TOP officials from the US National Football League (NFL) paid a visit to Shanghai Changning Middle School as one of the stops on their China tour, in order to promote the game among local youngsters.

Changning High School won the championship of the NFL Flag League, Shanghai, last season, and will compete with the other two champions from Beijing and Guangzhou for a ticket to the NFL world championship matches.

The winner will compete with another nine national teams for the world championship.

Starting from 2003, the NFL has sponsored the NFL flag leagues in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou.

Michael Stokes, senior manager of Fan and Football Development for the NFL, appeared very confident.

"Although the game is not yet very popular in China, we have made progress. We have young players, even girls, playing the game in middle school. So more people will become aware of it."

Twenty-three middle school teams from Shanghai joined the league last season and according to Ma Jin, an official from Zou Marketing Ltd, the NFL partner in China, there will be more school teams this season.

"The flag game is safe and not-for-profit. We are glad to teach the fundamentals of the sport to kids in China," said Stokes.

NFL will help train the young players by sending one or two coaches to every school.

NFL has co-operated with Shanghai Physical Education University to educate coaches in American football. These coaches will teach the game to middle school players over the next five years.

Apart from the flag games, the NFL is trying to promote its tackle game in China.

In 2004, it has broadcast the Superbowl game to China via China's TV giant CCTV 5.

About 300 million people were expected to watch the game in China, according to the NFL official website.