This winter break, move beyond the ordinary and unlock a world of adventure and discovery with our specially curated winter camps for kids. Designed to ignite passion and foster new skills, our programs offer a perfect blend of exhilarating outdoor fun, immersive cultural experiences and hands-on creative learning – all against the dynamic backdrop of China’s capital. Let your child turn the winter months into a memorable journey of growth, friendship and endless possibility.

Check out #wintercamp on jingkids to find info on the latest camps this winter.

ClubFootball’s Winter Cam

This winter, warm up with football fun inspired by three of the world’s greatest football nations. Brazil: flair, creativity, and samba-style skills! England: teamwork, discipline, and Premier League energy! Spain: passing precision, control and total football! Led by UEFA-qualified international coaches, each session brings a new challenge – from fast footwork to smart playmaking – all in a safe, friendl,y and confidence-building environment. Train. Learn. Play. Enjoy the world’s game-the ClubFootball way!

What can the kids expect to learn?

Coaches ‘Introduce’ the day’s theme through a fun warm-up and technical activity where kids learn the theme’s fundamental skills and techniques unopposed. Players then ‘Explore’ the theme in more detail in semi-opposed practices and learn to use the skills under pressure. In the last part of the session, players use their acquired skills to ‘Express’ themselves in a competitive environment with small-sided matchplay.

Over the course of the week, the country-based curriculum progresses players from the individual skills required to win their 1v1 duels through to working with teammates in small-sided 4v4 matches! Each day, players are encouraged to work together to achieve common objectives through a range of fun and creative games and holiday activities that make kids think on their feet, as per the club’s coaching philosophy

Basic information:
Price
DCB Camp: RMB 1,500 for three half-days; RMB 2,400 for three full days.
ISB Camp: RMB 3,200 for four full days.

Dates
Dulwich College of Beijing Camp: Dec 17-19 ^half-day camp (Kindergarten-Grade 1), 9.30am-noon; Dec 17-19 ^full-day camp (Grade 2-Grade 5) 9.30am-3.40pm
International School of Beijing Camp (1): Jan 2-5 (Grade 1-Grade 5 only), 9.30am-3.30pm
International School of Beijing Camp (2): Jan 6-9 (Grade 1-Grade 5 only) 9.30am-3.30pm

Sign-up deadline
Dulwich Camp: Dec 10
ISB camps: one week before the camps start (Dec 26 and 30)

Contact Information
ClubFootball Shunyi Representative: 138 1048 9532
WeChat QR code:

Images: ClubFootball

Not traveling this winter break? Then you must be searching for options to keep your kids occupied for the upcoming school holidays. In addition to our previous list of holiday camps, we’ve rounded up more options to ensure your kid has a productive and fun winter holiday!

Spanish Immersion Camp

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Don’t miss the winter camp at the Instituto Cervantes in Beijing! Children from 6 to 12 years old can immerse themselves in the Spanish language and Spanish culture, totaling 20 hours of Spanish lessons over two weeks. It is suitable for both beginners and intermediate-level students. On top of the daily two hours of Spanish language lessons, the camp offers an hour and a half of Spanish cultural activities that cover art, music, children’s literature, and culinary workshops. Led by experienced teachers, this edutainment activity is designed to provide children with a rich experience. ​​​

Dates: Jan 22-Feb 2, 2024, Mondays to Fridays, 2 pm-6 pm
Ages: Children aged 6-8 years will be grouped together and children aged 9-12 years will be grouped together
Location: Instituto Cervantes de Pekin, A1 Gongren Tiyuchang Nanlu, Chaoyang District
Price: RMB 6,825 (Includes daily snacks over the two weeks)

*A minimum of five students and a maximum of 15 students are required for the camp to go ahead.

Scan the QR code below for more information!

“Junior Master Chef” Bilingual Christmas Camp 

Black Sesame Kitchen will be organizing their popular holiday cooking camps on their cozy hutong grounds. Professional chefs will guide and train kids to prep, cook, and bake delicious dishes and treats On top of that, the Courtyard Institute will also run a different craft program each day.

Dates: Session One: Dec 20-22, Session Two: Dec 25-27, Wednesdays to Fridays, 9.30 am-4.30 pm
Ages: 6-12 years old
Location: 28 Zhonglao Hutong, Dongcheng District
Price: RMB 2,990/child (sibling discount available)

Update May 19: Out of an abundance of caution, we are postponing Jingkids Summer Fling from Sat, May 22 to Sat, May 29 (Rain date Sun, May 30). All bought and won tickets will be automatically transferred to this date. Full announcement, including how to request a refund, can be found here.

