With dazzling movements, distinct fakes and sublime passes, 15-year-old Fan Junbin is trying to emulate every trace of his idol Barry Sanders, the National Football League (NFL) all-time great, at the U-14 Flag Football World Championships being held at Beijing's Xiannongtan Stadium.

Fan is captain of the Guangzhou No. 41 Middle School team and now has led China into the final six of the 10 participating nations at the event on Friday.

The result surpassed China's ninth-place finish last year in Vancouver, their first attempt at the event.

"I just love flag football," said Fan. "It brings so much joy and makes me feel like a star. It's become a part of my life and I cannot live without it."

Flag football is the NFL's core international grassroots program involving more than one million boys and girls around the world. It was the excitement and team spirit that attracted Fan and some 40,000 contemporaries of his into this non-contact football sport since it was introduced in China in 2003.

"It is a brand new sport for me and my friends as I have never before touched a ball with such a strange shape," said Fan. "But ever since I experienced the first training session, I just cannot stop playing it."

Despite of his ever-growing interest in the sport, Fan has had to face some early difficulties, such as when his parents, who thought football as brutal and unhealthy, refused to let him join the sport.

"I showed them the game's video and took them to the field," said Fan. "It took some time for them to understand flag football. Now they fully support me on and off the field."

The American Flag Football League (AFFL) has launched three leagues in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou respectively over the past two years, with 30 teams playing in each league.

Jack Chen, general director of flag football in China, said the sport would inevitably become popular here.

"As a sport specifically designed for teenagers, flag football not only makes our kids physically strong but also trains them to be self-disciplined and learn teamwork," said Chen, who became the first flag football coach in 2002. "Although they are not able to join NFL, the experience of playing football will teach them to be great people in their future lives.

"The NFL is planning to set up an office in China to attract more kids into the sport. I believe the sport will be very popular in five years."

China suffered its second and third loss at the Youth World Championships on Friday after it was beaten by Canada and Mexico. It also lost to defending champions the US. However, it managed to take two victories over South Korea and Germany.

(China Daily August 20, 2005)