Volume One: Our Own League Chapter 008: The Junior High Football League Is Officially Established

Time truly flies, and before they knew it, Monday had arrived—the last day to submit the team lists.

Despite all their efforts, Xu He’s class ultimately failed to form a team, as only a handful of students signed up. Xu He had no choice but to accept the reality of their failure. These past days, he’d been feeling downhearted and gloomy.

He couldn’t help but ask, “Old Li, why do you think nobody wanted to join the team?”

Li Jie was just as puzzled, sighing, “Maybe the academic workload is too heavy.”

Xu He sighed as well. He knew that, even though they were only in the first year of junior high, their studies were indeed demanding. Still, no matter how heavy the workload, there should be time for extracurricular activities, shouldn’t there? Playing football during those hours would be good exercise. He simply couldn’t understand what his classmates were thinking.

He sighed again, and Li Jie patted his shoulder in comfort. Truth be told, Li Jie was feeling just as low. He loved football too and wished their class could form a team—but alas...

Li Jie said, “Alright, stop dwelling on it. Hurry up, the school assembly is about to start!”

Every Monday, Jinguancheng No. 17 Middle School held a school-wide assembly. All students gathered on the playground. The school leaders and grade directors summarized last week’s issues and conducted safety education, after which the students performed the broadcast calisthenics together.

Since September 1, 2008, all ordinary middle schools nationwide had adopted the third set of youth broadcast calisthenics—“Dance of Youth,” created by the Huaxia Ministry of Education.

They arrived at the playground, found their class’s spot, and soon the assembly began. Principal Wang Jingkai was first to take the stage with, “Let me just say a few words…” and, in no time, ten minutes passed. Then came the grade directors, each with their own “Let me just say a few words…,” and half an hour melted away.

Xu He couldn’t help but reflect: never trust the phrase “just a few words.”

At long last, the speeches ended, and the calisthenics began: preparation—stretching—chest expansion—leg kicks—side bends—twists—abdominal and back movements—jumps—cool down!

By the time they finished, a whole class period had passed.

Xu He exclaimed, “At last, it’s over!” Li Jie sighed in relief and said, “Come on, let’s go see how our league is being established!”

Xu He’s eyes dimmed at these words. The league was meant for first-year students, but he couldn’t participate; he felt a deep regret and a pang of disappointment.

Li Jie patted him, and together they walked toward Li Liying and her group. Because of the league’s formation, Li Liying and the sports representatives from each class had already gathered.

Li Liying wasn’t the sports rep for Class 10, but she was the first to propose the idea of a league for first-year students—she was its founder, and in a sense, the “mother” of the Jinguancheng No. 17 First-Year Football League.

Moreover, the sports reps considered Li Liying, being a girl, unlikely to play in the matches herself, so she was seen as a neutral figure. They unanimously suggested she serve as president of their First-Year Football Association.

All tasks related to the league’s establishment, oversight, and management fell to Li Liying. Without her, the league couldn’t have come together.

Creating a league from scratch was a daunting task, but this young girl managed it brilliantly, handling everything with finesse.

Xu He was deeply impressed. From drafting the league charter, setting up supervision, arranging kits, to organizing referees, she managed all with perfection. For the kits alone, she came up with an excellent plan.

She asked all participating teams to pool their funds for uniforms, and then she and the association members negotiated with vendors for a group discount. She even suggested offering advertising space on the jerseys in exchange for bigger discounts—having the shop’s name and address printed on the kits.

All these ideas were eminently reasonable and met with wide support.

Truth be told, Xu He was stunned when he first saw her proposals. He wondered how Li Liying’s mind worked, coming up with so many ingenious solutions.

He admired her greatly—a heroine, indeed!

As he approached, Xu He waved and greeted Li Liying, “Hi, there!”

Li Liying nodded slightly, “You’re here. Where’s your class’s team list? Yours is the last one we need.”

So far, there were sixteen first-year classes, and eight teams had been formed; she held all their lists. Only Class Eleven, Xu He’s class, remained.

If they submitted their list, the first Jinguancheng No. 17 First-Year Football League would have nine teams—a remarkable number for the inaugural season.

Xu He’s face clouded at her words.

Li Liying’s brows furrowed, “What’s wrong?”

Before Xu He could reply, Li Jie spoke, “We don’t have enough people in our class—we can’t form a team.”

