On December 17, the 2023 Haizhu "Coffee Awakening" Cup Beach Soccer Match officially kicked off in Haizhu City, West R&F, Jiangnan. Many men's and women's football internationals trained in Haizhu District attended the launching ceremony of the tournament and played the opening game.
Although the temperature in Guangzhou has plummeted in the past two days, the heat wave brought by football can be felt here in Jiangnan West R&F Haizhu City. With the start of the 2023 Haizhu "Coffee Awakening" Cup Beach Soccer Match, Guangzhou fans will be able to experience the happiness of the emerging sport of beach soccer up close in the next half month.
The event was guided by the Guangdong Football Association and the Guangzhou Football Association, hosted by the Haizhu Football Association, and exclusively sponsored by the "Brown Awakening" Sports Nutrition Drink.
Rong Zhixing, Chinese football champion and former vice chairman of the Chinese Football Association, Zhang Yongliang, deputy head of Haizhu District, Zhu Tai, director of the Haizhu District Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports Bureau, Zhong Hui, director of education, science, culture, health and sports of the Haizhu District CPPCC, Yang Jinbiao, secretary of Changgang Street Street, Haizhu District, Zhong Meiting, deputy secretary of Jiangnan Middle Street Street, Haizhu District, Cheng Zhiwen, vice chairman of Guangdong Football Association, Mai Chao, head coach of youth training of Guangzhou Football Association, Cai Derong, president of Haizhu Football Association, Chen Kexin, vice president of Haizhu Football Association, Wang Huiliang, former international player and Guangdong football team celebrity, former Guomen, Kong Guoxian, vice president of Haizhu Football Association, Bi Xiaolin, former Chinese women's football goalkeeper and international athlete, Li Qingtong, Guangdong women's football player and Chinese women's football international player of the Tokyo Olympics, Wang Chenming, head of Haizhu City of R&F Commercial Management Group, Jiang Feng, general manager of Guangzhou Runtian Commercial and Trade brand, and other leading guests attended the opening ceremony.
Beach soccer is a 5-a-side barefoot match played on the sand and is a popular sport among young people internationally. Currently, beach soccer, along with 11-a-side football and 5-a-side football, is the three official football competitions recognized by FIFA. Beach soccer has only started to develop in China since 2006. In the 2021 National Games, beach soccer was included in the mass group football competition sequence for the first time. In the 2025 Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area National Games, beach soccer is also a mass football competition.
This year's Haizhu "Coffee Awakening" Cup Beach Soccer Tournament will be held from December 17th to December 22nd, and will first be held in Zhucheng, Xihai, Jiangnan, where the men's and women's football matches of primary and secondary school students will be held. On December 30, the men's and women's competition in the open group of this event will move to Guangzhou Taiwan for the peak showdown. There are bonuses for the top three men and women in the open group, with 5,000 yuan for the first place, 3,000 yuan for the second place, and 1,000 yuan for the third place. All participating players will also receive a set of jerseys and gifts, as well as a full-time discount for spending at R&F Haizhu City.
At the launching ceremony of the event, Cai Derong, president of the Haizhu Football Association, introduced that since the founding of the People's Republic of China, Haizhu District has a deep foundation for mass football and has always been a strong football area in Guangzhou. Over the past 60 years, Haizhu District has cultivated 16 men's and women's football internationals, including Rong Zhixing, Chen Xirong, Gu Guangming, Zhao Dayu, Kong Guoxian, Hu Zhijun, Lu Lin, Li Qingtong and Lin Liangming, and sent nearly 500 outstanding players to superior units.
In this year's Guangzhou Youth Football Championship, Haizhu District won 6 championships, 1 runner-up and 1 third place in all 8 categories, creating the best results in history. The Haizhu Football Association hosted the "Coffee Awakening" Cup Beach Soccer Tournament this time, and held a beach soccer match in a landmark in downtown Guangzhou, with the goal of promoting the popularization of beach soccer and selecting beach soccer players for Guangdong to prepare for the 2025 Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao National Games.
Chinese football champion Rong Zhixing is a "generation of football kings" who have been cultivated and walked out from Haizhu District, and Haizhu District is the birthplace of "Zhixing style". This time, Rong Zhixing returned to Haizhu and received enthusiastic support from local neighborhood fans, and more enthusiastic fans sent two inscriptions to Rong Zhixing, "Silver Ball Love" and "Awakening Character School", hoping that the new generation of "eye-catching girls" in Guangzhou football can truly inherit the "Zhixing style" and continue the traditional football advantages of Haizhu District.
Bi Xiaolin, a former women's football international, and Li Qingtong, a women's football international trained in Haizhu District, also took a group photo with Rong Zhixing at the scene, and Rong Zhixing sent a message that they could give full play to their abilities and drive the further development of women's football in the future.
After the launching ceremony, the competition for the male and female groups of primary and secondary school students officially began. Despite the cold yesterday, the young players fought the beach and enjoyed the excitement and fun of this new sport. Kong Guoxian, former vice president of the Haizhu Football Association, said that he himself had experienced beach soccer matches in some coastal cities before, but it is indeed very innovative to let more people get close to the emerging sport of beach soccer in the downtown area of Guangzhou.
Cheng Zhiwen, vice chairman of the Guangdong Football Association, said that Guangdong Province has been vigorously promoting the popularity of beach soccer in recent years, and if the Haizhu Football Association can make the beach soccer match a characteristic brand event in the future, it will create a broader development space for Guangdong football talents, and this event is also in line with the current policy direction of high-quality development of culture, sports and tourism integration in first-tier cities.
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