From being an assistant coach for the national football team to becoming the technical director of a sports school, Chen Tao expressed: "I feel honored to grow alongside the school."

Written by / Zuo Rui The Zhangjiakou Ice and Snow Sports School has launched a football program — it’s not snow football, and it’s certainly not a joke. This is undoubtedly a groundbreaking event in the domestic football scene, and the school’s appointment of Chen Tao as technical director in November 2024 is quite sensational. Chen Tao told our newspaper that he feels privileged to join this "breaking the ice" journey.

When mentioning Chen Tao, the first impression is of that brilliant young man from the Dutch World Youth Championship twenty years ago. However, for him, now in his forties, the glory of his playing days has become a thing of the past, and coaching is now the focus of his life. "The experience of being a player relates to being a coach, but fundamentally, these are two different professions."

In the World Cup qualifiers, Chen Tao participated as an assistant coach for the national team, but he was not the center of attention. He is much younger than head coach Ivan and not significantly older than some veteran players. Among peers, Chen Tao is labeled as "humble, low-key, down-to-earth, and sociable." "He knows his place in the national team and is very dedicated to his work."

But besides Chen Tao himself, it seems no one can clearly explain why he chose to go to Zhangjiakou.

"Why do I feel honored? A new school, a new role, a new project, and the school has given me a lot of space and the leaders have shown me great trust." The person in question said, "The more they trust you, the more you want to do well." The new project refers to the agreement reached between the ice and snow school and Hebei North University, allowing youth training players to transition smoothly from vocational school to undergraduate studies. Next, another public university, Zhangjiakou College, will become another partner for the "3+4" education model.

Chen Tao has long pondered this question: Why do both children and their parents love football so much during their early years, yet the number of football players decreases as they grow older? When faced with the choice between academics and football, making a decision becomes even more difficult. After all, there are too many variables in the growth of youth players, and no one can guarantee that a child with a solid training foundation will definitely become a professional player.

As a father of two, Chen Tao understands the concerns of football parents about issues like "What if my child neglects their studies? What if they can’t become a professional player? What if they fail the single enrollment exam?" Balancing academics and football is more beneficial for children's growth and can also reassure more parents. "Enabling more children to pursue football is the original intention of our school leaders, and I believe this project is truly good."

The school started from the China League and is currently researching the plan to establish a professional club, hoping to find more talented players while providing them with a solid educational background, "without affecting their chances of becoming professional players." Through its own youth training system and the China League B platform, the school aims to produce excellent university-level players in the future.

Chen Tao feels honored to be one of the founding members of this project.

The position of technical director was initially intended for someone else. The connection to Zhangjiakou was facilitated by Shao Jiayi, who invited Chen Tao and Zhang Xinxin to provide professional advice for the school's initial talent selection. "Later, Coach Shao went to Qingdao to lead a professional team and didn’t have time to continue this project in Zhangjiakou. When the school leaders spoke with me, we found a lot of common ground, leading to this collaboration." In Chen Tao's view, Principal Guo Zhiwei is open-minded and clear about goals, creating "such a great platform" for him.

This platform will be an opportunity for Chen Tao to integrate theory and practice in youth training. He has quickly accumulated experience from coaching at club levels, first teams, national youth teams, and the national team, forming a flexible, holistic, and proactive football philosophy, which has been incorporated into the youth training outline of the ice and snow school’s football program.

In Chen Tao's perspective, the beauty and victory of football can coexist. If that’s not achieved, it means some aspects weren’t executed well, and one shouldn’t abandon this philosophy or doubt oneself. "In the pursuit of this goal, I will remain humble forever, but I will always adhere to this philosophy."

The essence of the football that Chen Tao advocates lies in: "Flexibility" influences the outcome; changes in formation and tactics must exist; "Holism" means "total offense and defense," where all eleven players must participate in both attacking and defending; and "Proactivity" includes being active in four moments during the game and maintaining an aggressive stance in defense.

Currently, Chen Tao's initiative to cultivate high-quality players through the 3+4 integration mechanism is still in its early stages. The school only has three teams for the 09/10, 11/12, and 13/14 age groups, meaning it caters to children from fifth grade to the first year of high school, and the framework and advantages of "3+4" have yet to be fully realized.

