WHEN I first transferred from Guangzhou to Shenzhen as required by work three years ago, the first thing I did, after finding an apartment to live in, was look for an opportunity to play soccer.

Thank goodness we have good Internet resources, in English, where expats can find information about city life. It took me only one week to find a place to play my beloved game.

Nice weather, fresh air and green parks, new friends, everything has made my life happy here. I've found so many soccer parks in Futian where people can rent 5-v-5, 8-v-8 and 11-v-11 pitches.

Soccer has gained wide popularity in China. Many people are not only watching the game while drinking beer in bars, but also playing and forming their own teams.

There are more than 100 amateur teams in Shenzhen that organize friendly games. Some expats participate in Chinese tournaments, too.

When you live in another country, sports will help you meet new friends with whom you can have fun going out on the weekend.

There are also several foreigners' amateur teams in town, some of which have rather long histories and played in Chinese 11-v-11 leagues.

Indeed, the expat soccer scene in Shenzhen has been alive since 2001, which saw the birth of the first expat team, InterShenzhen FC. Many foreign players have played for that team. In 2006 came the second team, World United FC, followed by several other clubs since 2009: Tigers, Irish, Lunatics and more. Expat soccer has seen huge expansion. Most of these teams play in Futian.

It eventually occurred to me that it was high time to create a real expats' league in Shenzhen. I was missing competition, real competition when you play different teams like I had done in Guangzhou and in my home country, Latvia. I wanted that to happen here.

It's not easy to organize a good league. It takes a lot of time to prepare and negotiate with teams, sponsors, pitches and other parties. It was good luck that I met soccer fans Mihran, Tansel and Nick. We met this summer and soon started to discuss how to create the first expats' league in Shenzhen, a diverse and organized league. We agreed that the idea behind the league was to create a platform for expat teams to compete and to build a footballing community that would cross cultural barriers. Thus, the Shenzhen International Amateur Football League (SIAFL) was born, as well as a charter to guide organization of the league.

It was decided that the league should not be run to gain profits, as that way we might lose sight of what's most important, soccer. Each person in the organizing team was assigned a task and things began to move quickly. We built an executive committee with a few people in charge of the overall organization, as well as a member committee in charge of league governance. Votes were set from day one.

We made the goal that eight teams would participate in SIAFL, with sponsors to support the league and cover part of the expenses. It was great teamwork, and my dreams came true. One of the reasons why I like football is that it's a team game. Without a good team and teamwork you will never win. And luckily, Futian provides a large number of great soccer parks along with the enthusiasm of residents and officials toward sports.

Apart from his regular job as a regional sales manager for U.K.-based Magnatech LED, Aleksandr Chermonor is kept busy by his passion for sports.

Chermonor, 35, is vice president of the Shenzhen International Amateur Football League (SIAFL), a nonprofit soccer association for expats. The Latvian is a goalkeeper on the soccer field and also trains in Thai boxing at local gyms.