Can of Worms

It seems that I have inadvertently opened a can of worms with my last post about training. On the weekend more fuel was added to the fire when Christian won the Junior Match and therefore proved that his race in mid-summer wasn't just a one off result. Of course, I was extremely proud of this, as I have worked closely with Christian as his personal trainer for 4 years now!

I would just like to state for the record. Although the trainer of a top athlete is important, and although I believe the training plan and method is vital to performance, it is without a doubt the athlete who is ultimately responsible for the result. Christian's attitude to training and working professionally, his honesty and openness in accepting praise, criticism or the truth about his performance, his realisation / analyses of his mistakes and his limitations and most importantly his ability to train hard set him above the rest and make him what he is today. Not me, not his parents, not his running buddies, not the club, not even the Austrian team - although we all do play a part. It is still Christian Wartbichler himself that makes it all possible.

So well done to him, Congratulations Christian - you are on your way to becoming one of Europe's finest orienteerers - I wish you all the best in the coming years.

Anyway, through this win, there has been some new discussions on the official mouth piece of the Austrian Federation. It the forum, one of Austrias' leading trainers (Wolfgang P) made some comments as to "Trainer of the Year", and this call was re-iterated by one of the youngsters who trained with me a while back (thanks Andi). I am personally not looking for any awards, nor do I spend many of my spare hours doing it for recognition. I do it because I love it and I know that I can, and that is enough for me. If my athletes win, that's just a bonus for me!

However, although this award actually does exist (Trainer of the Year) since the beginning of the year, I will not be eligible to win it because I do not have the qualifications as set out by the ö–fol with regards to trainer qualifications. Naja, no surprises there, but disappointing anyway (for the why, read the post below). I hope there are some more comments made on the forum - I personally do not think I should add my own comment - but I feel more should be said on the subject.

So that was my trainer blurb for today - I post a description of the last few (shockingly bad) races in the next days :)