Almighty Coach

In the swimming management center of the sports general administration, everyone relevant to the situation was discussing it in the meeting room.

"As the main coach of the national swimming team, it’s my fault that I didn’t manage it very well. I failed in bringing the team together which caused this problem. I take full responsibility and I apologize to all the managers..." The main coach of the national swimming team, Donglai Huo, looked down and was very sincere when he made his self-criticism.

"Come on, Huo. You are not the only one at fault. Improper competitions between athletes have happened before. Everybody knows the incredible records you left during these years of management. Nobody wants things like this happen."

The person who spoke was in his early forties. He looked very smart and capable. He was the vice director of the swimming management center, Hongjun Zhuge, and was also in charge of the sub operations.

Zhuge continued, "It’s the internet era now. The news spread very fast, and there are many internet users who have questioned the matter for no reason. What we should do now is discuss how to deal with this problem and make its influence miniscule. Huo, as the main coach of the national team, you go first!"

Huo nodded and composed himself. "Feifei Yu works very hard during her daily training, so the rumors floating around of her being lazy are not true at all. As for her weight gain, it’s the truth. But it’s a normal physical phenomenon that everyone goes through during their growing development period. We’ve already taken measures to help her lose weight. However, the result is not obvious. Although we hired some nutritionists from the capital medical university, there is still no progress. And what’s worse, she is becoming even fatter."

"This kind of weight gain during the physical development period can’t be reversed. Normal people that are 26 years old can’t be slimmer than they were at 16. I think it’s a very ordinary phenomenon for people who are Feifei Yu’s age," Coach Bai said, who was next to them.

"He has a point. But if this kind of weight gain is nonreversible, does that mean she will never be able to get slimmer, which would mean she will never get back to her peak condition? Her recent records were not as good as we expected. She couldn’t even rank in the top of the national competitions. Do we have to waste our resources on an athlete like her?" someone asked. He was the department head in swimming management center.

"Department head Jiang, are you saying we should give up our development of Feifei Yu? She was the career grand slam swimming athlete and broke the world record!" Donglai Huo said anxiously.

Jiang argued immediately, "That was a few years ago. And the reason she was able to make such good records is because of our swimming center’s development program. Now that it has become hard for her to get back to her former competing condition, it would be a waste to still spend so many resources on her. We’d be better off using these training resources on other athletes. Maybe we could cultivate a second or third Feifei Yu."

"But she is under 20-years-old. She is still very young. There must be some potential that we could explore," Huo said.

"There are many athletes who are 15 or 16 with potential that are reserves for our national team. They might have more potential!" Jiang fired right back.

"That’s different. Besides, she took part in many important competitions where she showed her ability to everyone. As long as she can lose weight, she will be able to return back to her normal condition for sure," Huo retorted.

"Could she? If she was able to lose weight, she wouldn’t have gained 7kg last year!" Jiang continued.

"Alright, we are discussing problems here, not fighting or arguing!" Hongjun Zhuge waved his hand and continued helplessly, "Department head Jiang, I can see that you’ve got something to say. Let’s hear from you."

"Well, I think that this is a chance for our swimming center. Since the media has brought this thing up, why don’t we use this chance to ask Feifei Yu leave the national team. Then we can allocate our training resources in a better way. It’s good for the national team’s future sustainability in the long run," Jiang said.

"So you are kicking Feifei Yu off of the national team?" Huo asked, his eyes opening widely.

Jiang smiled slightly. "Coach Huo, I know that Feifei Yu is your favorite student and you don’t want her to leave. You are worried about her future. When she broke the world record, the country gave her an apartment that was worth 5 million yuan. Count the income from commercials she participated in and that is more than 10 million. That should be enough for her to use for the rest of her life. You don’t have to be worried about her future."

"But she did nothing wrong, and she is working very hard during her daily training!" Huo looked at Hongjun Zhuge with an expression of helpless.

Zhuge followed him and nodded. "She is our representative athlete for the swimming team, which earned a great reputation for us, after all. It might be inappropriate to kick her out right away. There could be some bad repercussions. We also have to consider that she is very valuable in terms of commerce. If we lose her, we might suffer some type of loss."

As the leader of the swimming management center, Zhuge considered everything from a more general perspective. Athletes like Feifei Yu had income from many commercial events and advertisements coming in every year. According to the regulations, national athletes needed to hand in 5% of the income. If they kicked out Yu, they would lose more compensation from her commercials.

"I didn’t think about that," Jiang said. "But I think that we should rethink the allocation of training resources that Feifei Yu is utilizing now. We can improve the general ability of our swimming team. What Feifei Yu needs to do is lose weight. That requires nothing but staying on a balanced, scientific diet and doing lots of exercise. There is no need to let her use up so many of out training resources!"

When athletes were on the national level, talent and hard work were the only keys to success. Training resources were also very important. Many excellent athletes were developed by many training resources. This was similar to shooting training on military teams. As long as you were willing to provide more bullets, the soldiers would be able to practice and become more skillful.

Top-level athletes always had the best treatments. They had the ability to use training facilities, and even train in foreign countries. For example, the swimming athletes went to Australia to get trained, which cost more than one million yuan per person. This meant there could be only two or three people that went. If the same money was spent on ordinary athletes, a few more people could benefit from it.

As the discussion was taking place, the secretary knocked on the door and walked in the room. She whispered in Zhuge’s ears.

"What? Press conference? Hanbei provincial swimming team held the press conference by themselves? It’s already started?" Zhuge’s face turned very gloomy.

"What’s wrong with the main coach, Zhongyi Xu in Hanbei? How could he hold the press conference without asking for our permission? Doesn’t he know that we need to make sure we prepare the answers together? Even if he doesn’t want to prepare with us, he should still at least tell us. Feifei Yu is still on the national team after all!" somebody in the meeting room said, dissatisfied.

Somebody opened their phone and gave it to Zhuge.

"Director, look. Somebody is showing this press conference live."