The Rookie Challenge Competition was completely up to the rookie. Signing up didn't have to be done through the Club or the Team. However, rookies usually gave their Team a heads up beforehand. Clubs would sometimes publicize their rookies and would also sometimes ask their rookies to sign up.
Qiao Yifan obviously didn't belong to the latter. With a genius like Gao Yingjie, if the Club was going to publicize a rookie, it most certainly wouldn't be him. Participating in the Rookie Challenge Competition was Qiao Yifan's own idea. He had given the Club a heads up, but everyone was just surprised, that's all.
