adidas Joins China’s Ministry of Education and CETV for Launch of Series to Teach Essential Football Skills

adidas China, China’s Ministry of Education (MOE) and China Education Television (CETV) announced today the official launch of “Daily Football”, the MOE’s first-ever official television series dedicated to teaching essential football skills to youngsters across China. Set to reach a total of eight million youths in towns and cities nationwide, the series represents a major joint effort by the three parties to improve youth football training.

 

“Our involvement with the TV series is an important milestone in terms of our successful partnership with the MOE and the wider world of Chinese grassroots football development,” said adidas Greater China Managing Director, Colin Currie. “With this partnership, adidas is committed to supporting the Chinese government’s goal to inspire a love of football and develop the footballing talents of tens of millions of school students nationwide.”

 

Featuring top youth football coach and long-time adidas brand ambassador, Tom Byer, the “Daily Football” series will appear on CETV-1. It is divided into 365 three-minute episodes scheduled to air daily at 6:15pm from June 1, 2017 on China’s top education channel and also be available on centv.cn, moe.gov.cn and cepa.com.cn.

 

Filmed in Beijing over the course of five months, the episodes see Byer provide easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions to 50 primary school children on how to complete essential football moves. As the MOE’s official school football partner, adidas worked closely with the MOE and Byer to deliver a comprehensive curriculum for the series.

 

“The MOE school football program provides comprehensive, expert football training to schoolchildren throughout China through a diversified range of football learning tools,” said  Wang Dengfeng, Director of Physical, Health and Art Education under the Ministry of Education. “Supported by several key parties including adidas, the ‘Daily Football’ series is set to play an important role in helping to widen football participation amongst schoolchildren nationwide.”

 

adidas China has a holistic grassroots football development approach which consists of youth leagues, coach-the-coach training and player development. The model is structured around a development pathway beginning with an introduction to basic football skills and elite participation in football. In 2015, adidas established a landmark three-year partnership with the MOE in a bid to accelerate the development of school football nationwide. adidas has pledged to support the MOE’s goal to reach 20 million students in 20,000 schools, leveraging the brand’s global and local resources. For example, it has provided support to the MOE’s training of 13,000 teachers and its summer and winter training camps for approximately 1,760 children, and donated balls to over 1,000 schools.