Let’s focus on the “can” though. I don’t have a millionaire dad. There is a beloved and dear dad who works at Yelizovo airport as an aviation technician. And my dear and beloved mother, who works in a furniture factory.
Yesterday I was asked: “How many pairs of skis, poles, shoes did your parents have to buy before you joined the national team?”
Answer: three pairs of skis. That’s all. Two more pairs of boots. Never bought sticks. It’s all the family expenses in equipment for the ten years of training that it took me to join the junior team, where already the manufacturers of these same skis and boots were starting to go around in circles by offering personal contracts .
All basic equipment and almost all other equipment was given to me by my home sports school, Yelizovo Ski Sports School.
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: the system by which decent quality equipment went to sports schools for “young talents” like me was created by Elena Valerievna Vyalbe. Of course, both the Ministry of Sports and our regional authorities have participated and are participating in this. Frankly, I do not know and do not think I should know from what funds my skis were paid – the main thing is that I received them – both for training and for competitions. Three pairs purchased are special cases: successful, “rolling” copies, skiers will have understood this.
Recently, after the Olympic medal, my communication with the fans has multiplied. There are many different questions, but one really surprises me. It’s more of an observation: “Cross-country skiing is an expensive sport for a child, you won’t get away with it.
It’s a false feeling. And the purpose of this column is just to dispel it.
We have seven departments in Kamchatka, cross-country sections, two of which proudly bear the name of sports schools of the Olympic reserve. I graduated from one of them and Liza Eremeeva, the current captain of the junior team, is another. In total, hundreds of children and teenagers from our region of 313,000 inhabitants enjoy cross-country skiing at the same time. And they all receive equipment from the state, the cross-country ski federation and sponsors. Of course, everything depends on success – to each according to his abilities and merits.
I’m going to tell you a big secret (no): up to 13-14 years old, cross-country skiing equipment isn’t bad. Your natural data and your coaching talent are much more important. And another quality is discipline. Any trainer will tell you that he had a potential world champion in his group, but laziness or domestic circumstances did not allow him to develop his abilities.
A really difficult moment comes in these 13-14 years. On the one hand, rapid growth begins (I’m talking about us girls), everything childish becomes small. Including skis, poles and boots. On the other hand, at this age all sorts of serious zonal competitions begin – there is already a selection, a division into “athletes” and “athletes”. It is clear that sports schools try to support their best equipment as best they can. But, again, there is no fundamental difference on what to train at this age – and for competitions the coach always rents the best skis for today from someone somewhere. And he finds paraffin depending on the weather for 10,000 rubles apiece. But not from my parents’ pocket or my wallet (I’ve been getting a scholarship since I was 15).
I guess I was lucky – from those 12-13 years I started winning all the local, then zonal competitions, and I was always treated as the future hope of regional cross-country skiing . For me there was always the best equipment available (thanks again to everyone involved!). But I hope you noticed the connection: I tried my best, I listened to the instructions of the coaches and, except for a very short period of adolescence, I always treated skiing substantive as a job, a career, a social lift. (although I did not know such expressions at the time).
At the same time, no one spoiled the “future star of Kamchatka skiing” too much.
When I joined the junior team, I had nine pairs of skis. Of these, only two are classics – yes, the classics did not attract attention in Kamchatka at the time, I was a pronounced skater, and in many ways I remain one. Most hardcore amateur skiers have twice as many pairs, even if they’ve been hoarding them for years. Now I have probably four times as many skis and a whole “shoe store” in the closet – and I really need all of that. But it’s necessary at this stage, when I’m trying to win the argument with the best, when no compromise is already possible, when I train more than 20 hours a week. Previously this would have been redundant.
Let’s go back to the “dad-millionaire”. In Norway, Sweden, Germany, where there is no sports-specific support system for teenagers, such a dad is, if not mandatory, at least highly desirable. There, the expression “my sponsor is a bank that bears the name of mum and dad” works in full. There, as I understand from conversations with friends on the ski slope, at some point parents can say to a sixteen-year-old talent: “Sorry, but we don’t pull your skis anymore – go in beach volleyball. ”
And in Russia there is a system, and if it does not work in your particular region, then in the neighboring region it can work perfectly. It depends on the people – Kamchatka, as you know, is quite small in terms of population and far from the richest region, but now it has two skiers in the national team. Therefore, do not be afraid, send your children for cross-country skiing – at least they will “gain” health, and if there is talent and diligence, then more will go.
Source : MatchTV
I am Sandra Jackson, a journalist and content creator with extensive experience in the news industry. I have been working in the news media for over five years. During this time, I have worked as an author and editor at various outlets producing high-quality content that attracts readers from different demographics.
