development Association. Education is a real problem since the traditional system does not respect sport as a valuable tool, but a specialization that should be limited to those who show an early aptitude. For this reason, football is not widespread in schools and, where schemes such as the national "Schools Football" are now operating, we see too many football-themed running and skipping games, rather than the much more fun ways in which our FA-qualified coaches provide progressive training in the game itself. Culturally, new China does not have the same type of community-based social networks as many traditional football nations. As the government controls sport and concentrates funding on corrupted elite programs that parents must fund, it has been hard for local initiatives to get going at the grassroots. As above, fan culture is a part of general entertainment culture. Economically, the problems are based around a lack of resources in the countryside and a lack of space in the cities. Dimsum.co.uk: When can we expect to see another Chinese team gracing a world cup? If ever? How good is the standard of play in China? Rowan Simons: We should expect it in 2014 in Brasil, but not be surprised if it doesnt happen! Although it is controversial for players to leave their home leagues for Europe, football at the elite club level is basically meritocratic, so once we start seeing several Chinese players emerge in Europe alongside Japanese and Korean players, it will be an indication that things are improving, though not a definition. Because Chinese players (and teams) cannot cut it at the elite level yet, we have to say that the standard of play in China is still low. The real measurements that should matter are at the grassroots. China should have more than 20 million kids playing and learning football and a similar number of adults. If that was the government focus, rather than selecting just 11 to represent China in the next World Cup, I guarantee the national team would perform at a higher level. Even better, 40 million people will benefit from the exercise and have a lot of fun along the way! Dimsum.co.uk: As founders of China ClubFootball, are you living 'China' dream? When you first arrived in China, did you ever imagine you would be doing what you are doing right now? Is Beijing now considered home? Rowan Simons: Sometimes, it seems that too often the "China dream" is a synonym for "making money" and that is certainly not what motivates us. We do believe football should make money in China as it does elsewhere and we hope that, when it does, we get our fair rewards. But, if money was the motivator, we would all have chosen different careers. We came to China when we were quite young and with a lot to learn. For my part, I came because I didn’t know where to go or what to do, so it was quite an off-beat choice back in the 1980s. However, I did understand football and this certainty has consistently proved the biggest inspiration despite what I would call several 'nightmares' rather than 'dreams'. I have spent more of my life in Beijing than the UK, so have earned the right from Beijing taxi drivers to call myself "half a Beijinger". That said, I am aware that China's opening over the last 30 years follows over 5,000 years of relative isolation and I cannot escape the daily classification as a "waiguoren" with its various advantages and disadvantages. Luckily, not being Chinese is a definite advantage in the football business! Dimsum.co.uk: So is your advice for those who want to follow their passions and dreams, "GO EAST YOUNG MAN / WOMAN?" Rowan Simons: In so many different fields, China offers one thing the UK is finding it hard to achieve - growth. There are outstanding opportunities for young British people who have a sense of adventure and lots of patience. Imagine if we arrived in London today with a revolutionary idea to open a football club. A hundred years too late in UK, but cutting edge in China! Even if China is just one stop along a career path, its growing importance in the world and its different culture and systems offers one of the steepest learning curves out there for young people and I would encourage everyone to give it a go - why not start with a holiday and see what happens! Dimsum.co.uk: How important is it to understand local culture to succeed? Do you have any advice for people who want to do business successfully in China? Rowan Simons: Understanding local culture is key to ClubFootball. We have taken a traditional British model and adapted it to suit the local culture. The original model does not work here for many reasons, so we have been forced to innovate within an alien culture while never losing sight of the original aim. This is not easy, but once again, football tends to throw out the best answers in the end. In terms of advice, I would focus on products and services that Chinese people don't understand or to which they are not yet accustomed or which they find hard to copy authentically. There are lots of categories already taken. Look at Starbucks' growth in the home of tea, or McDonald’s growth in the home of the dumpling. Think about the pet industry or English learning or even international travel, none of these really existed as commercial industries 20 years ago! If it is getting crowded in Beijing and Shanghai, how about trying some of the 100 plus other cities with over a million people? Thank you! By Christopher KL Lau Biography: Christopher KL Lau "Sleepy East Anglia was the launch pad for Chris to live and work all around the world including Beijing, London, Toronto and Hong Kong. Exposure to Chinese and British culture, from a young age, allowed him to see the strengths and flaws of both. A charity worker and writer by trade, Chris has many interests ranging from travel to cinema to sports and can write comfortably on a range of subjects. Already a keen observer of the Asian Football Confederation, after randomly watching a Beijing Guoan versus Shanghai Shenhua Super League match in 2004 at the Workers Stadium, a greater interest in Chinese football developed. He misses his time with the mighty Beijing Barbarians FC. Like many of the Diaspora, he wonders when the next time the Chinese National team will qualify for the World Cup......he hopes it will be within his lifetime!" Rowan with Zheng Zhi Picture by Giulietta Verdon Roe
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