Almighty Coach

Zhizhong Gu stepped down too suddenly for the National Table Tennis Team, and the effect of it was like an earthquake. Everyone on the team was informed of this news without any mental preparation.

"What’s going on? Coach Gu’s work is flawless, how could he be relieved of his office?"

"If Coach Gu leaves the team, what should we do? Who will be the General Coach in the future?"

"According to the notification, we will not have a General Coach from now on. A National Team Coach Group will be established for the men’s team and the women’s team respectively, which will be responsible for the training and management of our team. This is the so-called flat management."

"Isn’t it the same as before? I remember over 10 years ago, we also had coach groups for the men’s and women’s teams. This reform just takes us back more than a decade!"

"I wonder who will be the coaches of the men’s team and the women’s team in the future. Do you think Coach Gu could have a chance to come back to us?"

"Won’t Coach Gu act as the Vice Chairman of the Table Tennis Association? This could be regarded as a promotion, right?"

"Promotion? Are you out of your mind? This is apparently an Irish promotion! The Table Tennis Association has over 10 Vice Chairmen, whose main work is nothing but drinking tea and attending meetings. The Vice Chairman is a leisure job for people who are about to retire. Coach Gu is only in his early forties, which is the prime of his life, but he is assigned to do some leisure work to wait for his retirement. I really can’t understand the intention of the high-level management."

Beside them, Dai Li didn’t speak, but he could clearly sense the incomprehension of the others upon this decision, as well as their uncertainty about the future.

Dai Li was also bewildered. Zhizhong Gu had left, and the overall framework of the National Table Tennis Team would be changed enormously. He was also not clear about his own future, and whether his work in the national team would be changed after the reform.

The unknown was terrifying. A notification from the high-level management made everyone in the National Table Tennis Team anxious and bewildered, for none of them knew the future work arrangement for them.

That night, no one got very much sleep.

The next day, the disturbed feeling still permeated the national team. The media also got the news, and then all kinds of comments on the internet came one after another.

The whole team was dominated by the feeling of fear. Dai Li called Li Xue during dinner. Dai Li thought Li Xue should have more inside information than he did.

On the phone, Dai Li asked if he knew anything about the reform, and Li Xue let out a long sigh.

"There are a lot of things you don’t understand. The root problem is the national sports system in this country, which has been denounced by many people for a long time. This system is controversial among ordinary people, and even the management isn’t settled on the topic. The focal point of the controversy is whether we should continue this national system or carry out a market-oriented reform of the complete sports industry."

"For now, the idea of the market-oriented reform of the sports industry has apparently gained the upper hand. In the high-level management of the sport administrative organization, someone used to say unequivocally that the problems in the sports industry of our country are mainly caused by this national system, which can also be regarded as the planning system of the sports. Although the high-level management didn’t deny the national system publicly, their reform strategy is designed to promote the marketization of the sport industry."

"Once all problems were attributed to the system, the judgment criteria and logic of some people became weird and simple. They deem that the planning system is wrong, and needs to be corrected, even though it could allow us many achievements. While the marketization is ongoing, no matter how many problems have been caused during the process, they will continue to promote it. They will say that all the problems are because we haven’t taken the marketization far enough."

"The National Table Tennis Team is a good representative of the national system; therefore, for those people who want to promote the marketization of the sports industry, the National Table Tennis Team must be reformed to provide a template for the reform of the sports industry as a whole. They just don’t care how magnificent the National Table Tennis Team is."

"However, during the implementation of the reform, the main issues are still related to two words—power and interest. Actually, power and interest could be regarded as one thing. With power, you could pursue your interests; to defend your interest, you needed to strive for more power."

Dai Li frowned. He really didn’t like the two words.

Li Xue continued to say, "This reform in the National Table Tennis Team looks more like the repatriation of powers from the sports administration centers by the General Administration of Sports. As a matter of fact, the General Administration of Sports has been trying to take power back from the administration centers in recent years."

"I’ve heard that Zhizhong Gu got an Irish promotion, is it true?" Dai Li continued to ask.

"Zhizhong Gu is a pretty good young man. In his early forties, he is still energetic and competent. It’s really a pity for him," Li Xue said. "The head coach responsibility system, which has been established for several decades, has been implemented in all teams in our system. In a team, most of the powers are concentrated in the hand of the head coach, who is responsible not only for the management and training, but also the real powers of human resources, finance and purchase, etc. Just like your entry of the national team only needed the oral approval of Zhizhong Gu."

"You have read the notification from the Table Tennis Association. There will be no head coach in the Table Tennis Team, instead, they have set up two coach groups for the men’s team and the women’s team. The head coaches of the two groups will be responsible for the training and management of their team. However, the other aspects of the team are never mentioned. So do you think the head coaches of the men’s team and the women’s team will also have the powers in human resources and finance like Zhizhong Gu?"

"Through this flat management reform, the General Administration of Sports has taken back all those powers. In the future, the Table Tennis Team will have to use the person assigned by the General Administration of Sports and use the equipment purchased by the General Administration of Sports. The administrative work and the training of the team have been separated. The team only needs to perform the training earnestly and strive for good achievements."

Dai Li asked immediately, "You mean a head coach in the old days was just like a general manager of an enterprise, who was responsible for the operation and development of the enterprise, and had to make the enterprise bigger and stronger. After the reform of the flat management, the head coach is turned into a workshop director, who should only be responsible for the production of the workshop, right?"

"You could understand it that way," Li Xue responded. "Actually another reason for this change is that Zhizhong Gu’s work was too good. Like the old saying goes, a tree outstanding, a gale might be chasing. The achievements of the National Table Tennis Team in recent years were too conspicuous, which has established a great reputation for Zhizhong Gu in the team and among ordinary people. For some people in the management level, his ’excessive’ reputation was unacceptable."

"In addition, the National Table Tennis Team is now enjoying the moment of glory. Just the advertisement endorsement could translate to hundreds of millions of yuan. Too many people want to get a slice of the cake. With Zhizhong Gu as the General Coach, other people could not touch the profit; but now the situation is totally different."

"Coach, what should I do now?" Dai Li asked.

"Nothing, just wait and see." Li Xue let out a long sigh. "This is a game for the high-level leaders. Even Zhizhong Gu has to obey the arrangement; what could you do? Just do your job steadfastly. After a while, the situation will calm down."

After ending the call with Li Xue, Dai Li still had an uneasy feeling in his heart.

Ding-dong!

The wechat application in his mobile phone made a prompt tone.

Dai Li looked down, then his facial expression changed.

"What? The players of the National Table Tennis Team withdrew from the match collectively!"