Almighty Coach

Chris Payton saw Dai Li and Halls Frast.

“Is this the king of football that you were talking about?” Payton asked with a frown.

“Actually, he’s the future king of football,” Dai Li answered with a smile.

“Alright, it is what you say it is.” Payton looked resigned. He treated it as a joke and said, “Do you intend to hand over his training over to me?”

“Yes, you will be responsible for most of his training, but more importantly, you will be his guardian. This kid is an Argentinian and he is a minor, so he needs a guardian in the United States,” Dai Li answered.

“You want me to be his guardian?” Payton immediately showed his reluctance.

Dai Li nodded, “You are also responsible for his daily life!”

“Boss, stop joking around. My apartment is small. It’s cramped even when I live alone, there’s no way two people will fit,” Payton said as he shook his head.

“I’ll be responsible for your rent for the following one year,” Dai Li said without hesitation.

“I don’t know how to cook, I usually just order takeout…” Payton stated.

“Alright, I’ll also pay you one year’s worth of food expenses,” Dai Li said in resignation.

“And, I…” Just as Payton looked for excuses, Dai Li interrupted him.

“The Porsche 911 that I just bought, I’ll lend it to you for a year. That should be enough, right?” Dai Li said.

“Deal!” Payton had obviously been interested in Dai Li’s new sports car for a long time. As soon as he heard Dai Li was willing to lend it to him for a year, Payton agreed without hesitation.

“Boss, I have one last question. We have so many coaches in our training centers, among them, many of them are married and have kids. They know more about taking care of children than me. So why did you choose me? In truth, a single guy like me, I have problems taking care of myself. How would I know how to take care of children?” Payton said.

“Do the others know how to speak Spanish?” Dai Li asked.

Payton’s family was a clan of famous gangsters in Los Angeles. California is very close to Mexico, so a lot of the gangsters in California were connected with the Mexicans. Payton grew up in that kind of environment, so it was natural for him to have picked up Spanish.

Dai Li did not understand Spanish, so there was fundamentally no way for him to interact with Halls. Halls was only 13 years old and he grew up in Argentina. He could only utter a few simple English words and sentences; he was a long way from being able to converse fluently in English.

…

After finishing up with Halls, Dai Li made another call to the lawyer asking him to bring the agreement to the training center after it was drafted.

The 3% income commissioned in the next 20 years was considered a fair trade for Dai Li.

Based on the current market, the total annual income of a king of football would be around 100 million Euros. Those who were a level lower than the kings of football, their annual income would be around 20 million to 30 million Euros.

If one were to assume an annual income of 50 million, 3% would be 1.5 million Euros. Considering the future, the income was sort of like a handout, so it was considered a substantial amount of income.

However, Halls was only 13 years old. At most, he would only be able to start a professional football career in four to five years’ time. By the time he became famous, another three to four years would have passed. Under normal circumstances, it might be ten years before Halls could start earning a sizable income.

If one counted like that, Halls would only earn money for Dai Li for ten years. 1.5 million Euros per year meant 15 million Euros in ten years. That would be Dai Li’s profit. Dai Li might just use one or two athlete’s patch, as well as complete a training plan. Clearly, it was a worthwhile investment.

…

Frast left the U.S. and returned to Argentina. Halls quickly adapted to an American lifestyle.

Apart from training, the Halls had to take an English language course. After all, Halls had to train in the U.S. for a long time, so he had to learn to speak English.

In the blink of an eye, Halls had spent two weeks in the U.S.

On the training ground, Halls continued practicing the high jump. That sort of training was beneficial in helping him grow taller.

Not far away, Dai Li looked at Halls. However, he was frowning. He could see that Halls was performing below par in both his fitness and concentration. It was far from his performance a few days ago.

“What’s wrong with this kid today?” Dai Li waved to signal one of his coaches and asked, “In the past few days, was Halls training like this?”

The coach turned to look at Halls. He did not notice any difference, so he said, “He’s been like this for the past two days. Boss, is there something wrong?”

“There is indeed something wrong. Go get Coach Payton for me,” Dai Li ordered.

A few minutes later, Chris Payton arrived.

“Boss, you called?” Payton asked.

“Halls seems to be out of it in his training. He isn’t focused enough, he’s just going through the motions. Has he shown any peculiar behavior recently? Is he missing home? Missing his family? Is he having any problem adapting to life in the United States?” Dai Li asked.

“I don’t think so. Halls did not show any signs of missing home. It is clear that life in the U.S. is better than life in Argentina. Besides that, he’s been very happy these past few days,” Payton answered without hesitation.

“Very happy?” Dai Li looked ever more serious.

“Yeah, he’s met a new friend,” Payton said.

“That’s not an easy task, considering how new he is to the country,” Dai Li said casually.

“His new friend is a Mexican. They speak Spanish,” Payton then continued. “You don’t have to worry, I know that family; they migrated legally and are not involved with gangs. The man of the house is a professional gardener. He specializes in helping people trim the plants in their garden. You might have even visited him!”

“What else?” Dai Li continued his questioning.

“The boy’s name is Santiago and he’s around Halls’ age, maybe slightly older. He loves football.” Payton was worried that Dai Li might misunderstand, so he added, “I mean English football.”

