JINAN, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- On a winter afternoon in Binzhou, a city in east China's Shandong Province, students and their parents formed mixed teams for a family football match at Bincheng No. 2 Experimental Primary School.
"I have loved football for years," said Li Hexuan, a fifth-grader at the school. "Since my school began encouraging our family to do sports together, my father has spared more time to train with me."
In recent years, more local administrations and schools in China have introduced sports programs designed for families.
In Binzhou, the "Sports Competition for Families" program has been launched in schools and communities, according to Liu Chunhua, an official with the Binzhou Administration of Sport.
The program aims to encourage parents and other family members to take part in sports with children, putting down their phones, spending time outdoors and sharing activities through exercise.
Many schools in Binzhou now hold family sports sessions on weekday afternoons and weekends.
"We've found that these sessions are well-received by students' families, who are eager to participate in physical exercise alongside with their children," said Fu Ruichou, principal of the primary school.
The sessions are organized as mini-matches, with modified rules, competitive formats and results.
Football coach Huang Ruxin said family football matches are played on smaller fields with fewer players, with adults and children on the same teams. Limits are placed on adults' physical contact and shooting range to ensure children remain the main players.
"We expect parents to be more actively involved in the sports sessions, while helping children build more confidence and a sense of teamwork on the field," Huang said.
Other activities in the program include basketball, rope skipping and curling, with standardized equipment, team matchups, scoring and rankings aimed at balancing fairness and competitiveness.
Niu Lei, a PE teacher at Binzhou Experimental School (South Campus), said students can learn values through competition, such as apologizing after a foul or saluting after a win.
"Children learn respect and self-discipline through both winning and losing. That is sports at its most real," Niu said.
Officials said the program also promotes physical fitness, parent-child interaction and students' healthy development.
Parent Liu Meng said playing sports with his child has changed the way they communicate.
"Moments of working together toward the same goal with my kid are hard to create when life gets busy," Liu said.
Organizers also observed that students who regularly join the program tend to show stronger discipline and teamwork and become more active in group activities.
Zhao Xuejun, former principal of the Experimental School, said those qualities can help students stand out in class and school events.
The program has attracted nearly 100,000 families across Binzhou and has expanded to include mind games such as Chinese chess.
"It is our hope to involve more social sports resources, so that family sports program can develop more sustainably in local communities," said Dong Fengjia, a director with the Binzhou Administration of Sport. ■
