投稿類別:英文寫作
Has government done enough to support the cultivation of potential Taiwanese tennis
players like Yen-Hsun Lu?
Jo Lee(李翊僑)
National Hsin-Chu Girl’s Senior High School
Class201
Instructor: Chi-Ching Huang(黃吉慶)
Has government done enough to support the cultivation of potential Taiwanese tennis players like
Yen-Hsun Lu?
I.
Introduction
In the Wimbledon 2010 tournament, a Taiwanese player, Yen-Hsun Lu(盧彥勳),
made history by making it to the quarter-final, which was the best record ever in
Taiwan's and even Asia's tennis history. After the great success, more and more
reports about the hard time Yen-Hsun Lu, or Lu, once experienced are gradually
revealed. As a big fan of tennis, the researcher hopes to uncover reasons behind the
tough dilemma encountered by Lu, and many other Taiwanese tennis players with
potential to shine in the world stages. The essay is mainly divided into two parts. The
first part attempts to point out the problems that affect many Taiwanese tennis players’
performances and their progress in the career. These problems are presented by
comparing Lu with Michael Chang (張德培), once an American professional tennis
player, who was once ranked No. 2 in the world, and with Rafael Nadal, a Spaniard,
who is the current world’s No.1 tennis player, in different aspects. The second part
covers measurements taken by various governments to cultivate their tennis
development.
As for the third part, some statements about expectations toward
government’s policy modifications will be illustrated.
II. Thesis
1. Comparisons of Lu with other players in different aspects
1.1 Training program
Lu: In Taiwan, there are few qualified tennis coaches that can provide players
with adequate training to effectively upgrade their tennis skills. Like many other
Taiwanese tennis players, Lu could only received basic and not so professional
training from some Taiwanese retired players before he met Dirk Hordorff, a German
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Has government done enough to support the cultivation of potential Taiwanese tennis players like
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coach that inspired Lu’s tennis skills. Not until he was trained by Hordorff did Lu find
that the training he received earlier year was nothing but wasting time. The routine of
the training might be continual running and serving or stroking with another player.
According to Hordorff, players cannot progress efficiently by endless practices. There
are some scientific methods to make the training more effective. (盧彥勳，2010) But,
in Taiwan, no one has introduced a complete modern training system. Thus, Lu was
not able to make major progress in his early days of training in Taiwan.
Michael Chang: Most professional tennis players in US, like Chang, are provided
with a complete and efficient training program. The government gathers all the
players under 14, and hires qualified tennis coaches to handle their training. Besides,
there are also some good tennis schools or clubs that are able to offer decent training
courses for players in need. (徐正賢，2010) That is, in the United States, the
government tries their best to make most tennis players well-coached to ensure that
the players can sharpen their skills through the professional training.
1.2 Financial Support
Lu: Before Lu was able to earn prize money from tournaments, he had no choice
but to rely on his family to cover all the expenses for his tennis career. The spending
includes the fees for hiring coaches, trainers, renting facilities, and covering the
transportation. Only few enterprises were willing to sponsor him to handle the
training and participating in tournaments held worldwide. In addition, he could only
obtain little financial support from the government. (盧彥勳, 2010) The lack of
money did hinder Lu from developing his tennis skills and focusing on his training in
the initial stage of his tennis career.
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Has government done enough to support the cultivation of potential Taiwanese tennis players like
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Rafael Nadal: The Spanish Tennis Federation is an official organization in Spain
to help all the talented tennis players from the financial support to career planning. It
provides the players with courts for practices and sponsors them a certain amount of
money for their tournaments. (Tom Oldfield, 2010) Hence, most Spanish tennis
players can play wholeheartedly on the courts. In Rafael’s case, expenses for training
and matches won’t be an issue that concerns his tennis career.
Michael Chang: American government gathers all the resources, for instance,
sponsors, coaches, trainers, etc., together to distribute them evenly to the players
when they’re young. In this way, players only need to care about their training; and
the enterprises can get more advertisements from various players and would not run a
risk of investing on one single player. And after the players start to earn prize money
from tournaments, they need not return the fund for their previous training. (徐正賢，
2010) It reveals a fact that American government plays a crucial role in promoting and
assisting the sports of tennis. Under the system, most tennis players won’t have hard
time worrying about lacking financial support.