Li Liying was taken aback; she hadn’t expected that. She looked at Xu He, “Did you try teaming up with other classes?”

Indeed, participation wasn’t limited to single classes—some students wanted to join but lacked numbers, so they formed joint teams with other classes. Such cases were on her list.

Li Jie shook his head, “We tried, but unfortunately, other classes either had already formed teams or weren’t interested. We acted too late.”

Li Jie’s voice was full of regret.

Xu He’s spirits were at their lowest.

There wasn’t much Li Liying could do. Still, she thought it was a real pity for Xu He to miss out on the league.

At that moment, a burly boy spoke, “In that case, the first league will have eight teams. Now we need to discuss the competition format!”

Xu He eyed the pimple-faced, robust boy with curiosity.

Li Jie whispered, “That’s Zhu Ge, Class Ten’s sports rep and football team captain!”

Class Ten—that was Li Liying’s class.

Xu He glanced at Li Liying and Zhu Ge; they were classmates.

Li Liying and the others paid no mind to Xu He, instead launching into an intense debate about the league’s competition format, schedule, points system, and more.

Xu He watched quietly, amazed. Though everyone contributed, Li Liying always led and made the final decisions.

He was deeply impressed.

Li Liying was truly formidable, decisive and efficient. Clearly, she had done all her homework beforehand.

Her proposals and suggestions won everyone’s approval.

Li Jie couldn’t help but whisper to Xu He, “Wow, Old Xu, Li Liying is incredible. She’s a born leader!”

Xu He nodded in agreement.

Though Xu He’s class wasn’t participating, he and Li Jie were fascinated by the league. They stayed, listened to the energetic discussions, and sometimes offered their own suggestions.

Just listening made Xu He’s blood race. In their heated debates, the league for first-year students was taking shape, becoming ever more real.

He felt immense regret at not being able to take part.

His mood soured.

Li Jie saw through his friend and comforted him, “Don’t worry, Old Xu—if you miss the first season, join the second! You won’t miss the next one!”

Xu He’s eyes lit up.

Of course! If not the first, then the second. He would not miss the second season.

After a long discussion, everyone reached consensus on all points.

Everyone present was breathing quickly, faces flushed with excitement.

They were exhilarated.

Because they knew—their very own First-Year Football League was about to be born.

All eyes were fixed on Li Liying.

Li Liying was just as excited; her delicate cheeks were glowing. Her radiant eyes swept across the group, and with all her strength, she loudly proclaimed, “Today is Monday, October 19, 2009. Our First-Year Football League is officially established!”

Applause erupted, cheers rang out, and everyone jumped for joy. Some shouted, “It’s founded! Our football league is founded!”

Thrilled—truly, some were moved to tears.

Witnessing this historic moment, Xu He felt pure happiness, forgetting for a while that he couldn’t participate himself.

Xu He hugged Li Jie tightly in excitement.

On that open playground, with no office, no flowers or ribbons, no reporters—only their own First-Year Football League was born.

Once the league was established, the first order of business was the draw.

The format had already been agreed upon: since it was the first tournament and everything was experimental, they opted for a short schedule. Li Liying suggested a knockout format, like the World Cup or Asian Cup: eight teams split into two groups for round-robin matches, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the semifinals, then to the final, to determine the champion.

Everyone agreed, so the draw began.

The team captains took part directly. The ceremony was simple—almost like drawing lots.

The final groupings were:

Group A: Class 16, Class 6, Class 14, Class 17

Group B: Class 3, Class 9, Class 58, Class 10

The league would be played on Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday afternoons each week, with two matches per day—one round per group. The group stage would be completed in two weeks, and the entire league in three.

Seeing all the arrangements settled, Xu He was full of envy, wishing desperately to be one of them.

He wanted to play in the league, too.

With the preparations done, everyone dispersed to get ready.

Li Liying now had a chance to speak with Xu He, “What happened? Don’t you want to join the league?”

Xu He replied at once, “Of course I do, but our class can’t form a team.”

Li Liying frowned, “Then why not join another class’s team?”

Xu He hadn’t considered that before, but now he really wanted to—unfortunately, time had run out.

Xu He said, full of regret, “It’s too late now!”

Li Liying gazed at him intently, asking seriously, “Do you really want to play in the league?”

Xu He answered eagerly, “Absolutely!”

Li Liying nodded, “Alright, I’ll help you!”