Shaping Future Stars:
CACT Coaches Train Next Generation of Chinese Footballers

In a new venture, HBISP has teamed up with the Charlton Athletic Community Trust (CACT) to run  week-long football courses in three Hebei cities – Xingtai, Baoding and Qinhuangdao. The Community Trust is the outreach arm of EFL League One football club Charlton Athletic and manages the 16-19 academy that feeds into the first teams.

Three coaches from CACT ran training sessions for over 180 aspiring footballers in typical Hebei summer conditions – a mixture of searing heat and torrential rain.

Lead CACT coach Richard Styles commented: 
 

‘the Chinese students have good technical skills so we are concentrating on developing the tactical aspects of their game, anticipating how play will develop and moving to the right position. The students and their Chinese coaches have really bought in to what we are doing and have also looked after us really well off the pitch’

Plans are already underway to bring a team from one Xingtai school to the UK early next year for a football tour.​​