We’re all looking forward to a little rest after the tumultuous year and a half that’s past. Some families treat summer like a lazy time, others as the fourth semester of school, but we all know that come July, some kind of break from the norm is in order. And that’s precisely where Jingkids comes in, ready to rock your scheduling world with these summer camp highlights. Each week we’ll go behind the scenes of a camp so you can make the right choice for your family.

And don’t forget to get your family’s tickets to the Jingkids Summer Fling on May 29 where you can meet and get a feel for Beijing’s best summer camps with games and activities in one day. It’s the not-to-miss family event of the summer! Scan the QR code below for more info.

Natural Play the Montessori Way at Mammolina Children’s Home Model Montessori Kindergarten

The theme is “Natural Play” at Mammolina’s newly designed natural playground. Each morning, children will enjoy Montessori work time along with independent educational play in the natural playground. What’s more, mixed ages play together according to the traditional Montessori ethos.

By its very name, a natural play space does not dictate how children should play, and young people are encouraged to collaborate and communicate with their peers. Through play in an open-ended setting, children improve their sharing, negotiation, problem-solving, empathy, and leadership skills as they work together.

One of the greatest benefits of natural playgrounds is found in the way they help children improve their fine motor skills. A natural setting involves a vast array of textures, sensory activities, gardens, and natural sounds, which encourage children to engage all of their senses. Through touching, feeling, and collecting natural objects, fine motor activity is challenged and strengthened.

Montessori education emphasizes learning through the senses. Children in Montessori environments learn at their own pace and according to their own choice of activities. Mixed – or multi-age – groups are essential to Montessori, because older children spontaneously share their knowledge with the younger ones, initiating and guiding them.

Montessori is a comprehensive educational approach from birth to adulthood based on the observation of children’s needs, with an eye firmly focused on meeting those needs. It is applicable in cultures all around the world because it follows the child and seeks to provide what Dr. Maria Montessori referred to as “the keys to the environment,” i.e., knowledge and experiences that lead to independence.

Summer Camp Facts

Who: Mammolina Children’s Home Model Montessori Kindergarten
What: Immersion in an authentic bilingual Montessori learning environment and a brand new “Natural Playground”
Where: Mammolina Children’s Home Model Montessori Kindergarten, Liyuan Xiaoqu no 36, Maquanying
When: Jul 19-Aug 20
How: WeChat ID: CN69696969696969
Ages: 2-7
Teacher to Child Ratio: 1:4
Prices: RMB 3,500-4,500 per week
About: The camp will be run by experienced Montessori Lead teachers (over 10 years experience) and experienced Montessori Native English teachers. Dr. Montessori began developing her approach more than a century ago. Her work was based on long, careful hours of scientific observation and a profound understanding of children’s natural learning tendencies as they unfold in “prepared environments” for multi-age groups (i.e. 0-3, 3-6, 6-9, 9-12, 12-15, and 15-18 years of age).

Montessori environments normally include specially designed didactic materials, or manipulatives, that invite children to engage in learning activities of their own choosing. Children in Montessori prepared environments learn by experimenting with the available materials under the guidance of trained adults (lead and assistant directresses and directors, or guides). While learning essential skills they have the opportunity to discover possibilities and relationships, cultivate concentration, nurture motivation, develop self-discipline, and set in place the pillars for a life-long love of learning.

Today, Montessori schools can be found worldwide, serving children from birth through adolescence. Many become independent learners: autodidacts who never stop learning and exploring, showing initiative, and are critical thinkers and scientists at heart both in their approach to learning in particular, and life in general.

Uniqueness in Montessori
In her landmark text, From Childhood to Adolescence, Dr. Montessori wrote, “My vision of the future is no longer of people taking exams and proceeding on that certification from the secondary school to the university, but of individuals passing from one stage of independence to a higher, by means of their own activity, through their own effort of will, which constitutes the inner evolution of the individual.”

Montessori education builds on the continuing self-construction of the child, as life unfolds moment by moment. Although Montessori schools are divided into multi-age classrooms – roughly, infant-toddler (ages 0 to 3), preschool (ages 3 to 6), lower and upper elementary (ages 6 to 9 and 9 to 12, which are often combined), middle school (ages 12 to 15), and high school (ages 15 to 18) – the prepared environment at each stage introduces an uninterrupted series of learning passages, a continuum, that carries on throughout life well into adulthood, and develops into a life-long love for learning. Needless to say, many multi-age environments and communities go well beyond the minimum 3 year age span.

