Chapter 14 Chapter 10 Negotiation

The National Games are held every four years, and the 2005 National Games were held in Jiangsu.So, at the end of 2003 and the beginning of 2004, the kids on our team kept running to our school, trying to persuade me to come back and participate in the National Games. I asked them angrily, "Are you alright?" The child stuck out his tongue and ran away. Next time, he will use these words again. When I left the team, I had some trouble with some people on our team.A small member of the team told me secretly that the coach at the time said: "Let's go! In two years, I will train more outstanding players!" Well, since you are so good, go train it. .At that time, I thought that I had already left this circle, and there was no need to worry about these things too much.

People from our team came to me frequently, but it didn't work.In the end, the coach came and the leader came.They have only one meaning, that is, they hope that I can return to the team and go back to play in the National Games. There are many inside stories in the sports world, which are tacit.The entanglements between athletes, coaches, and team leaders cannot be explained clearly in a few words. Before the 2001 National Games, our team basically had the final say of the coaches, and the athletes basically had no say.Some leaders believe that more than 80% of the results can be achieved by the coaches, but they don't see the personal efforts of the athletes, so they always adopt a high-pressure policy on the players and elevate the coaches very high.After I entered my career as a professional player, I found that in the West, the relationship between coaches and athletes is more of a service relationship than a purely dominant position, so in the West, the personal efforts of athletes will reflect more value.

A total of eight people participated in the 2001 National Games, four men and four women.After the Games are completed, only one man and one woman are still in the team, and everyone else has left the team.Because we are all heartbroken.If this is not the case, no athlete is willing to put down his hard-working professional in the Mood for Love and retire early.We fought all our injuries in order to fight for this honor for the collective with dignity.But many times, we really can't bear it anymore.I really can't get along with the coach, and the leader only listens to one side of the story.As the saying goes, if you listen, you will be clear and if you believe, you will be dark, but why do leaders care so little about the feelings of athletes?

I said, at that time, you blindly promoted the coaches and didn't think about the athletes. Why are you still looking for the athletes now?It's too inappropriate for you to do this.Why did we leave the team, have you thought about the reason? There were so many unpleasant things before, I finally made up my mind to leave the right and wrong circle, sadly, how can I go back because of their words. Talking like chicken and duck, there was a stalemate for a long time, until Director Sun came to me, this matter had a turning point. Director Sun is Sun Jinfang, the former captain of the old women's volleyball team, a former sports figure, and the newly appointed director of the Tennis Sports Management Center of the General Administration of Sport of China.Director Sun had already figured out the situation secretly before she took office as the director of the network management center. She asked the coach of the Hubei team: "I heard that there was one named Li Na. Why is it missing now?"

People in our team said: "She is studying." Director Sun said, "Let's meet and talk once." We actually met once. That meeting was in Wuhan, in the office of the provincial team.There were only two of us in the room. For Director Sun Jinfang, this meeting felt a bit like a private visit.At that time, she had just been transferred from the sports lottery department to the tennis management center.I have heard her story since I was very young—the leader of the women's volleyball team and the hero of the Chinese women's volleyball team for five consecutive championships. At that time, the "women's volleyball spirit" was promoted throughout the country. Lang Ping and Sun Jinfang were well-known figures.

When I saw her, I felt that there was no sense of distance. She was very thin and very tall. She was about 1.78 meters tall by visual inspection. She had no official airs. Whatever you think, I have an old idea.At that time, I thought: When the leader comes, the leader will come. Anyway, it has nothing to do with me. I will just read my book. But the conversation with Director Sun was very different from what I had imagined before.She first asked me what I was doing recently, and I said I was studying at school.She asked me what I wanted to do in the future, and we chatted about family matters for a while.While chatting, she cut straight to the topic: "I heard from many people that there was a player named Li Na who retired suddenly, so I wanted to come and see. Many people said that you have talent, and playing basketball is your realization of yourself." means, why don't you fight for yourself?"

