Almighty Coach

Dai Li felt helpless when it came to dealing with Halls.

Dai Li was similar as a kid. In his youth, kids had been just as rebellious and sensitive as they were today. He knew teenagers were rebellious and thought that every word uttered by an adult was wrong.

Dai Li knew that a few words wouldn’t prevent Halls from playing football with his friends every night. He also knew that if he continued trying to persuade him, Halls might rebel even more.

I’ve got to try and solve this problem another way, Dai Li thought. “Halls, you should know that your father wishes for you to become a professional football player. He thinks you can play in the top five leagues in Europe. It would be awesome for you to make La Liga. Do you know what La Liga is like?”

Halls shook his head.

Dai Li continued. “Have you been to Spain?”

Halls shook his head again.

“Do you want to go?” Dai Li asked.

This time, Halls nodded.

“Alright then. You go and prepare. I’ll take you to Spain in a few days.” Dai Li paused and continued, “We’ll see Real Madrid, and then Barcelona.”

Payton translated the sentence to Halls, whose face lit up with excitement. He could not help but ask, “Really?”

“Of course. After the visa is approved, I’ll take you there. However, you have to train seriously these next few days,” Dai Li stated.

The knowledge that he could go to Spain motivated Halls. He became much more serious about his training.

Payton said, “Boss, a trip to Spain sure is an attractive carrot. The kid is suddenly filled with energy. But do you really plan on taking him to Spain?”

“It’s not a simple reward,” Dai Li sighed. He then tried to explain. “I promised to bring him to Spain hoping that it will help him understand why he should take his training seriously.”

“I’m not sure I get what you mean,” Payton said.

Dai Li, instead of answering directly, seemed to change the topic. “That car of mine, it’s pretty nice, eh?”

“Ugh, of course. It’s a Porsche 911. It’s my dream car. Boss, relax. I’ll keep it well-maintained. I won’t break it,” Payton said.

“When did you start wanting this car?” Dai Li asked.

“When? I’m not sure when. When I was very young, I saw it in an auto magazine, and I fell in love with it,” Payton answered.

“So you saw it before you fell in love with it. In other words, if you hadn’t seen the car, and someone only told you that it existed, would it still be your dream car?” Dai Li asked.

Payton paused and thought for a moment before saying, “Probably not, since I wouldn’t have seen it personally.”

“That’s exactly my point. The easiest way to pique someone’s interest is through visual stimulation. When something appears in front of you, it’s much more likely to awaken your desire. For example, when you go to a restaurant, the photos of the food on the menu whet your appetite more than the words. Or think about women. If a woman appeared in ‘Playboy,’ you might want to spend a night with her, but if she were only a name in the phone book, you might not even think twice about her!”

Dai Li looked at Payton teasingly and said, “Dreams are a type of desire, so it is the same situation. It is easier to awaken a desire for something one has seen, so that it may become the person’s dream. After that, a type of ambition to chase after and realize that dream will appear. That is the reason I’m bringing Halls to Spain. Halls has never been to Spain, so he has never seen La Liga in person. He only heard about how good La Liga is from others. Top clubs like Real Madrid or Barcelona are destinations that professional players dream about. For him, it’s all too fictional. He has never seen them before, and he isn’t a professional player. His longing for La Liga can’t be that strong. Similarly, his desire to join top clubs like Real Madrid or Barcelona must also be weak.”

“That’s why you want to bring Halls to Spain?” Payton asked.

“Yes, I want him to witness La Liga in person, to see with his own eyes what the best football clubs in the world are like. I want him to know Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, and Juventus. He belongs in a world-class football club, not that small field close to your house!

“I hope this can awaken his ambition. Only when a person really desires something will he have the motivation to work hard towards a goal. If he is satisfied with his life now, he will become complacent. Then, he will never achieve greatness.” As soon as Dai Li finished his sentence, he looked at Payton and said, “You’re also going. I don’t know Spanish.”

“Why? You know you can afford a translator, right?” Payton said, a bit down, “Boss, you are rich, you know.”

“You idiot. I’m offering you a chance to travel to Europe at the company’s expense, a trip where you continue getting paid. Moreover, your lodgings and food will all be paid for. If you’re unwilling, I’ll bring someone else,” Dai Li said, laughing.

“Go. I’ll go. I’ll definitely go!” Payton agreed immediately.

Dai Li took out his phone and dialed Blake’s number. “Randy, send a letter to both Real Madrid and Barcelona. Tell them the head coach of the U.S. National Track and Field Team wishes to visit their club.”

