Stop whining, moaning, whining and bawling! In Russia, sport is not only alive, it is developing. I spent three days in Kazan, Zelenodolsk and Mirny (near Kazan) and I am ready to report to you.
There are nearly 40,000 skiers in Tatarstan for a population of 4 million. Not the “papers” and not those who take their skis off the balcony once a winter, but 40,000 athletes of all ages who actively train.
Mark your calendars for the world-class stadium near Kazan, which will host the Russian Championship this year. In recent years, about 50 ski chalets have been built/reconstructed in Tatarstan – in almost all districts. Most of them come with a lit ski slope, as well as an entire snowmobile or snowcat for preparation.
On Saturday I had the honor to participate in the opening of the Zelenodolsk Ski Academy. These are not just words: it is not every day that we see a sports center rebuilt with the latest technologies, which has, or will very soon have, literally everything to raise the super skiers of the new generation.
This is precisely the goal set by the management of ski racing in Tatarstan: the academy will bring together the best young skiers, not only from the republic itself, but also from other regions.
The Zelenodolsk center will be named after 2018 Olympic silver medalist Andrei Larkov, and it will be assisted by two famous skiers – Aliya Iksanova and Anastasia Dotsenko. All three recently competed on the national team. I do not want to offend local coaches in any way, but to train new world leaders, we need to experience in practice what modern methods of training elite athletes are. This is more important than a formal degree.
If you haven’t read very carefully, all this doesn’t happen on the moon or even in a certain Liechtenstein, the richest country in the world (where people also ski, I even know a skier) . Location: Republic of Tatarstan, Volga Federal District, Russian Federation.
The question that surprises me is: why can they do this in Tatarstan, but not in the neighboring Samara region, for example? I specifically looked at the competition report for the longest distance of the national championship, 10 kilometers. Of the 140 people in the top thirty, there is not a single skier from a neighboring region of Tatarstan! Is your snow different?!
Everyone knows perfectly well that it’s not snow. It’s about the leaders. Ski racing in Tatarstan in its current form is, first of all, the merit of the president of the federation Ilshat Fardiev and his deputy Artur Sabitov. Fardiev heads the region’s largest company with 7,000 employees. The largest profitable business.
And he doesn’t invest in ski racing as a distant philanthropist. And in the same way he manages his business: strictly, demanding, with clearly defined KPIs. And he needs invited “Varangian” athletes like Terentyeva, Korostelev, Ardashev, Stepanova (and now Bolshunov) as part of a system aimed at attracting attention. First of all, the attention of children and adolescents. The children of these same employees of his company and their associates. Everything is thought out. At the same time, Fardiev and Sabitov run ski racing not from their offices, but directly on the ski slope, leading the Tatarstan delegation at major competitions. And their schoolboy sons spend their vacation with them on the “Pearls of Siberia” ski slope, and not somewhere in Dubai.
Last year I had a conversation with one of the leaders of the ski federation of a large region. “Sorry, Veronica, but I don’t have Ilshat Shaekhovich’s abilities.” It was not about my personal material “desires” – they were ready to offer me just that, even better than Tatarstan. What they don’t have is an organized process, no systems, and seemingly no clear goals.
Any ambitious athlete will tell you that the system is more important than the amount of compensation. I will try to explain to you with an example: I need wheels from a certain manufacturer for roller skis. All skiers know that they are the ones who don’t slide on a wet slope. Monday I make a request and on Wednesday these wheels are sent to me. It is this organization of processes that other skiers envy, not the money.
Why then didn’t I show up in Tatarstan earlier, we had negotiations three years ago? It’s simple: Tatarstan is so far ahead in terms of organization that competition is essential. It is competition that leads to development, including the development of public interest. And in the Arkhangelsk region it was precisely planned to create something similar; all participants in the “Arkhangelsk Project” had ambitions. Two (or better yet three) superclubs are much better than one. Unfortunately, it hasn’t worked yet.
Many ski enthusiasts will read this column in one form or another. We have hundreds of thousands of them in the country (I don’t believe in millions). I urge you to stop wasting your energy on endless “all is lost” on social media. Your energy will be put to much better use if you join forces and search for, find and convince the people who can change everything for the better. People who have the abilities and skills necessary to develop skiing. In your own specific region. How to do it – let them learn from Tatarstan. I think they will share their experience with them.
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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.
