Gold Medal Coach - Chapter 91
In the following period of time, Jiang Shaoyu continued to watch the B-grade League live every weekend. Then from Monday to Friday, he stayed at the base to prepare for the selection of the national team. Since it needed to be fair and just, he couldn’t directly appoint candidates. Every player needed to enter the national team using their own strength.
The past national teams were all recommended by clubs and internally determined by the league. The coach of the national team had no real power and there had never been an open trial. This year would be the first one so the rules of the selection had to be carefully weighed.
Jiang Shaoyu convened the work group of the national team and held a private meeting with Vice-chairman Qi, saying, “After the rules of the selection competition are set, the national team’s selection every year in the future will follow this process. This will give everyone who wants to enter the national team a fair chance to compete. There will be no room for clubs to intervene, so that no unsightly players are selected and waste the quota of the national team.”
Qi Heng nodded and praised it. “Yes, it should’ve been like this a long time ago. Have you thought of the specific selection method?”
Jiang Shaoyu replied, “Yes. This year’s judges will be composed of four people, including me, Vice-chairman Qi, Old Cui and Old Chang. There will also be the three tactical consultants: Coach Zhu of the SN team, Coach Gu of the JZ team and Coach Xu of the BM team.”
Qin Bo raised a question. “But in this case, will they give high scores to players from their own team?”
Jiang Shaoyu explained, “No. The national team’s tryouts will adopt a ‘double blind’ rule. Each player will be assigned a candidate number and randomly grouped according to their position. Then they will play a 5v5 battle. The contestants won’t know who the examiners are and the examiners won’t know which participant corresponds to each number. This will avoid the situation where the examiner knows a player and gives them a high score.”
Qin Bo praised it. “This method is good! I will make a program to let the contestants randomly draw lots to determine their candidate number. This way, the examiners won’t know the contestant that corresponds to each number and subjective emotional influence is excluded when scoring. Even if Coach Jiang gives Pei Feng a full score, no one will question that it is because Pei Feng is your apprentice.”
Jiang Shaoyu nodded. “Yes.”
Qi Heng thought about it carefully and couldn’t help applauding. “I second it! In this case, we will score based on the performance of the players on the spot. However, won’t their voices be recognized once they speak on the voice channel?”
Qin Bo suggested, “I can install voice changer software on each contestant’s computer. This way, everyone’s voice will become a mechanical voice. The examiner will only know which contestant is speaking but they won’t be able to tell who they are.”
Old Chang raised his hand and asked, “What if you are matched with a pig teammate and lose?”
Jiang Shaoyu said, “We will judge the players, not look at the wins and losses. We will only look at their performance in the game. If someone on the losing side performs better then the MVP can also come from the losing team. The judges will score each contestant on five items: reaction speed, operation technology, overall view, command ability and stability. Each item will have a full score of 100 and a comprehensive evaluation will be made at the end.”
Jiang Shaoyu looked at Qin Bo. “Qin Bo, please make a group matching software. Group according to the charger, assaulter, scout, medic and sniper. If the number of applicants in a certain group is relatively small, let them fight a few more games.”
Qin Bo nodded. “Understood!”
Jiang Shaoyu looked at Yu Mingxiang. “Sister Yu, please arrange the food and lodging from the contestants. For this trial, I want to book the Xzone E-sports Hotel near the base. Each room in the e-sports hotel had high-end computers. Players can play games in their own rooms to avoid being influenced by teammates and opponents. It can also achieve the effect of a blind tryout to the greatest extent.”
Yu Mingxiang smiled. “No problem. I will arrange this aspect to ensure there are no mistakes.”
Jiang Shaoyu continued, “You can talk about a long-term cooperation with the Xzone Hotel. This hotel is closest to us and is more convenient to hold activities. If they are willing, reimbursing the players for their food and lodging will save us a lot of money.”
Qi Heng laughed. “Ah Yu, you are thinking very carefully. A hotel sponsor can indeed save us a lot of money!”
Yu Mingxiang nodded. “Okay, leave it to me to negotiate.”
After discussing the rules of the competition, Qin Bo hurried to make the software while Yu Mingxiang went to contact the hotel.