…

After a day’s work, the coaches bathed and returned to the coaches locker room. They were talking about their plans after work.

“Kenny, wanna go have a drink?” A young coach asked his colleague.

“No thanks, I drove here today. Why don’t you ask Andrew?” Kenny shook his head.

“Andrew, do you have time today? Wanna go have a drink?”

“Sure. It’s been a tiring day. Where are we headed? Same bar as last time?”

“Let’s go to the one next to it.” The young coach suggested. “It sure has been busy. We’ve added several clients recently. I have to get myself some alcohol to relax.”

“It’s because of the Olympics. A third of the track and field team registered at our training center. I heard that the boss gave them an 80% discount. Besides, the boss was amazing at the Olympic Games. He attracted many new clients. I’ve been thinking, in the short-term, my workload will only increase,” the coach named Andrew said.

“I actually think that it’s a good thing,” The young coach said. “After the Olympic Games ended, didn’t the boss give us an extra month’s worth of salary as a bonus? I heard that our year-end bonuses will also double. It would be even better if the coach brought me with him on his European business trip. It’s like going on vacation in Europe for free, That’s a great benefit of being employed here!”

“Single youngsters like you would definitely love to go. I am different. It would be better if we could just exchange these benefits for cash. If I got cash equivalent to the airfare, lodgings, and food, then I’d be close to paying off the cost of my son’s education. The tuition for universities nowadays are too expensive, and my son can’t get a full scholarship. We’re looking into loans and it looks like he’ll be paying them off for at least a decade,” a slightly older coach said.

As they talked about the possibility of their year-end bonuses increasing, several others in the locker room began to chime in. Only the coach Kenny remained silent, with his head down.

Everyone got changed and left the locker room one by one. Kenny moved towards his locker and looked left to right to make sure no one was watching him. He pulled out a document file from his locker. He then opened the file and took out the documents, reviewing them in detail.

The document was a CV, Kenny’s CV.

Kenny packed the file and arranged his shirt before leaving the locker room. He got into his car, grabbed his phone, and dialed a number.

“Mr. Hagrid? I’m Kenny Parker, where should we meet? Okay. Yes, I’ve brought my CV. I’ll be right there.”

Kenny hung up the phone and saw a sign that read “Coach Lee’s Physical Fitness Training Center” not far away.

“I should have gotten a raise, not just a month of bonuses.”

…

Hagrid used to be a data analyst on Wall Street. He loved extreme sports and had dreamt of becoming an extreme sports athlete when he was younger. Unfortunately, he was not talented enough so, in the end, he embarked on the journey of finance.

Most of the time, working on Wall Street was like gambling. Hagrid was a data analyst, so he saw through that lens for a long time ago. After earning some money, he chose to leave Wall Street, leave New York, and return to his home in Los Angeles. He used his savings and bought an extreme sports club to start his new life.

When it came to extreme sports, apart from some external equipment needed to ensure safety, fitness was undoubtedly the most important factor. As such, Hagrid hoped to hire a few exceptional fitness coaches for his club.

It didn’t take long for him to fix his eyes on Dai Li’s physical fitness training center. Dai Li’s training center was one of the best in Los Angeles if not the entire United States. The results of the Olympic Games further elevated Dai Li’s fame. Hagrid knew that the coaches there were definitely world-class. He hoped to scout and pry away a few of them.

Hagrid used an investigative company and discovered that, although Dai Li’s fitness center was expensive, the coaches didn’t get paid that much. He immediately decided to use a higher salary tactic to pry coaches away from Dai Li’s place.

However, scouting required strategy. Take, for example, Chris Payton, a person who had been with Dai Li since the beginning. He worked independently, responsible for a branch of his own, and Dai Li even gave him some of the dividends from the shares. A core member of Dai Li’s team like him was impossible to pry away.

So Hagrid targeted coaches who were younger, whose wages weren’t as high, and who had worked at Dai Li’s place for a while but did not make it into Dai Li’s core team.

Kenny Parker was Hagrid’s first target. He fit every condition and requirement Hagrid set. He was not yet 30 years old, his wage at Dai Li’s place was below average, and he had been working at Dai Li’s training center for around two years without any promotion or any important tasks.

As such, Hagrid held out a helping hand to Kenny Parker. He made an appointment with Kenny and, as expected by Hagrid, Kenny was dissatisfied with his current salary. After talking to Hagrid, he accepted the salary given by Hagrid.