Mammolina Children’s Home Montessori Kindergarten offers children a “living environment” where they can choose their work from the available self-correcting materials displayed on open shelves and work in specific work areas following their own interests and curiosity. Over a period of time, the children gravitate towards what, in Montessori vernacular, is called a “normalized state” and, as a group, into a “normalized community,” working with periods of high concentration and few interruptions.

Normalization occurs through self-directed and purposeful activity, or work which gives rise to repetition leading to concentration. It is an idealized natural state which Dr. Montessori observed children achieving in her prepared environments and included many characteristics such as deep concentration, obedience as an act of will, generosity, independence, self-discipline, and joy. For some children, this inner change takes place quite suddenly, while for others it takes longer, but it always develops and nurtures in the child an ability to deeply concentrate on the activity or task at hand.

Natural playground
One of the latest trends in childcare is the move towards natural playgrounds. A natural playground is designed to make use of existing topography and natural materials to create an open-ended outdoor play area for children to make discoveries and interact with their environment. Play structures within natural playgrounds are often created using tree stumps, logs, rocks, and water, offering a wide range of opportunities to connect children back to nature, while stimulating creativity and encouraging development. Here’s a look at why the idea of a natural playground is becoming increasingly popular among child care centers, schools, and cities throughout North America and beyond.

They Help Children Be More Active
A natural setting lends itself to an increased level of activity. Studies show that when natural elements are incorporated into a playground, the length of time a child plays is more than doubled. Natural playgrounds present a wealth of opportunities for children of all skill and activity levels to improve their fitness levels through play.

They Are Accessible
Natural playgrounds, unlike traditional plastic-style playgrounds, are more welcoming to children of all abilities. A natural playground does not discriminate when it comes to differing fitness levels, abilities, intelligence, genders, and cultures. Children are encouraged to create their own ways to play, rather than being “told” how to play by the equipment available to them.

They Encourage Imaginative Play
Many natural playscapes are designed to stimulate the imagination and encourage creativity. Features are typically incorporated to promote imaginative play through a variety of sensory stimulation including touch, sight, and sound. It has been found that children who play in more natural settings tend to play in more diverse and creative ways, and show improvement in the areas of collaboration and language skills.

CISB 101 Kindergarten Creative Camp 

With Canadian International School of Beijing’s unique Creative Camp, children will enjoy learning and discovering. The Program includes Phonics/Reading, Creative English Workshop, Chinese Language/Culture, Arts and Crafts, Music, Physical Education, Lacy Creative Block, Kung Fu, Swimming, Gymnastics, and Mad Science (curriculum may vary based on ages).

This unique fun-filled phonics class will be taught at two levels. The beginner-level phonics class teaches the basic phonetic sounds of English and helps students distinguish between the names and sounds of letters as well as writing letters. Completing the intermediate-level phonics class will prepare children to read common sentences found in age-appropriate English books.

Summer Camp Facts

Who: Canadian International School of Beijing (CISB)
What: Fun-filled phonics learning through creative arts
Where:  Canadian International School of Beijing (CISB)
When: Jun 21–Jul 9, Jul 12–Jul 30
*Field trip on Jul 22
How: Please contact the CISB Summer Admissions office: SummerAdmissions@CISBeijing.com
* Application deadline: May 29, 2021
* 15 percent discount for CISB, ISNS, and CCSC students
* Fees include Summer Camp uniform, tuition, all materials, nutritious snacks, and lunches
* School bus service can be provided for limited routes based on the number of students
Ages: 18 months to 6 years old
Prices:
Half-day Program
– RMB 6,500 (2 weeks）
– RMB 9,650 3 weeks）
– RMB 18,150 (6 weeks）
Full-day Program
– RMB 9,650 (2 weeks）
– RMB 13,900 (3 weeks）
– RMB 26,600 (6 weeks)
About: The Canadian International School of Beijing (CISB) offers classes ranging from Montessori Nursery (18 months) to Grade 12 in two downtown campuses: the main Liangmaqiao Lu campus and the new Jianguomen Kindergarten. CISB is a three-program IB World School: Primary Years Programme, Middle Years Programme, and Diploma Programme. Graduates obtain a Canadian (New Brunswick) High School Diploma and the opportunity to complete the full IB Diploma. The current 1,000+ student body represents over 55 nationalities.

KEEP READING: Summer Camp Preview: Jingwu Kungfu Training & Mad Science Superheroes

Images: Courtesy of the camps

Update May 19: Out of an abundance of caution, we are postponing Jingkids Summer Fling from Sat, May 22 to Sat, May 29 (Rain date Sun, May 30). All bought and won tickets will be automatically transferred to this date. Full announcement, including how to request a refund, can be found here.