Xzone was a chain of hotels across the country with e-sports as the theme. Each room had cool lighting and was equipped with high-end gaming computers. It was very popular among young people. After hearing that the national team wanted to hold the tryouts here, the boss was overjoyed.
Yu Mingxiang smiled. “The national team holding the tryouts at your hotel is a good publicity point. Perhaps in the future, a large number of e-sports fans will come to the hotel to check in and take photos? In this way, there is no need to worry about a source of customers.”
The boss found the business opportunity and smiled. “Great, I welcome the national team to cooperate with us for a long time. I can waive the cost of food and accommodations for all participants! At that time, I will provide them with a buffet. For the specific check-in date, tell me in advance after you confirm it and will book the venue here. I won’t accept any individual customers on those days.”
Yu Mingxiang smiled and stretched out her hand. “Thank you, Mr Zhang. Happy cooperation.”
Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, it was the end of April and the major teams received a notice from the league at the same time.
“The 6th national team’s selection competition is officially launched.
1. All professional players (including registered players of the A-grade League and B-grade League) can sign up for the selection by themselves. Click on the registration link on the official website of the national team and submit your information to register.
2. The selection competition will be held on May 10th and 11th. Please sign in at the national team’s base in the capital before 24:00 on May 9th.
3. The round-trip transportation expenses and food and accommodation expenses of all participants will be fully reimbursed by the national team.
4. The competition will uphold the principle of fairness and justice. We will give every player who wants to go to the World Series the same opportunity.
All aspiring players are welcome to sign up for the selection competition and fight to join the national team.”
This announcement caused a stir and the players of all clubs were stunned. In particular, some players who didn’t have a chance to go to the national team in previous years couldn’t believe that they would be able to participate in the selection.
At the TNG Club, Pang Yu and SI Wenhui hugged each other excitedly. “Coach Jiang really didn’t lie to us!”
“Yes, previously we would have to rely on the recommendation of the club if we wanted to enter the national team. We would’ve never been able to touch the threshold of the national team in our lives. Now everyone has a chance. I will be convinced even if I don’t get in!”
“Hurry up and fill in the information. Check it carefully and don’t fill in the wrong one!”
In the next room, Lu Xingyun’s face was a bit ugly.
Zhang Yue asked in a low voice, “Brother Lu, are you still signing up? Last time, Coach Jiang did an inspection and was very dissatisfied with us.”
During the last inspection, Lu Xingyun was severely criticized by Coach Jiang. However, Jiang Shaoyu said he wanted a fair selection so as long as he performed well in the selection competition, Jiang Shaoyu had no reason to deny him directly due to past mistakes, right? At that time, he would say that he realized his mistake and reformed himself. Then the club would act again. Would Jiang Shaoyu still be able to kick him out of the national team?
Lu Xingyun gritted his teeth. “Of course. I would like to see what tricks he will play in this fair selection. If he says he is being fair on the surface but has actually already decided on the candidates, we can also catch him.”
Zhang Yue nodded. “It makes sense. Then I will go too.”
In the CIP Club, Mo Hantian read the announcement and filled in his information carefully. Then he sent a message to Shi Xiaobin: You are a youth trainee in the national team. Do you also have to sign up for the selection?
Shi Xiaobin replied: Yes. It isn’t just me. Even Fred, Hua Hua and Little Demon, the top three of the Rising Stars Cup have to participate in the tryouts and compete with professional players. Coach Jiang said he won’t appoint anyone by default.
Mo Hantian was excited: Great. Then I also have a chance!
In the FAD Club, Coach Cheng patted Tang Kai’s shoulder. “You should also sign up. There aren’t many powerful scouts in the league and you are very strong. In any case, it is an open selection. If you have good results, Coach Jiang has no reason to reject you.”
Tang Kai filled in his information nervously.
Captains Lao Lin and Xiao Zhou also filled in the information one after another. Then they called on the most outstanding players in their team to experience it.
At this time, a residence in the outskirts of the capital. All the members of the Snow Leopard team were sitting together and eating instant noodles.
