Chapter 141: Eliminate Half First
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
In the meeting room, the coaches were busy talking. The national team leader waved his hand, signaling for the crowd to be quiet.
After everyone stopped talking, the leader said, "So, this is the police training base. You may be wondering why you are here, instead of in the national team training center."
The leader paused deliberately to observe everyone's facial expressions. Seeing that everyone was looking at him waiting for his explanation, he continued, "According to our national team's original plan, this Youth Training Program was supposed to recruit thirty to thirty-five people, but due to various reasons, we have more than sixty people here."
Hearing this, Dai Li involuntarily glanced at Xuexi Zhuang, thinking, The leader seems to be implying that about half of us are here because of our connections.
The leader continued, "You are all coaches, so I do not need to tell you that no matter which level you are at, the resources are limited. Our Youth Training Program doesn't have enough resources to train more than sixty young coaches, so we will have to eliminate half of the group first. Based on our plans, only thirty of you can stay, which means more than half of you must leave!"
Pausing, the leader's eyes were stern. Some people looked embarrassed, especially people like Xuexi Zhuang, who had gotten here through his relationships with others. They had a higher possibility of being eliminated.
I thought that I would be directly sent to the national team. Why did nobody tell me that there would be an elimination round! Xuexi Zhuang was in agony.
Others, on the other hand, were very calm. They feared nothing because they had a strong backing. Some even grinned coldly.
Elimination? This is nothing serious. My third uncle is in the General Administration of Sports; he is in charge of this program's funds. They wouldn't dare eliminate me!
My brother-in-law is a national team coach. I'm a relative of the team. They won't clean me out, will they?
My backing is the vice-director of the General Administration of Sports. If not for the monk's sake, but the Buddha's, they would never eliminate me!
There were many people who had similar thoughts. No matter how much ability they had, their backing was stronger than Xuexi Zhuang's for sure! Some of them even felt that they were guaranteed a spot.
"As for how the eliminations would be conducted, the political instructor, Chen, from the police training base, will tell you the details." The leader pointed at a man standing nearby dressed in camouflage and said, "I will leave this afternoon. You will be under Instructor Chen's guidance. He will assess your abilities and make the final decision!"
Those who had feared nothing were now anxious. They had been fearless because of their connections, and thought that the national athletics team wouldn't dare eliminate them. But all of a sudden, the judge had suddenly become the political instructor of the police training base. The disciplined services had strict rules; having a connection would mean nothing now.
Dai Li was secretly happy that the national team had wised up. If the national team had held the evaluation itself, the team could not handle it well. Once those "connections" put pressure on the team, the team leaders would not be able to come to a fair decision because they would have no choice but to keep those people happy, which meant keeping the people they had recommended. Networking was so powerful that even the national team could do nothing.
But the national team had given the power to kick incompetent people out through disciplined service to the police. People who would be disqualified would have no leg to stand on, since it would assessed by the police training base instead of the national team.
The disciplined services always had very strict elimination systems. It might not have been zero omissions, but one would be hard-pressed to find a connection that would help them pass the evaluation. At the very least, the final judgement would be more reliable and fair than the national team's would have been. And if someone had a connection strong enough to interfere with a disciplined service's decisions, he definitely did not need to be a poor athletics coach.
The man in camouflage took one step forward, raised his hand in a salute, and then said, "Nice to meet you, coaches. I'm Chen, the political instructor. For the next two weeks, you will live here. I will take care of your living arrangements. Our accommodations are basic, and not as cozy as what you have at home. But I hope that you will obey our administrations. Of course, if you cannot bear it, feel free to tell me at any time, I can send you back downtown to the airport or train station."
Instructor Chen was clearly implying that if anyone felt that the training conditions were too hard to bear that they could quit at whenever they wanted, but that it would cost them their spot if they did.
Anyone who had chosen to be a professional coach was not a pleasure-seeker. Training was hard work for athletes and coaches alike. They were both exposed to the weather all the time; and while athletes continued exercising, so did their coaches, just with a lower workload.
Because of this, poor accommodations were nothing to the coaches. Years ago, when coaches would accompany athletes on their trips to other places, coaches would bring cots for the athletes while they sat on hard seats for the entire night as a way to save money. One time, when Coach Jihai Ding had taken Feixiang Lin to Europe for competitions, the host had only arranged dorms for the athletes. Jihai Ding did not want to waste money, so he spent the entire night sleeping on the floor.
Instructor Chen continued, "As for dining, we offer good food. We don't have a lot of fish and meat, but we do offer a well-balanced diet. Because you are from different parts of the country with different eating habits, it is hard to please all of you. So, if you can't stand the food at all, you can buy instant noodles in the convenience store, which is near the canteen."
"In our police training base, because the logistics department distributes towels, soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, etc., the convenience store does not offer everything. Unfortunately, it is not a supermarket. Please excuse us.
"As for the rules, there are some key points I would like you to remember. We have totally-enclosed training, meaning the gate is closed Monday through Friday with a 24-hour standing sentry. Outsiders who want to come in must present IDs, and insiders who want to leave must ask for permission. After all, this is a disciplined service; I don't want to see that you go out that often. It is a long way to downtown, and the transportation is not very convenient. If any of you have something urgent you must tend to, come to me and ask for leave.
"Friday afternoon, after 5PM, you can leave our base freely. You have two consecutive days off in Saturday and Sunday. We offer shuttles to take you to the bus station, but remember to return before 8PM on Sunday. If you arrive late, the gate will be closed, and you will be in some trouble.
"Later I will show you around to make you familiar with the premises." Instructor Chen then changed the topic and said, "Now I would like to give you some detailed information about how we are going to assess you!"
This was directly related to everyone's future, so upon hearing this, the coaches all pricked up their ears and listened carefully.