We’re all looking forward to a little rest after the tumultuous year and a half that’s past. Some families treat summer like a lazy time, others as the fourth semester of school, but we all know that come July, some kind of break from the norm is in order. And that’s precisely where Jingkids comes in, ready to rock your scheduling world with these summer camp highlights. Each week we’ll go behind the scenes of a camp so you can make the right choice for your family.

And don’t forget to get your family’s tickets to the Jingkids Summer Fling on May 29! 

Uruguay Football Club Summer Camp

This summer camp not only has an interesting origin story, but also a cool twist: Parents can choose from different options to stay in the Hilton Haikou for a vacation while their kid goes to camp. Project Director Mariano Fernandez recounts how the football summer camp was born: “The idea… came very naturally after reading about the phone talk that President Xi had with President Lacalle Pou. They emphasized the idea of promoting cultural exchange between the two countries, including in the education and sports sectors. Thanks to our personal friendship with the Uruguay Ambassador to China, we were able to follow up and discuss very thoroughly how to implement the wishes of our Presidents for the benefit of our peoples.”

Uruguay has a small population compared to most (about 3.5 million people), yet constantly produces world-class football players. Fernandez believes that success starts in youth, as most kids begin playing football very early. Skills they’ll learn in the camp include: Technical (dribbling, ball control, passing, receiving, finishing); Tactical (understand dynamics of play, 1v1, 2v2, and numeric superiority drills); Match Strategy; Position-specific; Physical; and Mental (emotional control and addressing adversity).

Other than learning football from highly experienced international coaches, Spanish, Latin dance, cuisine, Latin American films, and beach games will also be enjoyed.

Uruguay FC Summer Camp is a multidimensional program formed by a partnership between the Ministry of Sports of Uruguay – with support from the Uruguay Embassy in Beijing – and the Hainan Provincial Government.

Summer Camp Facts

Who: Uruguay Football Club is managed by Global Magellan Cultural Sports Events & Auction Limited, a foreign-invested company in Hainan. The company signed a tri-party agreement with the Uruguay Ministry of Sports (& Uruguay Ambassador to China) and the Hainan Provincial Government to create the Uruguay Football Club.
What: Multidimensional Football Camp in Hainan with Latin American culture exchange immersion
Where: Haikou City, Hainan Province
When: Weekly/Bi-weekly from Jul 4 to Aug 28
How: Scan the QR code below
Ages: 6-14
Teacher to Child Ratio: 1 international coach per 12 kids
Prices: Prior to 30 days of the start date, RMB 8,058/week and RMB 14,433/two weeks. An extra discount applies if more than one participant signs up together.
Curriculum: See above

Conclusion: Kids will receive a completion certificate indicating their participation in Uruguay FC Summer Camp signed by the head coach/project director during the Closing Ceremony.

About: Global Magellan Cultural Sports Events & Auction Limited

Project Director Mariano Fernandez is from Uruguay, and he had his first Summer Camp experience coaching alongside former Italian football stars like Massimo Ambrosini and Billy Costacurta. He is currently coaching at Borussia Monchengladbach Academy in Shanghai and is fluent in Chinese, English, and Spanish. As an amateur player, Fernandez was awarded the 2020 MVP of Shanghai International Football League (SIFL).

Beijing International Bilingual Academy (BIBA)’s English Summer Bridge Program

Sometimes the summer can be a great time to prepare for the school year ahead, however, you still want it to be fun. That’s where BIBA’s English Summer Bridge Program comes in, giving students fun ways to improve their English levels, especially academic reading, writing, listening, and speaking. According to BIBA, “Students will be completely immersed in an English-language learning and teaching environment. They will be given lots of opportunities to respond, and many different ways to participate. BIBA’s professional teachers will create engaging activities that promote active and collaborative learning.”

Students will have many opportunities to make new friends ahead of the school year while immersing themselves in activities and a total English environment through small-group work that focuses on vocabulary, reading, writing, and putting language learning into practice.

Summer Camp Facts

Who:  BIBA Experienced Foreign Teachers
What: An interesting and useful advancement program to help enrich your child’s English reading, writing, speaking, and listening.
Where: Beijing International Bilingual Academy – Beijing Campus
When: Jul 5-16
How: Click the link www.bibachina.mikecrm.com/1z5fBia to sign up
Ages: Elementary KG-Grade 5
Teacher to Child Ratio: KG-G1 – 1:7, G2-G5 – 1:10
Prices:  RMB 9,800-15,800
Curriculum: Reading and Writing Workshops, National Geographic Learning: Reach into Phonics

Conclusion:

• Student performance at the end of the camp. For example, a song, play, speech, debate, reader’s theater, etc.
• A published piece of writing to showcase each student’s learning.
• BIBA English Summer Camp completion certificate

About: Foreign English-speaking BIBA teachers will employ BIBA’s English class models to help the students improve their English, step-by-step, over a two-week period.

