Opportunities

        Confession time. When I choose mister Hans Frick to be my coach I did not know who he was, what he has done, what he can do. I said to myself he is a good guy and I should give it a go. So I found out in the last 2 months and a half all I wanted to know about him. I bow my head to him and say I could have not make a better decision. For sure, by far. He is a very passionate man about skiing and is interested about getting results, making something out of nothing. Take me for instance. What top Austrian coach would take a 23 year old Romanian guy who has no skiing technique whatsoever and knows less about true skiing than a Austrian 15 year old, to try to get with him one day in the World Cup?  With money not important? I cannot stress this enough. How extremely lucky I am Hans and Georg accepted me into their team and offer me conditions I am sure no Romanian had in a really long time. Except Dan Cristea, maybe not ever. For instance take the days of 9-10 December. First time in my life I got up the mountain at night. I was in the gondola and it was night outside. Why, you ask? Because I had the immense privilege to be training alongside the Austrian European Cup team (second team of Austria) in a Super-G course in beautiful Raiteralm. Closed slope, timing, race suit, the works! Four runs in this course, that’s it. Just four runs you are asking? That’s another thing. I have finally understood what quality training means (one of the things because countries like Romania is where it is in the world of skiing, but more on that later). Some of you are probably wondering what’s the big deal training like this, same conditions as the Austrians. Anyone can do it. WRONG. Almost nobody can do it and that’s the point. If I would not have Hans as a coach I could never get even close to them. Let me give you an example of what I mean in football terms. You play for Steaua Bucharest, you train with FC Barcelona. The immense opportunities appearing right before my skis boast my confidence an awful lot. The times I did in these trainings compared to the best in Austria is also a very good sign of a very good path I started to walk on. I’ve been looking for it, I’ve got on it hoping it is the good one. What do you know…it is better than that. Now it is truly the time to embrace that famous saying of my favorite football club. Walk on…and You’ll Never Walk Alone.