Chinese TT behind the scenes

[Pongfinity]

I found an incredible link to read everything about the chinese table tennis. It's really worth reading (about 15mins) if you are even a bit interested in the Chinese dominance in this sport... Amazing stuff.

Some citations:

"Youngsters are identified at early age for their physical abilities in table tennis. (See footnote
2) They are then taken away from their families and placed into state‐run athletics
academies where they train and live. Trials are held annually to bring in new athletes to
replace those who fail to make the grade as well as to allow coaches of provincial and
national teams to scout out the talent."

"I have never bought a single bat or pair of shoes since I started playing table tennis at the
age of five. Everything was taken care of by the country and I have never worried about
other problems, I only need to concentrate on table tennis." (Yining 2006)

"The main source of money for sport in China is the government but because it is a
communist country specific figures are well guarded. After the award of the Beijing 2008
Olympics the sports system went into overdrive. After 2001, the annual budget for the
Sports Ministry increased to $714 million, from $428 million. Each of China's gold medals in
Beijing cost the state upwards of $7 million and with four gold medals for table tennis in
Beijing that’s at least $28 million if not more because table tennis is the national sport and
have a high number of top international stars."

"With the professionalization of table tennis more firms became interested in sponsorship
because of the high TV audiences. For example players in the Chinese super league can earn
$100,000 a year in salaries from the Government, club wages and endorsements."

"Is what China doing ethical right? Although a few elite athletes will become sporting icons
and their lives changed from ‘rags to riches’ for both themselves and their families, many
will not make it through the state system and their education, family life and youth can be
lost forever. What is the true cost of sporting success in china its $714 million a year or is it
costing China its childhood?"

Link to the page: http://www.hartismere.com/view/docu...International-Study-Table-Tennis-Exemplar.pdf

What's your thoughts after reading this?

 

[Steven]

Very interesting article. Makes me wonder about what happens when a player for example reaches the provincial- or number 2 national-team and then "fails". They probably didn't have an education or friends besides their training partners. Some of those are probably the Chinese players who leave China and go play for a European country.

 

[Pongfinity]

Very interesting article. Makes me wonder about what happens when a player for example reaches the provincial- or number 2 national-team and then "fails". They probably didn't have an education or friends besides their training partners. Some of those are probably the Chinese players who leave China and go play for a European country.

Yea.. that's the problem with China's way to make superstars. I think they study nowadays also at the sport schools (at least where I were) but it's not much, so they will have troubles if they fail the table tennis..

 

[Michal_Z]

..are taken away from families..
I dont like it..

 

[Benduo]

I find it sad that those who don't make the cut get kicked out and are forgotten about, but I guess that's the cost of China's dominance and success.

 

[TTReport]

I've heard that they are taken away from their families. Unfortunate, you must sacrifice in anything in order to be the best.

 

[Ajay]

'Taken away' implies unwillingness. I think these are not proper choice of words. In China, many parents are fighting to send their children to official sport schools. Many many more try to get in than the system can accommodate. Certainly the schools are not focibly taking children away from unwilling families. That said, I can see that in many cases, parents are probably more motivated than the kids, but it is a little bit like small children going to kindergarten the first day, many of them are crying when the school bus shows up but nobody should say they are 'taken' from home.

Also there is no need to feel too sorry for those who made it to provincial level but not further. Because of the prestige of TT, TT players are well respected and supported by their community. Local governments give them comfortable jobs. So do big companies, which want to hire them because they want them to play for the company team in local competitions which they take very seriously. They can coach on the side. They won't get rich but they are far from being left for dead.

 

[Pongfinity]

'Taken away' implies unwillingness. I think these are not proper choice of words. In China, many parents are fighting to send their children to official sport schools. Many many more try to get in than the system can accommodate. Certainly the schools are not focibly taking children away from unwilling families. That said, I can see that in many cases, parents are probably more motivated than the kids, but it is a little bit like small children going to kindergarten the first day, many of them are crying when the school bus shows up but nobody should say they are 'taken' from home.