KEEP READING: Summer Camp Preview: Jingwu Kungfu Training & Mad Science Superheroes

Images: Courtesy of the camps

Feels like we just got back to school, amirite? And it’s already time to enroll in after-school programs?

The international schools in Beijing tend to go their own way when it comes to spring breaks, and this year many removed a break at all to make up for the lost time last winter. But who wants all school and no play? We may not have spring break camps like in other countries, but there sure are a plethora of other ways students can spread their wings beyond the classroom.

Beijing Ducks Youth Rugby Academy

Ages: 12-18, boys and girls
Experience: none necessary
When and Where: Thurs 8-9.30pm Training at Chaoyang Park; Sun 12-2pm Touch Rugby at Olympic Park
WeChat ID: 185 1341 5507 or scan QR code below

ClubFootball Spring Season

Ages: 3-18
Experience: beginners to competitive teams
When and Where: Various times; Chaoyang Park, Olympic Forest Park South & North, Moon River Football Park, also at many schools
WeChat ID: WGQXJuniors

DragonFire Swim & Gymnastics Camp

Ages: Beginner – Level 3
When & Where: CSI-Bally Maquanying and Hongtong Sports, Zhongti Beili Mawuanying Store; Western Academy of Beijing (WAB) and Beijing Jingxi School students eligible for class at their campus.
How: Follow this link for pricing and schedule information. Registration is on the 10 and 26 of each month.

Flips N Kicks

Ages: 3-12+ years
Experience: all levels
When & Where: Saturdays at AAUDREYANNE training studio at GHL and Shunyi Fornia
How: info@flipsandkicksplus.com; Fredrik: 13718462044

Jingwu Kungfu

Ages: 3-6, 7-10, and 11 to 16 years-old
When & Where: Contact for more information
WeChat ID: 13141072677

Little Kickers

Ages: 1.5-3, 4-5, 5-6, and 6-7 years-old
When & Where: Si’de Park and Wangjing 80 Middle Field

PTI Reading Spring Camps

Ages: 4-12 years-old
Experience: all levels of reading
When: Sat & Sun 10am-12pm (4-5 years-old); Sat & Sun 1-3pm (6-12 years-old)
WeChat ID: PERLITAPENGSON21

KEEP READING: Summer Camp Preview: Get the American Overnight Camp Experience Without Leaving China

Images: Canva, courtesy of camps, pexels

For those of us abiding by quarantine policies and effectively holding onto our health throughout the Coronavirus epidemic, one thing that still threatens our wellbeing is a tendency towards inactivity and lack of exercise. For the first few days, video game and movie binges were all well and fine, but as this thing continues to drag on, it’s important that we look after the entirety of our health, as opposed to the limited view of what can be compromised by the virus.

Previously, we shared some moves and exercises from KMG X Global One’s head instructor, Von Ng, that the whole family could do at home. But today, we’re hitting the pitch. Or rather, bringing the pitch inside.

Over the next few weeks, the folks at China ClubFootball will be rolling out their series, Skills in Small Spaces, to help soccer fans continue developing their skills, even in the comfort of their own home. In each video, a China ClubFootball instructor will share new skills, followed by a set of challenges to help hone those skills.

The first video, released yesterday, focuses on Side to Side and Toe Tap drills. Players are encouraged to see how many of each they can do within a 30 second period, and whether or not they can continuously beat their own score. Once these two drills are well-practiced, it’s time to move onto the Side to Side-Toe Tap combo!

So clear a space in your house and get that body moving. It’ll not keep only your body sharp, but your mind as well.

Scan the QR code above to stay up on all of China ClubFootball’s videos.

Photos: China ClubFootball, Pixabay

Whether you’re an expat from America who grew up with the traditions of cold beers and nachos on Super Bowl Sunday, or a person who simply enjoys watching dudes pummel each other while trying their darnedest to catch and hold onto an oddly-shaped ball, Beijing’s got you covered for Super Bowl LIV between the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs.

In fact, the Super Bowl found its way to China a number of years ago, when President Ronald Reagan worked with CCTV to broadcast the 1986 Super Bowl XX in the People’s Republic. Since then, football fervor has swept across the country, culminating in more than 19 million fans — a number which ballooned 1,087 percent over the last few years — as well as the American Football League of China, which was founded in 2013 and included 20 teams as of 2018.

