New Swiss team leader outlines his plan

By Published On: March 28th, 2013Comments Off on New Swiss team leader outlines his plan

Even as the Swiss ski federation announced another change to the coaching staff – Roland Platzer was tabbed to head the women’s program – the freshly appointed Rudi Huber, the head of the entire alpine racing program was saying “We must not turn everything on its head.

The transcript of a Swiss Team interview with Huber follows:

Rudi Huber, you step to the newly created position as head of Alpine. What is the appeal of this task?

The stimulus is a fact of working for Swiss-Ski, in a country where Alpine ski racing is very important and is really lived. On the other hand is also very exciting that my position is new. This allows you to tackle certain things that were until now not possible. It’s about moving something positive. For this to succeed I’m willing to put in a lot of energy.

The Swiss men’s team was in the last winter in the World Cup in a major crisis. Where will you put the first on the lever so that it quickly picks up again?

The first priority is that we analyze the situation fundamentally and comprehensively gather information. I have had a few conversations with athletes and coaches, and will have many more. The aim is to recognize the problems so things can be changed in the system and improved. It does not matter this season is stamped as “bad”. It is much more important to bring in peace and provide stability for the athletes. The athlete must maintain trust and we must believe that what we do is good. Only when the athlete feels that he has the best environment does he succeeds.

What problems have you been able to locate with the athletes?
Quite different. There were some technical problems. Another issue in the mental realm, and yet another is in poor health. We have to get back on the line.

How will you bring this in as chief of Alpine?
It may well be that I peck out individual athletes and talk to them. I’m not as involved in daily operations as the head coach, which would take care of a whole team. I’m going to specifically take time for those individual conversations. Based on my past experience – I know well, what it takes to be an athlete – and then I try to help him or her.

There is a great range of  the junior national team in the ski clubs, spread across three language regions and complex, partly federal structures with their peculiarities. How do you approach this task?

For this, I am going to take a lot of time and a lot of conversations to get an overall picture. I need to understand how the system is ticking and I’m going to catch a lot of opinions and facts. We generally do not have a problem.New talent always comes back from all corners of Switzerland. The career planning or the athlete is a point I would like to address, from the bottom to the top. But this is perhaps not the first project that I take in attack. First we have to see that it runs smoothly at the top again. Then we can have peace and tackle the remaining tasks.

In your first official act you employed Walter Hlebayna as head coach of the men. Why him?
A head coach needs a comprehensive knowledge of all areas. This helps him to understand the whole system.Walter brings 25 years of coaching with the necessary knowledge and experience. He started in Austria at the bottom in the National Association and then worked on all levels, from FIS European Cup over to World Cup stage, both men and women and in several countries.

The transition from good young skier to the top of the World Cup, has been a problem in the past. What do you intend to do there?
I put a lot of hope in Walter Hlebayna. He last worked for some years in Austria precisely at this interface. His task was, among other things, build the racer in the Europa Cup and then to bring him to the World Cup. Hans Flatscher, Walter and I will sit down together so that we can optimize the system here.

Until now, in the context of your long-term goal of commitment always home World Cup 2017 in St. Moritz mentioned. But next year are the Olympic Games. What goals have you set for this winter?

We have to give the top athletes top conditions. The athlete must feel that Swiss-Ski has done everything for him, so that he can win. If we succeed in that the athlete has a clear head, then will come the results. And if that Beat Feuz, Carlo Janka be healthy again, it looks even better again. We will do everything possible to achieve good results even in Sochi, which is self-evident.

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About the Author: Hank McKee

In memoriam: The veteran of the staff, McKee started with Ski Racing in 1980. Over the seasons, he covered virtually every aspect of the sport, from the pro tours to junior racing, freestyle and World Cup alpine competition. He wrote the first national stories for many U.S. team stars, and was still around to report on their retirements. “Longevity has its rewards,” he said, “but it’s a slow process.”