1.3 Tennis Ground
Lu: There is only one qualified tennis center with courts for international
tournaments or matches in Taiwan. Nevertheless, the ground is already too old and
shabby, and it doesn’t fit the standard of holding professional tournaments. (謝文華、
龍柏安，2010)Besides, the only qualified ground only provides hard surface; players
have little chance to practice on clay and grass courts in Taiwan. The circumstance
also explains why Lu usually has poor performances on clay competitions. (盧彥勳，
2010) To a certain extent, the insufficient supply of tennis courts in Taiwan does limit
the room for Taiwanese tennis players' development of their skills.
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Has government done enough to support the cultivation of potential Taiwanese tennis players like
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Michael Chang: There are plenty of tennis centers or tennis clubs in his
neighborhood. (顧瓊華，2004) Along with many other American tennis players,
Michael can practice on qualified courts every day.
Rafael Nadal: In Spain, even in a rural countryside, Mallorca, Nadal’s hometown,
there are plenty of courts provided. ”Many hotels have their own courts while there
are numerous tennis centres where lessons are offered.” (Tom Oldfield, 2010)
2. Measurements taken by different governments to support the sport of tennis
2.1 USA/ England/ Australia/ France/ Spain/ Germany:
National tennis associations of those countries gather all the top teenage players
to receive training from nation-class coaches in one place. Besides, they also arrange
many international teenage tournaments for the players to compete against players
from other countries. They also hold tournaments of different levels in their own
countries so that players need not go aboard to attend competitions. By doing so, the
players can cut down their transportation expenses significantly, and the countries can
promote their tennis development at the same time. What’s more, players need not
return the training fund sponsored by the government even after they start to earn
prize money from the tournaments. In brief, the governments play important roles in
assisting the incubation of potential tennis players. (徐正賢，2010)
2.2China:
The government basically dominates player’s training programs and their
schedule for competitions with athletes under the supervision of government officials.
Moreover, the government provides financial support for all the players selected.
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Has government done enough to support the cultivation of potential Taiwanese tennis players like
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Players are asked to return a certain proportion of their training fund through prize
money to the government. Recently, China has been eager to seek chances of holding
international tennis tournaments to popularize the sport of tennis. (徐正賢，2010)
2.3 Japan/South Korea/Thailand:
Governments as well as national tennis associations devote efforts to getting
their domestic world-class enterprises involved in sponsoring their tennis players to
attend advanced training programs in countries like USA. Furthermore, those
countries are trying their best to hold various levels of international tournaments in
their soils. Through this way, those nations can help their players earn score to reach
higher ranks, save transportation expenses, and promote the tennis development at the
same time. (徐正賢，2010)
3. Voices of Expectations
3.1 Hsiehs' (謝淑薇網球家族)(Shu Wei Hsieh is one of the best tennis players in
Taiwan) :
To cultivate a tennis player in Taiwan is not easy at all since the support from the both
the government and enterprises is quite limited. For example, many players have to
wait along with others to get a court for practice; it is not surprising that many tennis
players barely have enough time for practices. Besides, it requires at $ 455,000 (USD)
for a player to cover expenses for attending annual 25 international tournaments.
Without any assistance from the government or the enterprises, most players are
hardly able to afford the expenses by themselves. What’s worse, for those who are
lucky to receive sponsor from businesses, it is regulated that players have to pay 40%
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Has government done enough to support the cultivation of potential Taiwanese tennis players like
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tax from the amount. As for enterprises that sponsor players directly, they are not
allowed to get any tax diminution. (Rashmi Sinha，2008) That is to say, the policy
doesn't offer enough inducements for enterprises to sponsor tennis players and makes
the players' situations even more difficult.
3.2 Zhen Xian Hsu (徐正賢) (the CEO of Integration Sports, the company which is
devoted to help develop the sport of tennis in Taiwan):
Taiwan’s government only offers players financial support at the time leading up to
international competitions like Asian Games and Olympic Games. (徐正賢，2010) It's
far from enough for the cultivation of a player. The government cannot expect players
to get brilliant results with little training. As is often the case, players have to depend
on themselves to make it to the national team. However, the expenses for training and
tournaments are too high for most tennis players to afford if they receive no help from
the government.