Given that the festivities kick-off (pun intended) around 7am on February 3 (Mon), you can be sure these events will be well-attended by diehard fans. Nevertheless, we encourage anyone who wants a crash course in US culture to find their place amongst the city’s finest local and expat gridiron gangs

It’ll be loud, messy, and charmingly American. 

Scroll below for a list of bars and restaurants that’ll be piping in a live feed of the Game, complete with sweet deals to keep you doing your touchdown dance all day long. 

Paddy O’Shea’s

Cover charge: None.
Doors open: 6.30am.
Specials: Pay as you go; full paddy’s menu available.
Perfect for: 49ers fans, given the Irish history of San Francisco.

Home Plate

Cover charge: RMB 368, RMB 318 (advance).
Doors open: 6.30am.
Specials: Cover includes free-flow Budweiser, basic mixed drinks, mimosas, screwdrivers, Bloody Marys and coffee.
Perfect for: Meat-eating, beer-drinking viewers.

The Local

Cover charge: None, entrance first-come, first-served.
Doors Open: 7.00am.
Specials: Drink and limited food menu, pay as you go.
Perfect For: Eating good ol’ American grub in a warm pub setting with good people (as long as they’re not supporting the opposition).

Q Mex

Cover charge: None.
Doors open: 6am.
Specials: Breakfast burrito or burger meals for RMB 75 (Includes coffee, orange juice, or Carlsberg draft); RMB 15 coffees; RMB 120 Corona buckets; RMB 50 Bloody Marys; Happy Hour Deals from 10am to 5pm.
Perfect for: Did someone say Corona buckets?

Side Street

Cover charge: None.
Doors open: 6:30am.
Specials: Breakfast Burgers, Coffee, and happy hour prices on Kirin draft (RMB 20), Slow Boat Monkey Fist IPA (RMB 35), and house mixers (RMB 30).
Perfect for: Viewers who would like a burger at any hour of the day

Queenie’s Sandwiches & Bar

Cover charge: 168, RMB 148 (advance).
Doors open: 7am.
Specials: Free-flow draft beer, mixers, and coffee, as well as American breakfast including bacon, waffles, and pancakes.
Perfect for: Nostalgic viewers who believe American sports deserve to be watched at an old fashioned American diner-style venue.

Centro

Cover charge: RMB 388.
Doors open: 6.30am.
Specials: Full American buffet breakfast, unlimited beer, and fruit juices. There will also be memorabilia up for grabs via lucky draw.
Perfect for: The posh sophisticate who wishes to have five-star bathroom facilities to barf in during their team’s fourth-quarter swoon.

Beersmith

Cover charge: None.
Doors open: 6.30am.
Specials: Choose between a “Superbowl breakfast” (fried egg, sausages, bacon, sausage, hash brown, baked beans, toast, and arugula), a Spanish breakfast (Iberico ham, Manchego cheese, Tamuca bread, 2 fried eggs, chorizo), a Mexican breakfast (huevos rancheros, tortilla with avocado, jalapeno, cilantro, fried eggs, and tomato rice, or a Beijing breakfast (jianbing, youtiao, pork congee with condiments, soymilk, eggs).
Perfect for: The CBD collective who don’t want to travel for the craft brewpub experience.

3 Little Pigs

Cover charge: RMB 100, includes a sausage, bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich and a beer (RSVP necessary, ID: WeChat ID: Andy706588).
Doors open: 6.30am.
Specials: Wake up with a bloody mary and freshly cracked pork rinds.
Perfect for: A cozy game atmosphere to go with your pigskin on pigskin action.

Caravan

Cover charge: Open bar and buffet, RMB 300; soft drinks and buffet, RMB 180 (reservations required and limited to 45 seats, call 010-85630801 for booking information).
Doors Open: 7am.
Specials: Excellent breakfast fare and either open bar or unlimited soft drinks throughout the game.
Perfect For: Those that want to actually watch the game, not fight for a seat, and not have to deal with large crowds of belligerent, drunk fans.

Plan B

Cover charge: RMB 200.
Doors Open: 7am.
Specials: Build your own Caesar bar, free flow Tiger Beer, coffee, and soft drinks as well as a full breakfast buffet.
Perfect For: Shuangjingers, Canadians, and those who want REAL Super Bowl food and not a plate of bacon and eggs for the Big Game.

