The youth football club, co-founded by Kunshan municipal government and German football club FC Schalke 04, kicks off on Oct 15. [Photo from WeChat account live-ks]

Children in Kunshan will have more opportunities to get professional guidance from international coaches, as a youth football training club, co-founded by Kunshan municipal government and German football club FC Schalke 04, kicked off on Oct 15.

Thanks to FC Schalke 04's last visit to Kunshan in November 2015, the fruitful youth football training club has made it possible for further cooperation between the two parties.

84 children aged between seven and 12 attend the training club. [Photo from WeChat account live-ks]

The much-anticipated nine-day training club attracted 84 children aged between seven and 12. This is only the beginning, as both parties wish for a long-term cooperation whereby FC Schalke 04 will visit Kunshan at least twice a year – setting up talented youth football teams, providing excellent players and coaches with training opportunities in Germany, and establishing a Kunshan-style youth football development system.

FC Schalke 04, regarded as an elite organization among the German and European clubs, is an expert in football training for children. The leading world-ranked training club they previously initiated in Germany has cultivated many top-tier players, such as Benedikt Howedes, Julian Draxler, Manuel Neuer and Mesut Ozil.