3.3 A News Piece(reporter: Chen Kai 陳楷):
In 2009, Taiwan held the Davis Cup but the team of Chinese Taipei was almost
considered disqualified by the committee in charge of the game because the court is
definitely not qualified. The court was temporarily built with the carpet having been
used for more than 18years. And it’s so lumpy that the ball cannot bounce in a normal
way. The tennis association has been asking the government to build a tennis center
with qualified courts for more than ten years. However, the government repeatedly
replied,” We need to wait until the MRT of Nei-Hu line is built, which might take at
least ten years.” (陳楷，2009) On the contrary, Amoy, a city in China's Fukien
Province, which is almost the same size as Taipei, finished building a tennis center
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Has government done enough to support the cultivation of potential Taiwanese tennis players like
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within three years. No wonder the media around the world would be so surprised at
the fact that some Taiwanese tennis players could possess outstanding tennis skills
which allow them to compete against world-class players.
3.4 Yuan-Tseh Lee(李遠哲)(who helped Lu a lot in Lu’s early stage):
In Taiwan, tennis players are usually lacking of resources from money to coaching.
Thus, due to the insufficiency, Taiwanese player will frequently encounter problems
in their career planning, which make them more inferior when competing against
foreign players with backup from the governments. On the other hand, Taiwanese
government usually just sponsors few players who have already attained the
qualification to attend international tournaments like Asian or Olympic Games instead
of helping them handle the difficulties when they are in need of assistance. “Many
potential players are forced to give up at the end, for they never receive enough
attention and support from the government. It’s really a great pity.” (盧彥勳官網，
2010)
III.
Conclusion
Through the comparisons of Lu and Rafael Nadal, Michael Chang, and the
statements from several professionals, it’s obvious that our government still has a lot
more to do to promote the development of tennis. It is not fair to say that our
government has done nothing to support the sport. Nonetheless, our government
officials should pay more attention to the cultivation of potential tennis players, and
devote more efforts to providing qualified courts for tournaments and training
programs for players in Taiwan. Measures taken by government of different countries
to assist their tennis development may suggest some possible ways to invigorate
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Has government done enough to support the cultivation of potential Taiwanese tennis players like
Yen-Hsun Lu?
Taiwan’s tennis players in pursuing their career. With several tennis players’
tremendous performances and achievements in professional tennis tournaments, more
and more people are turning their eyes to tennis. As more people are expecting
government to contribute more to the development of the sport of tennis, it will be a
shame if our government does not grab the brilliant opportunity to incubate more
potential tennis players like Yen-Hsun Lu to keep on shining in the world’s stage.
IV.
References
盧彥勳(2010)。亞洲網壇球王 盧彥勳的堅持。 台北縣中和市:品冠
顧瓊華(譯)。(2004)。掌握人生的發球權。 台北市:雅歌
Oldfield, T.(2010).Rafael Nadal: The biography London: John Blake
運動人才中長程培育計畫。行政院體育委員會官方網站。2010 年 10 月 22 日，
取自
http://www.sac.gov.tw/
徐正賢。到底什麼是政府該做的。Yahoo!奇摩體育專欄。2010 年 7 月 6 日，取
自 http://tw.sports.yahoo.com/tennis/blog/tennis_jeff/180.html?o=d&t=ct&p=5
謝文華，龍柏安。李遠哲批
首都竟無像樣網球場。自由電子報。2010 年 7 月 6
日，取自 http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2010/new/jul/6/today-fo5.htm
陳楷。台灣好手沒舞台
網球中心十年一場空。中廣新聞網。2009 年 2 月 12 日，
取自
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Has government done enough to support the cultivation of potential Taiwanese tennis players like
Yen-Hsun Lu?
http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/tennis-bobby/article?mid=323&prev=344&next=321
盧彥勳生涯貴人
李遠哲暢談台灣網運發展。盧彥勳官網。2010 年 12 月 15 日，
取自 http://www.rendylu.com/media.php?page=5
Rashmi Sinha。網球下的謝家班。Slide Share。2008 年 3 月 17 日，取自
http://www.slideshare.net/kathyhsueh/tennis-presentation
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