Tranmere Rovers forge new links with China
New initiative will see Rovers link up with Chinese school and community
Tranmere is entering into an innovative new initiative which will see strong links forged between the Club, and the largest English language school in Inner Mongolia, with around 10,000 pupils. What may seem at first sight to be a slightly unlikely alliance is hoped to be the beginning of Tranmere establishing strong links both with the Chinese community in Merseyside, and in mainland China.
The initial idea for the project came from local Tranmere fan Robbie Bigland, who has just returned to the Wirral following 12 years of teaching at the Little London School in Hohhot, the capital of Inner Mongolia.
China is a country which is football mad, but which is still at an early stage in the development of its own players. In an attempt to put this right and climb up the FIFA world rankings, President Xi Jinping has declared football a compulsory part of the national school curriculum, with every child now required to do an hour of football a week. Approximately 20,000 football-themed schools are to open by 2017 (50,000 by 2025) with the goal of producing more than 100,000 players.
Tranmere has agreed to help Little London, a privately owned English language school with a football-loving Chairman, to firmly establish itself as a football playing school, through a joint venture that will see:
- Chinese children attending residential soccer camps at Tranmere, where they will get football coaching and English language tuition; - Tranmere recruiting people from England to work on 6 or 12 month salaried placements in Hohhot, teaching basic English language skills and/or doing some football coaching; - Little London sending a teachers to Tranmere on 6 or 12 month volunteer placements to work with the local community, teaching Mandarin, assisting businesses with understanding how to do business in China and helping the Club to forge links with the Chinese community in Merseyside and in Inner Mongolia.
Chairman Mark Palios said: “As Tranmere is one of the longest established professional clubs in the country and with a reputation for developing young talent, we are delighted to be able to do our bit to help Little London get its children playing the beautiful game. The soccer camps will generate much needed revenue for the Club, and the chance to live and work in China on the placement scheme will be a great opportunity for some of the graduates of our Sports BTEC courses and the many coaches who work with the Club in different capacities.”
Nicola Palios said: “We are hoping that this initiative will help us to build links with the local Chinese community in Merseyside. There are roughly 90,000 Chinese students in UK universities – many in Merseyside – but few professional football clubs have done much to engage them, partly because the traditional UK social media platforms on which UK football clubs rely are not widely used by the Chinese community. We are launching an official Tranmere Rovers page on Weibo (the Chinese equivalent of Facebook), which will provide match reports and information on Tranmere, as well as promoting the opportunities we have for students to work in China through this initiative.”
The Club will be holding some information evenings in the coming weeks for people who may be interested in taking up one of the placements in China. Candidates do not require formal teaching or coaching qualifications, but do require enthusiasm and a desire to learn about a new culture. In return they will receive a competitive salary, fully paid accommodation and free Mandarin lessons.