Gao Hong: The sports department has not established good connections with campus football, which is not conducive to the development of youth football

July 13th news: Chinese women's football legend Gao Hong accepted an exclusive interview with a reporter from the Football News when attending the 2025 Youth Women's Football Development Seminar in Xi'an this week, talking about his profound insight and practical thinking on women's football youth training.

In a conversation with a reporter from Football News, Gao Hong talked about the importance of cultivating players many times. She believes that athletes are the core of the program and the core of sports: "Talent is the most important element in this sport. Football does not exist without athletes. Without coaches and managers, you may still be able to do it, but without athletes, you will not have this sport. Therefore, athletes should be the most concerned person in this sport, and all policies should revolve around them."

Under the current system, the development of Chinese women's football requires decision makers to create a good planning and development environment. Gao Hong pointed out that when implementing the youth training process, the degree of soil fertility, the refinement of seed selection, and how to cultivate them are all issues that must be clarified.

Gao Hong agrees with the "professional + campus football" model, but she also said: "Now everyone has seen that local governments support women's football youth training, but the national team's performance has not returned to its previous peak." Gao Hong believes that this may indicate that the "precision" of the connection between the two links is not enough: "I think we can do it more refined. What I saw abroad is that their "natural screening" is actually that others have a larger base. Even if they do not deliberately screen, talented players can naturally emerge through a large number of games, community football and other scenarios. Although many regional youth training centers in our country have been launched, there are problems of homogeneity of training methods, competition methods, and processes. As a result, the trained talents have no characteristics. "

Gao Hong said: "Campus football has rules for campus football, elite teams have rules for elite teams, and any competition has rules. First of all, we must consider whether the establishment of rules is reasonable, and secondly, that is, the rules are abiding by the rules, which is the basis for creating a good youth training environment. For example, there are many restricted competitions in some provinces. For example, students who have participated in competitions under the Provincial Sports Bureau or Football Association will not be able to participate in campus football. As a result, those who participate in campus competitions are all children who can barely play football. The sports department and campus football have not established good connections, and their respective games are not recognized, which is not conducive to the development of youth football."