Yes, some are fighting to send their children to sports schools, but a lot more are unwilling. As it says in the article:

"The one‐child per family policy promoted in China forbids couples from having more than onechild in both rural and urban areas. Parents are becoming less willing to turn their children over to the sports
system"

The parents doesn't live in such a poverty as before. Now much more can afford an education for their child. They also know how difficult, almost impossible, it is for their child to become the future superstar, that's why much more are now unwilling to send their child to a sports school than before.

 

[Ajay]

I don't know about other sports, but for TT, I've got to believe that the vast majority if not all who receive an invitation to attend sport school will be more than happy to accept.

The reason is that by the time the children are evaluated, most of them would have played and trained for a couple of years or more. The evaluation is based on technical skills, mental attributes and more. Those who are successful are not only talented, but they have trained hard for long hours by children standard. And the reason why they train intensively (by children standard again) is a combination of factors including their enjoyment of it and perhaps more importantly their parents' encouragement and direction. That means these are children (and families) with the explicit goal of having a professional career in TT. They have already invested a great deal of time and efforts for this sole purpose. They fully understand and are prepared for what lies ahead and their only worry is not making it. Now seriously how many of these will turn down the opportunity of 'turning pro' by attending the provincial sport school?

 

[Tinykin]

That $714m sounds low to me.
The USA for example, probably spends far more overall on sports. It's just that it's done more through private industry investment & sponsorship than directly by government.

 

[Pongfinity]

I don't know about other sports, but for TT, I've got to believe that the vast majority if not all who receive an invitation to attend sport school will be more than happy to accept.

The reason is that by the time the children are evaluated, most of them would have played and trained for a couple of years or more. The evaluation is based on technical skills, mental attributes and more. Those who are successful are not only talented, but they have trained hard for long hours by children standard. And the reason why they train intensively (by children standard again) is a combination of factors including their enjoyment of it and perhaps more importantly their parents' encouragement and direction. That means these are children (and families) with the explicit goal of having a professional career in TT. They have already invested a great deal of time and efforts for this sole purpose. They fully understand and are prepared for what lies ahead and their only worry is not making it. Now seriously how many of these will turn down the opportunity of 'turning pro' by attending the provincial sport school?

You are right, some have been training a lot (because their parents wants them to become pro) and are selected because they already can play tt somehow. They are 5-6 years old when they arrive to the sports school and when they are about 8 years old they have trained more than most of us.

But:
"Youngsters are selected from national tests looking for good co‐ordination, fast reaction time and the right body structure for table tennis."

This is the reason why many parents don't want to send their only child to the school. Even though their child wouldn't really have been playing table tennis before the age of 5, the school still wants the child to come play because of his/her physically right body and good reaction-time. This is when the parents are unsure what to do.

 

[Ajay]

I am just not comfortable with the suggestion of children being taken away from unwillingly parents. It does not happen in TT.

We are talking about sport schools and children leaving home, so lets be clear about what we are talking. This is how I understand it.

There are sport schools at the local level and provincial level. Local sport schools have 2 levels - day program and live-in program.

When children are about 5, they may be evaluated for joining the day program of the sport school. Some children may have played for a year of more, while others may only have months of exposure. So they are assessing more than actual performance. They try to evaluate athletic abilities and how they respond to coaching. At this level of the sport school, children go there in the morning and go home after school.

When the children are about 8, the school selects students for the live-in program. As this point, they have already trained for a few years, so the evaluation can be more performance oriented. Everyone knows this is coming. Frankly, if you are not motivated to progress to the next level, you will most likely not play well enough to be considered. The whole thing is so competitive, if you don't want to move forward, many others will only be too happy to take your place.

The next level is then Provincial youth. Students from local sport schools in the province compete for entrance. Except for the few lucky ones, this sport school is probably not in your home town.