Minister Lee Yang leads Taoyuan Airport send-off for retired athletes advancing coaching careers abroad

In recent years, Taiwan's sports sector has actively promoted the international transformation of coaching talent, striving to enable elite retired athletes to seamlessly transition into coaching careers. The Sports Administration has launched an in-depth cooperation with the University of Southern California (USC), selecting a first cohort of nine retired Olympic and Asian Games elite athletes who have already transitioned into coaching. They officially departed for the United States today to begin a seven-week, high-intensity professional training program. This initiative aims to absorb international top-tier sports science and training management experience, cultivating a forward-looking local coaching team for Taiwan.

At today's departure ceremony, Minister of Sports Li Yang personally went to Taoyuan International Airport to see them off. As the first top-tier Taiwanese badminton player to successfully defend an Olympic gold medal, Li transitioned to coaching and administrative work after retiring last year. Having experienced firsthand the emotional journey and challenges athletes face during career transitions, he expressed high recognition and expectations for the nine coaches bound for the United States. He encouraged everyone to seize this rare learning opportunity to gain deep insights into the latest global sports science trends, and to bring this valuable knowledge and practical experience back to Taiwan in the future to give back to domestic grassroots and elite athletes.

The partner institution, the University of Southern California, enjoys an international reputation in the fields of sports science, sports management, and coaching. It not only boasts a world-leading academic research team but also has a long history of supplying professional talent to top U.S. professional leagues and Olympic delegation teams. The nine selected retired national athletes all fought for Taiwan in past Asian Games and Olympic arenas and chose to remain deeply rooted in the sports world after retirement, transforming years of accumulated practical experience into coaching nutrients. Through this seven-week intensive study program, they will be exposed to cutting-edge sports performance analysis, sports psychology, injury prevention and rehabilitation techniques, and modern training team management models.

As competition in the international sports arena becomes increasingly fierce, relying solely on personal athletic experience is no longer sufficient to cope with rapidly changing competition challenges. Modern coaches increasingly require support from data analysis, sports science, and cross-disciplinary teamwork. By promoting this study program in the U.S., the Sports Administration hopes to break the past domestic coaching framework that largely relied on apprentice systems or traditional experience transmission, thereby introducing systematic and scientific international coaching thinking. After returning to China, these nine coaches are expected to become key seeds driving the reform and upgrading of various sports in Taiwan. This will not only enhance the competitiveness of our national delegation in future international competitions but also further strengthen the domestic coach training system.

The sports world has long faced structural issues such as "the difficulty for gold medal athletes to transition careers after retirement" or "elite athletes do not necessarily make good coaches." Establishing a comprehensive career transition counseling mechanism for retired athletes has always been a core issue of sports policy. The study program jointly promoted by the Sports Administration and the University of Southern California not only concretely implements career support for retired national athletes, but also paves a broad path toward internationalization for Taiwan's sports community. This cohort of coaches embarking on their advanced studies abroad will not only see their personal coaching careers transformed, but also carry the profound expectations of rooting Taiwan's sports deeply and breaking through to new heights.

(Fact source: Central News Agency)