“Cologne Sports University? Dear son, can you tell me why you want to go all the way to Germany for college? And at a sports university, no less?” As a father, David Thompson was a bit puzzled by his son’s choice, since his son hadn’t had anything to do with sports since he gave up soccer in fourth grade. Clearly, his son didn’t have much athletic talent—nothing like me at all! Mr. Thompson grumbled inwardly.

“Dear Leon Thompson!” Leon Thompson’s mother, Sabrina, pronounced his name more like the English “Leon.” In fact, everyone around Leon Thompson, whether family or classmates, pronounced it that way, all thanks to his father giving him a name that worked in both Chinese and English. “Can you tell us what you’re thinking?”

“Of course, Mom!” Leon Thompson put down his fork and took a moment to organize his thoughts. “I like soccer. I’ve loved it since I was a kid!”

“Too bad you don’t have a shred of talent!” Mr. Thompson shrugged.

“My brother is so dumb he can trip over his own soccer ball!” A boy with a mouth smeared in ketchup waved his fork and mocked his brother. He was the latest addition from Mr. Thompson and Mrs. Thompson, six-year-old Francis Thompson.

“Don’t interrupt, dear! And you, don’t talk with your mouth full… and stop waving your fork!” After scolding her husband and younger son, she turned back to Leon Thompson. “Go on, dear.”

Leon Thompson shrugged and glanced at his mocking little brother—who was shoveling spaghetti into his mouth while making faces at him. “Maybe I don’t have the talent to play, but Cologne Sports University isn’t a place that teaches people how to play soccer!”

“So what do they teach?” Before Leon Thompson could finish, the curious one had already freed himself from the spaghetti and chimed in again.

“They teach people how to teach others to play soccer!” He quickly finished his sentence, ignoring the little guy who was now struggling to make sense of it, and turned to his parents.

“So you mean, you want to become a soccer coach?” Mr. Thompson was quick to react, but his brow furrowed just as fast. He still didn’t quite agree with his son’s idea. In his mind, being a soccer coach didn’t seem like a good job. The pressure was high, and success came late—coaches only made it big in middle age. Before that, most professional coaches didn’t earn much.

Leon Thompson completely understood his father’s concerns, so he patiently explained, “Not necessarily a coach. Maybe sports management. That way, I could work for a professional club, on the inside! The job would be pretty much like working in an office, just dealing with different kinds of paperwork.”

Hearing his son’s explanation, Mr. Thompson’s frown eased a little.

“Or I could just get an agent’s license and sign some promising young players, help them with their careers. If I discover a star and help him land a big contract, I could just lie on a pile of money and count it for fun!” At this time, the Bosman ruling had just come into effect, and the agent industry was starting to heat up.

“Leon Thompson, we’re not saying you have to make a fortune!” As a mother, Sabrina didn’t want her son to become someone who only cared about money.

“Mom, I was just making a point! Just describing the bright prospects of this industry!”

“If you end up finding a bunch of idiots, I think you’ll only be able to count newspapers on a park bench!”

“Hey! Cole Thompson, do you want me to dump the rest of the noodles in your mouth?” The lazy Mr. Thompson had simply combined his younger son’s surname and the last syllable of his Italian name to make a Chinese nickname, which had become the little guy’s name at home and among close friends.

“I’ve already eaten all the spaghetti, so you’ve lost your weapon to threaten me!”

“All right, Cole Thompson! If you’re done eating, go wash your face! Goodness, how did you get ketchup on your forehead?” Mrs. Thompson’s Chinese pronunciation was still a bit off, and the way she said Cole Thompson sounded more like “LICO.”

After sending the little one off, Sabrina looked affectionately at her eldest son and said, “So it seems you’ve already drawn a fairly complete blueprint for your future. Can I think of it that way, my son?”

“I think you’re right, Mom!” Leon Thompson knew his mother was about to make a decision, and so far things were looking good for him.

“Maybe we should discuss this a bit more, dear?” Mr. Thompson seemed to have a different idea, but was quickly overruled by Mrs. Thompson. “Children should walk their own path. We shouldn’t interfere too much. Don’t you think that’s best? Our son has grown up—he’s already an adult.”

Faced with his wife’s insistent gaze, David Thompson had no choice but to give up on his original plan—to have his son attend a prestigious university, study business management, and then arrange for him to join his own company after graduation, safe and secure. But it seemed all of that had become nothing more than a shattered dream.