I was a little surprised. I used to talk to the leaders a lot. In my impression, the leaders usually talk in an official tone. Few people will stand in the position of athletes and put themselves in our shoes.This is the first time a leader has talked to me like this, and it is also the first time someone has told me frankly that you can play for yourself when you play."If you want to come back, I can give you a chance," she said. Now that I think about it, Director Sun’s conversation that seemed to be not very purposeful at that time re-established the connection between me and tennis that was once broken, and strengthened my direction of progress.

Although Director Sun's words touched me a bit, they still did not completely shake my determination to go to university for further study.I was a little hesitant and didn't respond immediately, so I went back to school and continued my studies.This meeting was like a small episode, which was slowly forgotten.But the old teammates in our team visited more frequently. They used to go twice a week, then three times a week, and then every day. "We really need you," said the teammate. From my side, I feel that my life has been affected.Originally a very comfortable and leisurely life, suddenly a group of people keep lobbying around you every day.

But on the other hand, I also feel the sincerity of the new leadership.I'm an outspoken, quick-tempered girl who is easily impressed.I won't bear it when others bully me, but I will remember when others help me.A scholar dies for a confidant, and a woman tolerates a person who pleases her.I played tennis since I was a child, and I was basically trained by Hubei Province after I joined the team. As a way of repaying this kindness, I decided to help the Hubei team play the National Games again. During this period, I also had various concerns and weighed them over and over for several months-comeback is a big thing for me.When I retired, I was ranked No. 1 in the country. It doesn’t matter if I play well. Once I play badly, how will others judge me?

Moreover, I don't want to interrupt my studies, and I don't want to mess up a diploma. If I go back to play, what will happen to my studies? Thinking about it, it's hard to make up your mind.I went to Jiang Shan to discuss it, and he said: "I won't stop you or anything, you have to think about it yourself, no matter what kind of decision I will support you." I said to my mother: "Mom, what do you think I will go back to play?" My mother was taken aback: "Huh? Really, don't be kidding." Because my mother knew what kind of situation I was in when I retired.In order to treat my endocrine disorder, my mother sought medical treatment from Chinese medicine practitioners everywhere. In the end, I drank Chinese medicine for almost two years before my body recuperated.

I mean it." Mom was silent for a while, and said: "Then I don't ask you for anything, and I will come back when I get tired." Director Sun talked to me in 2003, and I returned to the provincial team in January 2004.Because I have to participate in the competition in April, after the Chinese New Year, I will return to the team for training. For me, choosing to retire is a difficult decision, because I have to leave the circle I am familiar with, leave the tennis that I have poured too much emotion into, and start a new life; coming back is an even more difficult decision, because I have to face The double pressure of an unknown future and going backwards. On the road to comeback, Director Sun played a key role.I found her conversation very sweet.Maybe it's because she is a new leader, she has never met me, and she doesn't have any grievances.It may also be because she was born as an athlete, and she is the best athlete, so she has a better understanding of what athletes think.She left me with the feeling that she dares to think and do, and doesn't care much about what others say. She really wants to do something for tennis. I have been secretly grateful to her in my heart, but every time I meet her, I am embarrassed to express this gratitude.I don't have many opportunities to communicate with her. If something happens in the national team, I can't report directly to her.Including now that I am "solo", whenever something happens, I always contact the team leader of the national team first, and then report to her, otherwise it will become a leapfrog report, and the impact is not good. After I returned to the team, I rarely had the opportunity to communicate with Director Sun face to face.At most, when I go back to Beijing to work at the center in the past two years, I will see if she is there. If she is, I will say hello and ask her how she is doing.Director Sun knew that my knee was not good, and her knee was not good, so he would ask some questions about the knee.Later, when we were in Wuhan, we had a chat once and talked about my thoughts.After I came back from accepting the award at the French Open, CCTV held a celebration banquet "Li Na's Night". Director Sun went there, but I didn't talk about it in detail, because there were constant media interviews during it.