The road to godhood starting from Ligue 1

Chapter 95 There is nothing you must do in this world

The Bastia Youth Training Camp is located on the outskirts of the northern district of Bastia.

On the one hand, this side is close to the Mediterranean coast and the land is flatter;
On the other hand, the club is short of money and has no funds to expand the Bastia first-team training base. It is already quite difficult to keep the second team next to the first team.

The other echelons could only be arranged in more distant suburbs.

Chatham even had several arguments with owner and chairman Jerónimo Jerónimo over this, and the two sides also talked many times.

Chatham hopes to increase part of its budget each season to be used for youth training and player development.

However, this obviously made Jerónimi very painful. Youth training is really a money-burning thing, and there is no output in the short term. As a businessman, he is naturally not willing to pay.

"Youth training is the root of a team. A team needs stars, but it needs young people who will keep coming. No club can survive without youth training."

Chatham took Gaio into the youth training camp and talked about his philosophy.

After he took office at Bastia, most of his work was on the recruitment and contract renewal of the first team, but he was also in charge of youth training.

Generally speaking, a team will have a youth training director, but in Bastia, this position is held by Chatham.

Jerome's statement is that those who are capable should work harder, which actually means saving as much as possible.

Gaio nodded.

He had never been here before, and seeing that some training grounds still had artificial turf, he lamented the difficulties faced by the middle and lower-level teams.

Not every team can use the top-level training base: swimming pool, physiotherapy room, gym, natural grass training field and so on.

More teams, like Bastia, mostly use artificial turf, with only one or two natural grass fields, which look like vegetable plots.

Other facilities and equipment should be saved as much as possible.

This time, Chatham asked Gaio to become Bastia's youth training ambassador. There was not much process. Basically, he just cooperated with the media to take photos, said a few brief words, and then communicated with the youth training players. That was it.

After the photo session with local media.

Gaio met all the players of Bastia's current echelon below the second team.

There aren’t many of them, just over ninety players ranging from a few years old to over ten years old.

They were all local children from Bastia.

There is not a single outsider.

After all, no one would send their children to Corsica for youth training. There are more high-quality training camps in mainland France.

"I know what you're waiting for. I think Coach Rousey has already told you. Yes, the team's youth training ambassador, Gaio! I don't think I need to introduce him any further. Let's not waste time. Come on, Gaio!"

Chatham pointed to Gaio next to him.

clap clap clap!
The young players clapped their hands excitedly. They had heard so many stories about Gaio this year - from a robber to a French international, from a criminal to a hero of Bastia.
Many Bastia fans say that Gaio has already reserved the title of Bastia legendary player.

The day he left Bastia, he was a legend.

He was unknown when he came, but became famous in Corsica when he left.

Gaio walked up to everyone with a bit of shyness, took the microphone, coughed tactically, and said: "Hello everyone, I am Gaio.

I didn't originally want to talk to you all about anything.

I think football is a very personal matter. We don’t need others to tell us what we should and shouldn’t do.

I don't want to teach you anything as someone who has experienced it.

Because there are too many people in this world who want to tell others what to do, and it seems that if you don't listen to them, the world will collapse.

But this is not the case.

Just go and find yourself.

There is nothing in this world that is absolutely necessary. Many people know my present, but few know my past. But I have no intention of discussing that. I will only share one small anecdote.

When I was seven years old, I was still playing football on the gravel field in Niaoquan Town. We called it Stade des Murailles (City Wall Field), named after a section of the medieval city wall. It was actually a gravel field converted from a community garbage dump. Every time we went on the field, we would tap our toes on the ground because a lot of small gravel would get into our shoes, which was very painful.

When we tapped our toes down, they came out - because our sneakers had holes in them from our toes.

You think I want to sing the praises of suffering?
No, I mean, the gravel is really hard on my feet and my sneakers wear out really quickly, if there were no other places to play and no other courts to choose from.

I will never play football there!

This is what I want to say. After all, I said at the beginning that I didn’t want to talk to you about anything.

That’s it, everyone, come on.”

Hahaha!
The young players below all smiled knowingly, including Chatham.

Chatham looked at Gaio who was telling his story, and he had a new understanding of him.

This young man really gained a new life after spending more than 20 days in prison.

After Gaio finished speaking, he began to take photos with the players and signed autographs for them.

See Gaio's meticulous signature.

Chatham smiled.

In order to improve his handwriting, Gaio takes a French calligraphy class after training every day. In his words, "I don't want to leave my fans with the impression that I am uncultured."

Many of Gaio's ideas are unique to Chatham.

Perhaps this is what makes a genius different?
When Gaio left.

He left behind a signed No. 29 jersey, which hangs on the wall of Bastia's youth training camp.

Looking at the youth training camp in the distance.

Thinking of those kids who were not much younger than him, he knew that out of nearly a hundred of them, at most ten could enter professional football.

There may not even be one person who can make it to a top league team.

However, it is these one hundred, one thousand, ten thousand youth players who are unable to play professionally.

They provide the base for the emergence of talented players.

It is they who continue to spread the love for football.

They have football dreams, have tried themselves and failed, so they will give their children a chance to try.

They may become amateur players or they may become football practitioners.

At the very least, he would sit in the stands every weekend to cheer for his home team.

For a small football, we cheered and felt lost.
This is the meaning of youth training.

Does youth training have to be done only to promote talented people?

Gaio thought about these young players, youth training, and recalled what he had said.

"Maybe, I can buy a football team and start a youth training camp in the future?"

This thought suddenly arose in Gaio's mind.

But he quickly suppressed this idea. To accomplish this, he would need a lot of money.

Let's wait until he makes enough money in his career.

(End of this chapter)