Amateur women's game takes baby steps in China during World Cup

BEIJING : As China geared up for their opening Women's World Cup fixture in Australia on Saturday, there was cause for optimism for the future back home as more and more young women take up the sport for fun.

Wang Lu, a 32-year-old screenwriter and lifelong soccer fan, is one. Last week, after some two decades of trying, she played her first ever football game on a small, all-weather pitch on the eastern outskirts of Beijing.

"I feel so happy," a beaming, slightly emotional-looking Wang said on the touchline afterwards. "It's like I've realised my childhood dream."

There were only boys teams at her schools and they would not accept girls. Her home city in Shandong province had no amateur girls teams.

As a kid Wang was so desperate to play she that crafted a makeshift ball out of paper and elastic bands. She practiced, mostly alone, in the yard of her residential compound.

In addition to the lack of resources, Wang's parents did not support the idea of her playing.

"Our family was relatively inward-looking and they would even ask, 'Why do girls like sports?' And so you had to say why," she said.

"But why do we need a reason? It's just that they like it. There are still some stereotypes, and now slowly these stereotypes are disappearing."

Like several other players, Wang found out about the opportunity to play from a post on Xiaohongshu, an Instagram-like app popular with young, middle-class Chinese women.

She was playing with Netpals, a club of mainly novice players, so named because they came together online.

Last year Netpals had about 20 players. Now they have a community of around 150, made up of working adults and students, according to coach and founder Kidd Xu.

Several other women's teams in Beijing have grown in a similar