With amateur soccer leagues gaining momentum nationwide, Hunan province is experimenting with a new model: placing student athletes directly into adult league competition.

In the most recent season of the Hunan Provincial Soccer League — colloquially termed the “Hunan Super League,” or Xiangchao — which concluded late December, student players from secondary schools and universities scored more than half of the league’s 247 goals, according to a Tuesday report by local media outlet Hunan Daily. On the championship-winning team, students accounted for nearly 80% of total goals. 

The league requires each team to field at least three secondary school students per every match, making it China’s first provincial adult soccer league to formally mandate youth participation. 

The structure is designed to give student athletes competitive experience beyond school tournaments. Matches are typically scheduled on weekends or holidays, and the league provides support services including medical care and academic guidance. 

For the students involved, the step up comes with heavier demands. Many train early in the morning, attend full school days, and return for evening practice. Some have emerged as key players, even captains, earning nicknames such as “Little Menshen,” a nod to protective gate deities in Chinese folklore.  

“Playing against older athletes improved my tactics and clarified my goal: get into university and keep playing soccer,” Li Xuan, a secondary school student from Hunan’s Hengyang city, told domestic media.

He Yangzhao, a student at Hunan University of Science and Technology and a core striker for the Xiangtan team, scored seven goals during the season. “The flexible training schedule lets us focus in class while giving our all on the field — the two actually support each other,” he said.

Hunan has invested around 400 million yuan ($57.3 million) in school soccer programs, raised the weight of physical education in school entrance exams, and made soccer, basketball, and volleyball compulsory in middle school PE assessments, according to domestic media.

Twelve student players from the league gained university admission through excellence in soccer this season. And on Dec. 31, provincial authorities announced plans to establish a guided university enrollment pathway for student athletes beginning in primary school, with league performance serving as a key reference point.

Hunan has also built a four-tier system of soccer leagues spanning schools, counties, cities, and provincial league, with plans to link the levels into a continuous competition network where “every student can play and every school has a team.”

“We hope (provincial soccer league) events will help more young people fall in love with sports, build physical and mental strength through competition, and cultivate well-rounded, capable football talent for Hunan and China,” a spokesperson for the Hunan Provincial Department of Education told domestic media.

Editor: Marianne Gunnarsson.

(Header image: Soccer fans at a Hunan Super League match in Chenzhou, Hunan province, Dec. 6, 2025. VCG)