When the youngest team won the Hebei Provincial Championship, the new technical director was present at the scene. During regular training, he also pays close attention, but his main responsibilities include selecting and evaluating coaches and holding regular training sessions for the coaching team.

The coaches of these three teams all have professional player backgrounds and are in their prime, demonstrating strong modeling capabilities and a willingness to learn. For example, Yu Miao and Zhang Qi are both in their thirties and previously played for Green City Football School and Chengdu Football Association, bringing both youth training experience and the ability to mentor newly retired colleagues. However, all coaches adhere to the youth training outline set by Chen Tao, implementing his understanding and pursuit of football.

Specific requirements include unified youth training concepts, coaching methods, technical standards, tactical play, scenario design, and even the expression of teaching language. "Doing this doesn’t restrict the coaches’ creativity; rather, it allows children to succeed within a standardized framework. We hope that from the beginning, the school will have its own training system." Chen Tao said this is akin to having a blueprint for a house already designed, where the decoration can be chosen in either Chinese or European styles, but "you can’t change the layout."

The youth training program is not meant to exist for the short-term success of a single team but to provide support and continuity for each tier of the school, continuously improving training standards. "I’m very grateful that the school trusts me so much, so I’m doing my utmost to create this framework, hoping it can be sustained, and then optimized continually to make it more comprehensive."

As the players gradually grow up and younger children enroll, from the first year of middle school to the fourth year of university, Chen Tao's youth training philosophy will have a ten-year execution period and a vast space for imagination. He admits this is an advantage; most training institutions and professional tiers cooperate one by one with some middle and high schools, but few can maintain a consistent youth training model from childhood to adulthood. "We rely on a public school, which makes the development process relatively stable." He said, "So the coaching team and the children are quite fortunate, and I feel honored to grow alongside the school."

Whether in the future or now, "the teachers follow the team" has become routine for the school. During off-site training and competitions, cultural teachers accompany the team. Sometimes, the more competitions there are, the greater the impact on academics. "Our school’s teachers only follow one team, so the children can at least maintain a stable state of learning, competing, and training together."

The school’s vision for the "3+4" model aims to innovate the integration of sports and education, enriching players’ cultural knowledge and professional skills simultaneously, rather than suggesting that one can get into college without studying, just by playing football, which goes against the essence of education. "The integration of studies still needs exploration, as we haven't had children enroll in Hebei North University yet, and the school hasn’t reached the intersection of '3' and '4'." Chen Tao believes that as long as everyone shares a common goal, the problems encountered during development can be resolved. All efforts are aimed at ensuring children grow steadily, encouraging more people to participate in football, and allowing more high-level players to receive higher education.

The school’s mission, the future of football, is written on a hiring letter; the children’s futures and the parents’ hopes rest on his shoulders. Chen Tao feels that "it’s actually quite heavy." He believes that not only the players and coaches executing the youth training outline need to keep learning, but he himself cannot become complacent. Once he stops learning, "there will be significant issues in this profession."

Some say that life begins at forty. At forty, Chen Tao feels that participating in the Zhangjiakou "breaking the ice" initiative is a fresh restart in his coaching career. "When I started with the youth team in Shenzhen, I was in a similar situation. I can’t keep thinking about how I trained before; the development of football is too rapid, and I need to continuously understand and absorb new things, then adjust players’ perceptions based on their current characteristics."

The future is uncertain, but the direction of learning is set.

"First, you need to seriously watch high-level matches; second, if there’s an opportunity to go abroad to high-level leagues or even join clubs, it would be better to learn something real." Watching games from the stands abroad holds little significance and limited help for Chen Tao. He wants to be involved with professional teams, observing training and competition modes up close, including all details of preparation.

For a coach looking to go abroad, Europe is his most convenient choice. In the AFC professional coach training course, the on-site teaching segment at Bundesliga clubs greatly benefited Chen Tao. He believes that in the future football world, extraordinary talents like Messi and Ronaldo will become increasingly rare, and the dependence of individuals on the overall team will grow stronger. "The more detailed the holistic approach to football, the better it can compensate for individual players' ability differences." In this regard, German football has always been a model.

While practicing his already-formed football philosophy, Chen Tao will not cease his quest for knowledge. "From my personal perspective, I must continuously absorb new philosophies and knowledge. You can’t assert that a certain model or playing style is definitively correct, nor can you assume it will never evolve. In the world of football, perhaps the only constant is change."