Job Discussion Forums

[ghost]

I was watching the swim team train at the university pool, in this lower tier university.

The swimmers came to the wall, and they could not do a 'flip turn' - and as every competitive swimmer knows, if you cannot do a flip turn, you lose precious time every time you turn at the wall. I found that unbelievable. None of the swim coaches at this university were capable of teaching their team how to do a flip turn. In Canada, you have kids 10 years old, or younger, who learn to do a flip turn within a few days or hours. In case you don't know what a flip turn is....check it out on Youtube.

On another subject - I saw that 99% of the track and field team practice the 110 meter hurdles event - only because China used to have a famous athlete in that event! Students who had no genetic gift for sprinting were being introduced to a niche event which is unsuitable for the vast majority of athletes.

On another subject - I was watching the World Team table tennis championships in Suzhou on TV yesterday - and yes, China does have some 'monster' players in that event - sick spin serves, very athletic plays and skills. However, it was interesting to note the non verbal behavior of the Chinese doubles players when they were being admonished by the Chinese coach. The coach was shouting at them and giving advice .....and the players were simply looking away, at their feet - zero communication or zero acknowledgement. Strange behavior! Cultural differences. Interesting.

I get the impression that China performs very well at the elite level in a few select sports (swimming, track and field, table tennis) but at the amateur level, the depth is very low. There is no equivalent to the NCAA in China, and university students mostly have no time for competitive sports. Academics rules, from year 1 in High School on, and sports are not given the same cache that are given in the U.S.A and other countries. Even in Japan - high school and university sports are a huge business, and then corporate sports in Japan take over. On a per capita basis, Japan dominates China in sports and the depth in Japan in a variety of sports is impressive. After Kenya and Ethiopia, for example, Japan has the best marathon and long distance runners in the world. Gambate!


Ghost in China

[3701 W.119th]

I'm surprised by the amount of my students who say they can't swim. Seems that the only ones who can grew up in the countryside, near a river that wasn't horribly polluted.

In Britain we learned to swim in primary school, one class each week at the local rec centre. And I grew up on the coast of a small island country, anyway, so we were swimming from when we could walk. I guess Chinese schools see it as educationally pointless.

[wiz07]

Thanks for the replies.. it seems the Chinese just started getting into football because of their recent embarrassing run of loss streak and continuous failed attempts to reach the World Cup... the jobs/roles are there for me but mainly in Beijing where it's being heavily promoted by the sports universities..

I already have a few offers but mainly in BJ, which is bad for me as pollution is the worst in BJ throughout the whole of China i have heard? .. basically going to spend 3-4 hrs per day coaching 3 sets of groups outdoors and a 1-2 hrs indoors of tactical method approach and player development lessons.

I think i will wait on other offers before early June.

[hdeth]