Images: Pixabay, CBS sports, Washington Post, NJsports

As the old adage goes, anything you can do I can do better. And it is this adage that has been a rallying cry for women across the world in pursuit of equality in the greater society and also in fields largely considered to be the preserve of men at the time. Nowhere does this hold truer than in sports. Women, especially in the last century, railed against the misconceptions of female fragility by emerging as top elite athletes, conquering the world of sports everywhere from marathon running, to deadweight lifting. Who can claim not to know the likes of Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova?

Despite these gains in certain sports, some continue to be closed to female participation, a boys club if you will, and none more so than soccer. Just this year, the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) Women’s World Cup was held in France, with the US team beating their Dutch rivals 2-0. And despite it being a spectacular event, it didn’t garner as much fanfare or international coverage as is offered to the FIFA Men’s World Cup when it happens. And even when the teams or indeed the players were featured, it was rarely anything to do with their exemplary performance on the field, and more about “drama” back home. Most famously, Megan Rapinoe, the captain of the US team, got into a Twitter battle with President Trump, further detracting from a hard-won victory.

The US women’s soccer team after their win at the FIFA World Cup earlier this year

This sort of discrimination, albeit unintentional on the part of news outlets, sets up a dangerous precedent which more or less states that if a woman dare go out of her comfort zone and attempt something in a field dominated by men, she will not be taken seriously and her gains no matter how hard won, will be diminished.

How then can societies across the world nurture and inspire the next generation’s elite athletes, be it male or female, while undoing gender bias in these same sports? Enter, China ClubFootball.  Established in 2001, China ClubFootball has dedicated its resources to providing the best possible training for all its trainees.  In the past year alone, the facility has seen approximately 3000 boys and girls aged between 3 and 18 enjoy their programs, which have been crafted by a pool of 16 full-time coaches drawn from the UK. With a curriculum designed by their Director of Coaching (an ex- Liverpool Football Club international Academy Head Coach), all trainees are guaranteed to not only have an all-inclusive, multilingual fun time, but also achieve the right balance between physical and motor skill and social skills.

Let’s Meet The Coach

Coach Sophie Hunt 

One way of motivating young sports enthusiasts to pursue their athletic dreams is to present them with a successful version of what they would aspire to be. Coach Sophie is just that.

What experience do you have as a football coach and how long have you been doing this in Beijing?

My coaching journey started in England working for Coventry City Girls Football Club (FC). As a previously first team player for the club, I was excited to start coaching and provide the opportunity for more girls to get involved in the game. It was here I gained my Football Association (FA) Level 1 and 2 coaching badges and was responsible for managing the under-11s girls team. The role included organizing and coaching the training sessions and running league matches on the weekends.

I was also involved in many projects with Sky Blues in the community. These projects offered opportunity for young players to play football and develop new skills. We ran a project called the Wildcats program which aimed to give 5-11 year old girls the opportunity to play football. We ran four centers across Coventry and Warwickshire and was a part of the 200 clubs in England promoting girls’ football.

I have now been in Beijing for three months working with ClubFootball and I am proud of what we have achieved in this time. My colleague Rob Skupien and I have worked together to create the ClubFootball High School Girls Team which have been training hard at the International School of Beijing (ISB) in the Autumn term. The number of girls in the team keeps growing so much that we have arranged and played four matches against Western Academy of Beijing (WAB), Harrow Beijing, and South American Football Academy (SAFA).

Members of the all-girls team 

This has inspired the club to focus on the younger generation and we have found great success with running a girls-only after-school program at ISB. We have 30 girls from grades 2 – 5 signed up for the autumn course and 24 for our winter course. This has been fantastic to see so many girls get involved in football.

Following the success we have been experiencing with the girls in Shunyi, Martin Chan, yet another one of my colleagues who has extensive experience as a coach, has been working hard to carry on the momentum in the Sanlitun area. Therefore, we ran a girls-only taster session at the British School of Beijing, Sanlitun (BSB Sanlitun) on December 8 and was thrilled with the response we received! It was great to see so many girls happy and experiencing the game and they all trained very well! We are now looking to run the girls-only winter program for grades 3-5 starting in January.

What does the curriculum entail for the girls?

ClubFootball’s age and level appropriate curriculum is overseen by our Director of Football Alex Arnold (ex-Liverpool FC International Academy head coach), and is designed to maximize each child’s technical, tactical, social, and psychological development through engaging, educational, and enjoyable coaching sessions.

ClubFootball use a process called the four-corner model. The four-corner model is designed to make coaches and parents think about more than just technique and physical fitness. It is used to highlight the needs of a developing person (player) and is used as a guide to think how you might construct practices to include all aspects of a player’s development needs. These four corners include technical & tactical, physical, social, and psychological attributes of a player. It is these four corners that we base our sessions around the girls.

