Chapter 14 Season Objectives
"Hey guys, good morning."
Bruins head coach Billy Martin appeared on the court. He was wearing simple sports shorts and the Bruins' iconic dark blue tennis cap. His cheeks were slightly flushed and his eyebrows were almost invisible. However, he looked amiable. His slightly plump figure was still well maintained compared to his age.
When he was young, Martin was not an outstanding player and was more active in the doubles field, but even his doubles results were not outstanding. As a coach, Martin had his own understanding and strategy and was very good at discovering the shining points of players. He is considered one of the best coaches in the history of the Bruins.
"How is your exam preparation going? If you have any unfinished homework, I suggest you finish it right after the training. I don't want to receive a call from your professor complaining that our practice time disrupted your final exam plan."
Martin joked with a smile, and the players standing in a neat line in front all laughed quietly.
"Honestly, I want to complain that the winter training time is too short, but there is no place to appeal, but the NCAA stipulates that the practice time per day cannot exceed two hours, so let it be two hours, I'm used to it."
As he said this, he deliberately spread his hands and made a helpless expression, and even rolled his eyes, which immediately made everyone laugh even more happily.
Assistant coach Grant Chen, who was standing nearby, had to cough twice to remind Martin not to "say something out of turn". If the NCAA observers found out, he would inevitably be verbally reprimanded again - the problem was that it would not be Martin who would be reprimanded, but him, the assistant coach.
Martin secretly glanced at Grant's eyes, quickly pursed his lips, and straightened his back exaggeratedly.
"This year, our goal is still to win the championship. We have always been a strong contender for the championship. I am tired of saying, 'I have confidence in you.'"
"However, our strong competitiveness does not mean that our opponents will hand over the victory to us. Someone in the South is eyeing us covetously. Not to mention that Virginia, Oklahoma and others are all powerful opponents worthy of respect. Therefore, we have no capital to take it lightly."
Rivals. Every competitive sport has its own rivals. It is because of the existence of rivals that the confrontation in competitive sports becomes full of sparks.
For example, "Real Madrid VS Barcelona", "Manchester United VS Manchester City", "Peyton-Manning VS Tom-Brady", "Rafael Nadal VS Roger Federer", and so on.
In fact, even comics are no exception, "Batman VS Joker", "Superman VS Luthor", the stronger the opponent, the more exciting the duel will be.
The same is true in the NCAA arena.
"UCLA VS USC", these two schools, both located in Los Angeles, are arch-rivals. It's not just about tennis, or even just about competitive sports. It should be said that there is a comprehensive hostility in all aspects. Any game, any confrontation, every encounter is a fight to the death.
The “someone from the South” Martin refers to is the USC Trojans.
Before this year, from 2009 to 2012, the University of Southern California won four consecutive NCAA National Championship team championships, the first four consecutive championships since 1969 - and it was also the University of Southern California that created the feat that year.
The Trojans won four consecutive championships after a lapse of forty years, which brought the number of U.S. team championship trophies to twenty-one, far exceeding the sixteen of the Bruins. For this reason, students of the two schools often quarreled in their daily lives.
However, in May of this year, the University of Southern California lost to Ohio State University in the quarterfinals of the US Championship with a score of "3:4" and missed the chance to meet UCLA in the semi-finals; however, the Bruins also lost to the University of Virginia in the final and missed the championship.
Entering the new season, both the Trojans and the Bruins are sharpening their knives and preparing for a 300-round battle.
"We are not the defending champions, but the championship hearts in our chests are always beating!"
As he said this, Martin hammered his chest with his right fist, making a thumping sound.
"Go! Brown Bear!"
In an instant, the players also became excited and beat their chests and shouted at the top of their lungs.
"Go! Brown Bear!"
With a slogan and a roar, Gao Wen's blood also began to boil.
It's been a long time, really a long time! Different from the happiness brought by the warm-up and practice just now, at this time, I can feel more of the cohesion of the team's solid unity, the youthful passion and publicity, which makes people feel excited——
Once upon a time, they believed that a victory could change their lives; once upon a time, they believed that a championship could change their destiny.
It was not until they grew up that they realized that life is not that simple, and that life and destiny are far more than just a game or a championship.
However, Gawain missed that kind of belief very much. With a silly courage, he rushed towards a goal with passion and enthusiasm, as if even the sun and the wind were cheering him on. Life was still so simple and his destiny was still in his own hands.
"Go! Brown Bear!"
Gawain raised his fist high and roared with all his might, but by then everyone had dispersed to warm up. Looking at Gawain who was warming up alone, they looked at each other and paused. Those burning gazes made Gawain a little restrained.
However, after all, he was a soul that had been tempered by society and had just experienced incredible events. Gawain remained calm and continued to speak loudly:
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"I'll be the first one to prepare for footwork practice. Who else will join me?"
Footwork practice is one of the most tedious, difficult, yet important items in basic tennis training. Normally, it takes some courage for anyone to practice footwork. Even though you know it is a necessary training, you still can't help but want to postpone it a little bit more.
Seeing that Gawain was the first to call for footwork training, everyone looked as if they had seen a ghost. Even MacDonald was full of question marks.
Gao Wen was indeed very strange this morning. Could it be that... he had a fever?
"Let me do it, we'll do it together."
In the crowd, Jilong spoke loudly, and took the initiative to step out and walk towards Gao Wen, "Should we start with lateral movement? Or basic footwork?"
"Haha, haha, little prince! little prince! little prince!"
All the players joined in the cheering, calling out Jilong's nickname, it was really lively.
After all, Gao Wen is only a freshman and has been on the team for less than four months. Although the atmosphere in the team is harmonious, they are not too familiar with each other, and even if they want to make a fuss, there is no way to do it. But Jilong is different. From their strength to their status, the sparring between Jilong and Gao Wen is like a prince condescending to show his approachable temperament.
The shouts and glances were full of teasing and playfulness.
(End of this chapter)