Veteran champions

In March last year, the women were invited to represent Guangdong in the futsal competition at the National Games. They were in the veterans' competition, which was for players ages 37 to 60.

In April, with less than two months to go, they had a problem－they hadn't found a proper goalkeeper.

The ideal candidate, Zhu Yanying, rejected their invitations because her sons were so young, with one age 4 months and the other age 3.

Tall and with quick reactions, Zhu was a well-known goalkeeper in Zhanjiang. When she finished middle school in 1998, she accepted an offer to leave her hometown and move to Wuhan, Hubei province, with several teammates and join the team there as the province had just begun to develop the sport.

She attended high school and university in Wuhan, getting free tuition plus living expenses because of her soccer expertise. Her team ranked in the top eight in the 10th National Games in 2005, a record for the province at the time. In one critical match, Zhu saved two kicks in a high-pressure penalty shootout.

She retired after the game, at the peak of her career. "I used to travel around for matches. I didn't want to live a wandering life. I was homesick and missed my parents," she said.

The 40-year-old is now a PE teacher at a college in Zhanjiang. She married in 2017, and had her first son in 2018 and a second in 2020.

"Teaching is an ideal job and I enjoy the stable life," she said, adding that when the team repeatedly asked her to join, she faced a dilemma.

"After all, soccer is a part of my life. Deep inside I wanted to join in, but reality hindered me as I was nursing a baby and my body was unused to the fierce competition."

Her husband's understanding attitude made her finally decide to go.