Hello everyone, I am the Sino-British mixed-race Xie Luyi~ In the last episode, I mentioned that my father, Jack Simith (also translated as 史密夫·杰克), due to injuries during his player career, studied at the coaching training courses recognized by the English Football Association and FIFA during his recovery and off-season, and successfully graduated with a highly valuable coaching certificate~ When he first started as a coach, he was not valued in the UK, so he made a bold attempt.
In Europe, good coaches have already clustered together, so he sought corresponding positions in the Far East. Compared to mainland China, Hong Kong, which had not yet returned at that time, was more convenient to access.
When he first arrived in Hong Kong, fortunately, the club sent someone to pick him up, and there was a translator accompanying him~ Shortly after arriving at the company, the club manager finalized the salary and benefits, which made my father very satisfied; however, after looking at the youth training schedule provided by the club, my father couldn't help but question it. He believed that although Asians were temporarily at a physical disadvantage, frequent training could easily lead to injuries, which would not only hinder schoolwork but also be detrimental to development in football; it was common to compare people to a barrel, where the longer the short board, the greater the load it could carry, but no matter how it was repaired, it was never solid.
A foreigner naturally does not understand much of the so-called "human affairs," so my father boldly offered suggestions to the club, believing that contemporary young players are also students and fully capable of walking on two legs, and that youth training in various European countries has always focused on quality rather than quantity~ Willing to invest in youth training classes not only provides the team with an additional revenue stream but also allows students to develop good physiques. The club's selection of personnel naturally prioritizes talented young players. My father's suggestions were adopted by the club, which also allowed him to train the local coaches.
However, in the first class, there were many latecomers~ Those sleeping in class, not to mention those who were just playing with their phones, my father taught the entire class in English, and although he communicated with the translator, the translator took advantage of his inability to understand and was not very helpful. Moreover, the translator was almost clueless about football terminology.
After this class, the club manager first checked the notes, and the translated content made my father feel it was below expectations. My father then requested to change to a translator who understood football terminology. Meanwhile, as my father's Cantonese teacher, the translator met my father in the company cafeteria on the first day, which happened to be afternoon tea time~ They each ordered a cup of milk tea, a tart, and a half-cut chicken bun. My father listed all the football terms in his notebook, asking the translator to write down the Chinese next to each one, and he clearly asked for the pronunciation of each word, even providing English words that sounded very similar to ensure accuracy.
Regarding the theories my father discussed, readers may inevitably have questions. After all, practice is the only standard for testing truth, so the few young players were divided into classes, with all the coaches who took notes and those who did not leading separate teams. My father complied with the club's arrangement and was assigned to train a group under his command, and then they would compete to see which team would ultimately win the championship, after which bonuses would be distributed to the young players in the team.