The sniper Yu Feng said while eating, “Xueyao, we will definitely win first place this year. Moreover, RED has died. Wasn’t it disqualified by the league? The bottom of the A-grade League will be a pending zone and by the end of this year, it might be possible to release two spots in the A-grade League.”
Qin Xueyao smiled. “Yes, our chances will be greater if there are two places.”
Yu Feng looked at the instant noodles in her bowl and sighed a bit sadly. “If you hadn’t insisted on holding on for these two years, we might’ve disbanded long ago. This year, everyone must strive for a breakthrough. We will enter the A-grade League, grab sponsorships and establish our own base!”
This three bedroom, two living room house was their base camp and it had a monthly rent of 2,500 yuan.
Last year, they were the runner-up of the B-grade League and received a bonus of 200,000 yuan. There wasn’t much left after paying rent and electricity bills. Every time they competed, they would take the subway to save on transportation costs. They didn’t dare to be extravagant when they ate and the team didn’t have a chef, so they either ordered takeout or ate instant noodles.
The conditions were difficult but they never gave up.
Qin Xueyao said optimistically, “We will definitely have our own base. Didn’t some sponsors approach us a while ago? It is just that their condition is that we sign a five year contract and the cost of terminating the contract is very high. The share we can get is only 20% so I didn’t agree.”
A player next to her couldn’t help saying angrily, “
F*k, isn’t this an empty-handed white wolf? Once we make a name for ourselves, they can sell us to make a profit! Our B-grade League players have no human rights and no one is paying attention to us!”
At this moment, the youngest player in the team and the medic suddenly said, “Sister Xue, look quickly. The notice for the national team’s selection competition is out!”
Qin Xueyao took it and read it carefully. A fair selection? An opportunity for everyone?
…Including players from the secondary league?
Her heart was beating violently as she handed the phone to the sniper Yu Feng. “You should go and sign up. I think your sniper is very good, no matter whether it is reaction speed or marksmanship. You won’t lose to the league’s first-tier players!”
Yu Feng picked up his phone excitedly. “Okay, I’ll sign up!”
He filled in two pieces of information before looking at Qin Xueyao again. “I think you should also sign up.”
Qin Xueyao was stunned. Then she smiled and shook her head. “For my type of support, it is difficult to have a good record when meeting unfamiliar teammates. It won’t be interesting if I continue to get 0-0 in the trials.”
The teammate next to her encouraged her. “Go and try it. In any case, the food and accommodation will be reimbursed. Why don’t we all go? Previously, we didn’t even dare to enter the gate of the national team’s base. Now there is a valid reason and we can go to the national team’s base to take photos.”
Qin Xueyao was a bit moved by the words. Yes, she didn’t dare think about the national team before. As players of the secondary league, they had been struggling on the verge of disbanding. There were too many popular players in the league and no one paid attention to invisible players like them. In previous years, the clubs only recommended the gods with tens of millions of fans to enter the national team. Meanwhile, she didn’t even the qualifications to touch the gate of the national team.
But this year was different. God Wing took over as head coach of the national team. Not long ago, the league directly dealt with the RED Club, who had a bad style. The environment of the entire e-sports circle was quietly changing.
This year’s national team was open for selection and the small, invisible player also had the opportunity to go to the national team for a trip!
Qin Xueyao picked up her phone and smiled while filling in the information, “Then let’s go and explore together.”
—
On May 2nd, just three days after the announcement of the national team’s public selection, the number of applicants was already more than 300 people.
In addition to the highly popular star players and substitute players of the A-grade League, there were players from the top teams in the secondary league, who had dreams but had never been able to find opportunities.
All the clubs were stunned to see the rising number of applicants! How many professional players were officially registered in the e-sports industry? More than half went to this selection competition, which showed how terrifying the appeal of Jiang Shaoyu’s announcement was.
The notice of a ‘fair selection’ by the national team was like dropping a bombshell into the stagnant Gun King E-sports Circle.
At this moment, everyone was standing on the same startling line and could only enter the national team based on strength.
Young people with dreams should have a fair chance.
It was only through such a selection method that real gold wouldn’t be buried.