We want each player to have as many touches on the ball as possible so they can feel comfortable on the ball and improve their confidence to express themselves and try new skills. I also think it is important that the girls get the chance to meet other footballers their age so they can make new friends and most importantly, play with smiles on their faces! The sessions will involve learning the technical fundamentals such as dribbling, passing, and everyone’s favorite, shooting!

What is your goal as a coach with your students?

Ms. Hunt in session with her students

My goal as a coach is to make a positive impact on my students and meet their individual needs. Some girls may just want to come and make new friends so I try to make sure the session is as social as possible so that players can meet new people. Some players may want to improve on a certain technique so I need to make sure the practice involves different technical skills and set individual challenges, so their needs are being met.

My goal for the girls team would be to keep running girls-only training sessions all year round. I would like to make sure they enjoy the experience with us and in the long term to arrange friendlies with other teams and build a girls-only league. This would be a fantastic achievement and I believe in the long term is very much possible.

What is the inspiration behind the girls training program and how are parents reacting to it?

From Martin’s and my own experience, we have seen the ladies game grow in England and have experienced the potential it holds. We would love to replicate this in China and see huge potential in how big the women’s game can be here.  Also, the Women’s World Cup was a great success this year with an average live audience of more than 82 million watching the World Cup final. I believe this can be a huge inspiration for any girl looking to start playing football.

Whenever I speak to parents with regards to the girls-only session, the feedback has been extremely positive. Many parents are happy to see the program as there are not many girls-only classes in the city. They feel reassured that their child is learning in safe environment where they can play against girls of the same physical ability and relate to the girls they are playing with.

Photos: Courtesy of Billboard>Mitchell Peters, Clubfootball 

Chinese newspapers have been celebrating the national soccer team’s 7-0 thumping of Guam in a World Cup qualifying game. However Team Dragon’s recent successes have been dogged by controversy over the naturalization of foreign-born players.

The impressive scoreline against Guam needs to be considered in context: Guam is a remote Pacific island with a population of 167,000, ranked 214 in the world (although they did once beat India, population 1.3 billion). Still, as the football cliché has it, you can only beat the team that you’re playing, and China’s victory puts them top of their qualifying group for the 2022 tournament.

The country’s ambition is clear from the recent (re)appointment of head coach Marcello Lippi, who won the World Cup with Italy as well as a host of European and Italian club titles with Juventus. Actually bringing home the trophy might be a distant prospect for China, but qualification for the first tournament wholly in Asia is surely a minimum requirement, particularly with China hosting the Asian Cup the following year. Although Asian teams have only five places at the World Cup compared to Europe’s 13, the lower standard of the teams means it’s viewed as one of the easier conferences to qualify from.

However China’s team against Guam featured London-born Nico Yennaris, now known as Li Ke, who in May this year became the first naturalized player to represent China at soccer. He is soon to be joined by Jiang Guangtai, formerly Tyias Browning. As Yennaris and Browning, they both played for England at youth level, but both have Chinese heritage, unlike Brazilian-born striker Elkeson (Ai Kesen), who scored the seventh goal of the game.

The rules of qualification for national teams are set globally by FIFA, and nobody is suggesting that they have been broken. Chinese fans might reasonably point to the England cricket team, whose recent World Cup victory was inspired by Ben Stokes (born in New Zealand) and Jofra Archer (born in Barbados). However, it could be argued that a multi-ethnic team better represents modern, diverse England, whereas China is still 90 percent Han.

More importantly though, the need for foreign-born players to boost the team shines a light on the continuing lack of truly world-class players developing in China. Despite the huge investment in the sport, China’s world ranking is actually declining from a high of 37th in 1998 (they’re currently ranked 68).

I have suggested before what I believe to be the reason for this. Across Europe, South America, and Africa, you will see kids playing fierce, self-organized games of football on any patch of spare ground they can find. In China on the other hand, the sport is only played under supervision on designated pitches, usually once or twice a week at most. Besides a lack of open space, there is a desperate shortage of time for unstructured play, due to the importance placed on study. The Chinese government recognizes the problem this is creating for children’s health and development, with obesity and myopia particular concerns. But attempts to limit the amount of homework given to students have met with resistance from both parents and educators.

If China is to achieve its ambitious goal of winning a first World Cup by 2050, then it needs more than just pitches and coaches: it needs to accept that play is learning too for kids, and unstructured time is vital for children’s development.

Photo: chinadaily.com.cn