“I understand, and?” Dai Li continued asking.

“Halls plays football with Santiago. I heard that there were several other kids with them. Some of them Mexicans, Colombians, but not a lot of Americans. You know, Americans don’t really pay attention to this sport. Halls seems to be enjoying himself. I can see that he really loves playing football. If I were to guess, I would say that playing football with his friends every night is the best part of his day.” Payton answered.

“You mean to say he plays football everyday? Normally, how long does he play?” Dai Li asked immediately.

Payton thought for a moment and answered, “That’s hard to say, but more than two hours. Usually, he’s back after three to four hours. You don’t have to worry, where I live is pretty safe. Gangsters would never dare look to for trouble with me!”

“Looks like I’ve found the problem,” Dai Li sighed. He couldn’t help but think back to his childhood, when he would sneak out to cyber cafes and play games after school. Back then, all he could think about was playing games. He did not pay attention in class, so his results also deteriorated.

Halls was doing the exact same thing now. The only difference was that, instead of playing games, he was playing football.

Dai Li, with a critical tone, said, “Chris, you should know that playing football for two to three hours every night uses up most of Halls’ stamina, which affects his training. He is obviously not focused, I’m guessing the only thing on his mind right now is his football game tonight!”

“I’ve told him that before and I asked him to play less.” Payton shrugged his shoulders and continued, “Apparently, he didn’t listen.”

“13 years olds love to play. It’s impossible for him to control himself. You are his guardian, you should make him go to bed earlier,” Dai Li said.

“Why?” Payton looked puzzled. He then said, “I’ve already told him. Clearly, he knows the consequences, so his decisions are his problem. Although I am his guardian in the United States, I should not make his decisions for him. As for the consequences, aren’t people responsible for their own choices?”

Dai Li was speechless. At the same time, he realized this was a cultural difference between Americans and the Chinese.

Compared to “Chinese education,””American education” tended to emphasize freedom. American parents did not interfere with the lives of their kids too much. They preferred allowing their child to think independently and make judgments by themselves. Parents in China structured rules and regulations for their child. For example, one should not be too playful, not allowed to watch TV, play games, eat snacks, or be in a relationship too early.

It was due to this difference in educational philosophy that Dai Li felt Payton should prevent Halls from spending too much time playing football, but Payton felt that he already made it clear to Halls, so he had already completed his duty.

If it were a child that had grown up in the U.S., receiving the American style education from a young age, perhaps they would know how to think and make judgments independently. They would know to not spend too much time and effort on playing football and place more focus and attention on their training.

However, Halls grew up in Argentina. Clearly, he had never been exposed to American education culture, so he did not possess the independent thinking and judgment skills that American kids often have.

Although many Argentinians are educated, the quality of education is often very poor. Argentina went from being a developed country to a developing country. It could be said that education was part of what many called the “broken window effect” in Argentina. Many institutions in Argentina had been broken like windows. Although it had the highest ratio of educated citizens in South America, the quality of education was worrisome. The expensive private schools were better, but the public schools did not really care about the students.

As such, compared to Americans of the same age, Halls was at a disadvantage. Putting Halls in an environment that afforded relatively more freedom made it hard for Halls to discipline and control himself.

It was like some high school students in China, their results were always great but, after getting into university, they failed. Apart from not putting in enough effort, they also did not how to study by themselves. Studying in high school was following the instructions of the teacher; however, studying in university was, most of the time, more of a personal endeavor. A person who was used to having food fed to him might not know how to use a spoon if it were put right in front of him.

Looks like I have to personally talk to Halls. Dai Li personally called over Halls. Of course, he did not ask Payton to leave. Dai Li did not speak Spanish, and Halls had not yet learned that much English. So, he still needed Payton’s translation.

…

“Halls, I know that you play football with your buddies every night, but I think that it’s affecting your training condition in the day,” Dai Li said in a very strict tone.

Payton translated and conveyed that message to Halls. Halls immediately lowered his head and, like a kid who made a mistake, he apologized. “Sorry, coach.”

Although Halls was still young, he knew who was the boss of the training center.

“Halls, you cannot play football every night. You have to put more effort into training during the day,” Dai Li said.

After Payton’s translation, Halls did not answer.

Dai Li continued advising, “I am not prohibiting you from playing football, I just hope you limit yourself. For example, play football once a week. You have to understand that your main task right now is training, nothing else should come before that.”

After listening to Payton’s translation, Halls remained in silence. However, he clenched both his fists very tightly.

Dai Li noticed. He felt that he might have been too harsh. So Dai Li continued. “Halls, you have to understand. Your training now will help you play football better in the future. If you don’t train seriously today, you won’t grow taller and you cannot become a professional football player.”

Payton translated once again, and Halls still did not give a reply. However, from Halls’ eyes, Dai Li detected a sense of unwillingness. He had not reconciled with Dai Li’s reprimand.

Dai Li felt that he had failed to persuade Halls. His Chinese style educational philosophy clearly did not work on Halls.

13 and 14-year-olds! Puberty is a rebellious period in one’s life. It sure is troublesome dealing with kids of this age! A sense of helplessness emerged in Dai Li’s heart.