For Hagrid, it was a great start. Next, he wanted to propose even better conditions. He hoped that he could pry away at least one or two skilled coaches who had more experience.

In the morning, Hagrid drove to his extreme sports club. He passed the CV to the head coach in charge of training at the club.

“Thomas, I plan to hire this person to strengthen our fitness coaching team,” Hagrid said.

The coach named Thomas was a veteran employee of the place. The club had three owner changes throughout the years, but Thomas always stayed on. Every owner was willing to keep him in his position. Although he wasn’t exceptional, he was robust and, moreover, he had a reputation and connections in the extreme sports industry. He was regarded as an important and experienced consultant.

Coach Thomas took the CV and reviewed it. It didn’t take long for him to notice a column in the work experience section that read “Coach Lee’s Physical Fitness Training Center.”

“Boss, this Kenny Parker. Did you personally hire him?” Thomas asked immediately.

“Yeah, nowadays, you talk to the bosses when looking for a job,” Hagrid said with a smile.

“Then, a contract hasn’t been signed, right?” Thomas asked.

“No, but we’ve agreed to a salary. Once he’s here, we can sign the contract,” Hagrid answered.

“Phew!” Thomas breathed a sigh of relief and said, “That’s good. As long as the contract isn’t signed yet, it’s fine.”

“Coach Thomas, what do you mean? ‘As long as the contract isn’t signed, it’s fine?'” Hagrid asked, a little annoyed. It wasn’t easy for him to finally get someone, but now his success was greeted with Thomas’ objection. He was annoyed.

Thomas immediately said, “Boss, you’ve just returned to Los Angeles, so there’s one thing you don’t know. In Los Angeles, as long as you’re in the sports industry, there is one thing that’s taboo.”

“What is it?” Hagrid asked.

“Never pry people away from Dai Li’s place!” Thomas said.

“Why?” Hagrid snorted coldly. He then said, “I know that Dai Li is the head coach of the U.S.track and field team, but he shouldn’t be that selfish, right? He doesn’t think his employees are his private property, right? They can only work for him? Even if I were to headhunt people from his place, what can he do?”

Hagrid sounded angry, so Thomas explained. “Boss, you’ve misunderstood. Coach Li doesn’t restrict people from approaching or hiring people from his training center. Many training centers or large-scale gyms have actually signed several coaches from Dai Li’s place, but it resulted in them losing a lot of money.”

“What do you mean?” Hagrid asked, puzzled.

“They got coaches from Dai Li’s place, paid them better salaries, and gave them important jobs. However, those coaches never showed had the necessary abilities. In other words, those coaches did not deserve those salaries. Clients do not like low-level coaches, so some training centers had to pay an exorbitant salary and also lose customers,” Thomas answered.

“That’s because they didn’t have a good eye!” Hagrid said. “Thomas, don’t worry. I was a data analyst on Wall Street. Before deciding on a target, I conduct a lot of data analysis. This Kenny Parker is really good. He has coached several famous athletes; those athletes all improved, so the salary that I proposed to him is definitely worth it.”

“Boss, perhaps I didn’t explain clearly enough. What I mean is, the performance of every single coach headhunted away from Dai Li’s training center showed that they did not have the ability to match their salaries. In other words, every single one of them was outstanding under Dai Li, but, upon leaving, they were terrible.” Thomas then intentionally emphasized, “I’m talking about every single one. not a single exception.”

Hagrid finally took this seriously. As a data analyst, he was naturally great at calculating, so he understood what “every single one, not a single exception” meant.

“Theoretically speaking, there is a possibility that everyone made a mistake in scouting, but that’s almost impossible. Why is that? How can that be? To be fine under Dai Li but not after leaving?” Hagrid asked.

“No idea. No one knows why it happens.” Thomas shook his head, “Perhaps it’s Coach Li. Maybe he knows some witchcraft from the East!”

“There’s no such thing as witchcraft!” Hagrid shook his head. However, Thomas’ serious expression made Hagrid nervous. He couldn’t help but ask, “Is everything you said true?”

Thomas nodded seriously.

“Then we can’t hire this Kenny Parker anymore.” Hagrid wasn’t stupid. He was able to stand on his own on Wall Street, so he naturally kept away from risks when it was possible.

On Wall Street, if he gambled without considering the risks, he would have jumped off the Empire State building more than a dozen times.

“I’ll call him immediately to tell him that I won’t hire him!” Hagrid said.