Match Point

Chapter 214: career planning

Latest website: Gao Wen must admit that he is a bit ignorant.

He always believes that the most important thing for a professional player is an excellent coaching team, including the head coach, physical coach, masseuse, sparring partner, etc.

But Sampras gave a different opinion.

Tennis is a special sport.

First of all, this is an individual sport. No matter how good the coaching team is, in the final analysis, when a player stands on the court, he must complete the game by himself. Without the coordination of his teammates, the coach's command is prohibited. Everything depends on himself.

To some extent, tennis is actually a lonely sport, because when the game comes to an end, you are pushed to the edge of the cliff, and the only thing you can rely on is yourself, as if the whole world is standing against you.

It is precisely because of this that the coaching team is very important. No one can deny the indispensable status of the coaching team, but they are not the most important.

Second, it is a team sport.

What's the meaning? Doesn't this contradict the first point?

Not really.

The so-called teamwork means that the players advance and retreat together with their entire team. Before the game starts, the coaching team plays the role of training and also the role of a think tank—

They need to help players analyze their opponents and then formulate corresponding tactics.

At the same time, outside the game, the agency team plays an external role. Agents and publicists need to help players deal with all off-court matters, including press conferences, tour schedules, hotel reservations and flight arrangements.

Also, one more important thing:

Seek sponsorship.

Going back to the first point, tennis is an individual sport, but it revolves around the players and there must be a huge team behind them.

In highly professional team sports like soccer, rugby, basketball, etc., who pays the wages? big boss! Those are the rich people at the top of the pyramid.

However, in tennis, the players must bear the expenses of a large team.

In other words, if the players themselves have no money, then naturally there will be no team, and everything must be done by themselves.

The problem is that it is often difficult for players without a coaching team to make a breakthrough on the field, so you can see a very common phenomenon. Many players are coached by their parents or relatives, and then they have not achieved results until the game. Only then can we expand our team.

For example, "Danish sweetheart" Caroline-Wozniaki (Caroline-Wozniaki), her coach is her father; another example is the Spanish king Rafael Nadal, his coach is her uncle.

From training to competition, every aspect of professional tennis needs to burn money.

Gao Wen himself was like this. It was precisely because his family could not afford the huge expenditure of funds that he embarked on the NCAA career path instead of directly choosing the path of youth turning professional.

So, where does sponsorship come from?

This is the most important core meaning of "teamwork".

To put it simply, it is impossible for players to do door-to-door sales and go door-to-door to find sponsorship. Their task is to prove themselves by achieving excellent results on the field, and then find sponsorship by a spokesperson who speaks for themselves:

This is the broker.

The job of an agent is to find suitable jerseys, sneakers, and racket sponsorships for players, and to find suitable advertising companies for players to sponsor training expenses.

And, that's not all.

The agent's job is to find a suitable coaching team for the player, or if the player has a favorite coach, the agent will contact him and then build an entire daily training team around the coach.

It can be understood that the tennis game is an individual sport, and he goes to the battlefield alone; but before he goes on the court, he needs to stockpile ammunition and food support, and the agent is the link that provides these important help for the player.

That's why Sampras said that when Gao Wen planned his career, the first thing he needed was a professional and outstanding agent.

Of course, the role of an agent is more than that. Why David-Beckham’s commercial value can create an empire, apart from his own quality, the role played by an agent lies in this, which is equivalent to A hundred times a thousand times the amplifier in general.

It is precisely because of this that professional players, big and small, no matter what their world rankings are, they all have their own agents. Even if they don’t have their own coaching team, they still need an agent—

It cannot be said 100%. Some players refuse to hire an agent and play in person. This also exists, but overall, an agent is still necessary.

The NCAA is not a professional league. The training and sponsorship of the players all come from the school, so naturally there is no need for an agent, but this is not the case when entering the professional field.

In fact, the truth is not complicated, but laymen still lack some understanding after all. After Sampras' explanation, the matter suddenly became clear.

Naturally, Gao Wen took advantage of the situation and asked about Tobias' situation.

Sampras is very honest.

"If you are talking about fame and power, John is not the top member of the industry pyramid. The most famous agent in the industry should be Max-Eisenbud (Max-Eisenbud)."

Eisenbud, the manager of Sharapova and Li Na, his greatest achievement is to accompany Sharapova to grow up from an unknown teenager. Of course, besides this, he also has a series of careers under his command players.

Currently, Eisenbud is the global vice president of IMG brokerage company and Tobias's boss.

In fact, in the work of a broker, reputation and strength are often not equal. The so-called reputation mainly depends on shouting, that is, self-marketing; while the real strength often needs to be displayed through daily work~lightnovelpub.net~The whole There are countless capable people and strangers in the industry.

"But if you're talking about ability, John is a great agent, and all he needs is an opportunity to get the best out of him."

However, Sampras did not wholeheartedly speak for Tobias. In addition, he recommended several agents he was familiar with, including his agent who used to be a professional player, and sent his contact number to Gao Wen, saying that he I'll say hello when I turn back, and he just needs to get in touch.

"Choosing an excellent agent that suits you will definitely be a lot easier. Even if you don't plan to turn professional for the time being, you should consider it. You should know that the halo of the national singles champion may not be a big deal in the professional arena. But it can still let you into the eyes of everyone, and things will come to you one after another."

Sampras sincerely gave Gao Wen some sincere advice as someone who had experienced it.

From Tobias' positive self-recommendation to Sampras' earnest words, Gao Wen really felt at this time that professional players seemed not so far away from him.

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