Chemnitz club honoured for its work with young talent

Harald Harnisch

The month of October will not soon be forgotten by those responsible at the Eisschnelllauf-Club Chemnitz e.V. (ECC). For the second time since 2009, they were honoured with the Green Ribbon for exemplary talent development and youth work. A lot of sweat went into this honour in the years before. "Recruiting young talent is hard work," reveals Harald Harnisch. The 37-year-old state coach from Saxony is representative of the club's work with young talent and provides insights into the talent factory that is the ice skating club, the fascination of ice and the competition with the ball.

How would you make speed skating appealing to an undecided 6-year-old child?
Harald Harnisch: Firstly, that we can train very diversely throughout the year. In the winter months, the focus is clearly on the ice. But in summer we switch to inline skates, for example. We do playful training with the young athletes or we also incorporate athletics and aerobics components. Variety and the joy of sport are at the forefront of what we do and not just: "We have to skate across the ice really fast now." That comes naturally.

What do you find so fascinating about speed skating?
The speed at which you skate across the ice and the fact that it is an outdoor sport that is practised in all weathers.

Is Chemnitz a good place for speed skating?
The sport has a long tradition here. And the successful athletes who train in the club make that clear. You have to realise that they don't always train here in the Küchwald, but more in speed skating halls such as Berlin, Erfurt or Inzell. But they have grown up here and show that it is possible. Our current young talent is on a very good path. We can't rest on our laurels, but we are certainly satisfied. Our goal is to get new children interested in the sport and the club every year.

Two thirds of the current 170 members are children and young people. The ECC attaches great importance to youth development and this is the club's main focus. Currently 25 squad athletes from all age groups are justification enough for the award and at the same time an incentive to keep going. Pascal Korb, Noel Müller and Kristin Meyer finished in the top ten at last year's European Junior Championships and Alexej Baumgartner, another home-grown athlete, competed at the Winter Olympics.

How do you recruit young talent at the club?
We put a lot of effort into it: countless hours at sightings in school ice skating for the third and fourth grades, kindergarten projects and public ice skating.

School ice skating - is it a compulsory subject at primary schools like swimming?
Not all schools take part. But the majority of primary schools in Chemnitz come to the speed skating rink once a week and do their skating lessons here. They have their own teacher, but we are allowed to attend these lessons and scrutinise them. We then pick up on this and offer taster sessions and recommend further offers such as training sessions or even the step to a sports school to talented kids or kids who simply enjoy ice skating.

Is speed skating a professional sport at Chemnitz sports schools?
We have the opportunity to teach speed skating to children at secondary schools and grammar schools in the city. Here they have two/three times a week of professional sport at school and twice a week in the club. The eleven-year-old, for example, trains four/five times a week.

Is it difficult to persuade children to take up ice skating from the wide range of sports on offer?
We won't reach the classic boy who likes to play with the ball. But not every boy can play football. That's why we make excellent use of the opportunities we have. If the children are keen on sport and enjoy exercise, then they are welcome to come and join us.

Is it sometimes more difficult to convince the parents?
We are dependent on the parents. They have to bring the children to us at that age. But when the parents see the effort we put in here and see the children's happy faces after an hour of training, they are usually convinced.

Do you also offer development opportunities to socially disadvantaged talents?
When we start training the children, the aim is to get them onto the "long blades" - the classic skate. These cost several hundred euros to buy new. And logically, the shoes grow with the feet. This means that you need a pair. We have several sponsored skates in the club every year, which we make available. These benefit talented children from families where we realise from the outset that it will be difficult to keep them in the club due to the financial burden.

With the great effort involved in recruiting young talent, you also need some coaches and trainers.
With the many young athletes and the good support we want to offer, it doesn't help for a coach/trainer to have twenty athletes in a group. They don't learn anything. We'd rather have two or three groups or two or three coaches present during a training session to compensate for the performance gap. This is where we reach our staffing limits. That's why we're looking for young, dynamic people who can make time twice a week. They don't have to be born speed skaters. Because our training is so varied that we also like to integrate other sports and are therefore looking for people who enjoy sport and working with children. Sports students from the Technical University are also very welcome. They can, for example, squeeze in an athletics session.

The Green Ribbon award: is it a reward, an incentive, a nice side effect or more of a waste of time?
It's nice to see that our activities are recognised. Internally, we are sure that we are on the right track with the work we are doing with young talent. But such an award is of course an external confirmation of this and therefore also makes us proud. However, this does not mean that we are resting on our laurels. Quite the opposite: we will continue.

The Dresden native has been working in Chemnitz for four years. "For the first three of those years, I was employed directly by Eisschnelllauf-Club Chemnitz e.V. and since July last year, I've been the state coach for Saxony." A successful speed skater himself in his youth ("I didn't quite make it to the top level"), he now coordinates and supports the speed skating clubs in Dresden, Mylau, Crimmitschau and Chemnitz. "As I'm based here, I train with Chemnitz athletes from the speed skating club."

Why did you come to Chemnitz?
It may sound very boring, but Chemnitz made the transition to working life seamless after my studies. I would have gone anywhere to turn my love of sport into a career. And here I was able to start as a coach in the youth sector.

Is Chemnitz a sports city for you?
That's a difficult question. I think it is a sports city, but if we're not careful, it will lose that character. There are several sports that are successfully practised in Chemnitz. Athletes sometimes qualify for the Olympic Games here. We have to keep at it to ensure that the conditions we have are maintained and expanded so that we can then say that we are a city of sport.

What is your impression after four years in Chemnitz? Did friends look at you questioningly when you told them about your new centre of life?
(laughs). Yes, they really did ask why Chemnitz. But as I mentioned before, there was a purely pragmatic reason. I could earn a living with my favourite sport. Passing on what I'm relatively good at, combined with a relevant degree, is the greatest thing that can happen to you. Chemnitz and the speed skating club gave me this opportunity and I am very grateful for that. It was a good decision because I was given the opportunity to build up a lot here. The conditions were good and I was in the right place at the right time with the new paths we took.

What do you show friends or family when they visit you?
I'm also travelling a lot due to sport, so I'm still getting to know the city. But I've already grown fond of the classic spots, like the city centre.

As a Chemnitz resident by choice, the last question is perhaps not so easy to answer. But do you have to encourage the people of Chemnitz?
I would answer it more generally: we have to encourage ourselves again and again. After the short time I've lived here, I don't know whether the people of Chemnitz need a lot of encouragement.