Grüna ski jumpers with an exciting start to the new year

WSV Grüna

The new year got off to a promising start for the Grüna Winter Sports Club (WSV). The club from Chemnitz was honoured with the Saxon Young Talent Award as the talent support centre of the year at the sports gala in Dresden. An honour that the ski jumpers also owe to their chairman Jochen Dickert, who passed away last year. Together, they have rebuilt the club over the past 25 years. On behalf of the entire WSV Grüna club, coach Elizabeth Guth and interim club boss Frank Albrecht accepted the honour as our #MakersoftheWeek.

How would you make ski jumping appealing to an undecided 6-year-old child? Given the wide range of sports on offer, ski jumping is more of a fringe sport?
Frank Albrecht: Ski jumping is a fringe sport. Our greatest success in promoting our sport is when parents come to our ski jumps with their children and watch our athletes training. We then approach the parents and children and offer them the opportunity to experience a sporting education with a wide range of training programmes. We always train on Wednesdays in the Grüna sports hall and at weekends on our four ski jumps. We also offer them the opportunity to learn how to ski with us. Whether they become jumpers or not depends on how the children like it here and whether they have the courage to jump.
Elizabeth Guth: The children can come and watch us at any time and try things out for themselves. During athletics training in the hall, there are often children who want to train with us. Whether they then come to the hill to train is another matter. The new young ski jumpers first take their time skiing downhill on alpine skis.

Skiing is more or less the basis before you start jumping?
Frank Albrecht: Yes. We want the children to get a feel for speed and the technical nuances of skiing. These are the basics before they go on the jump.
Elizabeth Guth: On the small hills, they first learn the individual elements, which they then put together...
Frank Albrecht:...until it becomes a jump

When are you too old for ski jumping?
Frank Albrecht : You're never too old. There are competition systems in Germany where children start at the age of seven or eight. You need good training to be able to let them compete there. Some children start with us at the age of four in the gym with "dry runs" and then on short skis in the snow or on mats in the summer.
Because the age was just mentioned - we have a curiosity: a father, a club member for two years, started learning ski jumping last year at the age of 44. Because his daughter jumps with us, he wanted to give it a try. He now jumps on the large hill and competes in senior competitions. We've never had anyone start with us at the age of 44 before.

What fascinates you about ski jumping?
Elizabeth Guth: Not everyone does it. Telling kindergarten and school that you do ski jumping makes for surprised faces. No one else has done it besides you. The advantages of ski jumping: You're always outdoors in nature. And it's just so much fun.

Elizabeth Guth has been a ski jumper in the club since she was a child. When she gave up ski jumping two years ago, she wanted to stay loyal to the club and pass on what she had learnt to the next generation. She trained as a coach and, at just 17 years old, is now the youngest and first female ski jumping coach.

Is Chemnitz a good place for ski jumping? Does it have a tradition?
Frank Albrecht: Ski jumping has existed in Grüna since 1948, when the club was founded by 20 men. They got together in the "Zum Hirsch" restaurant on 6 February 1948 and founded the club. Our long-standing chairman Jochen Dickert played a leading role. He organised ski jumping in Grüna from the early days until last year. What we have become now is mainly thanks to him.
Elizabeth Guth: We are the only ski jumping club in Chemnitz. That makes it a great address. We are really proud of the successes that WSV Grüna has achieved.

How do you recruit young talent at the club?
Frank Albrecht: There are over 200 sports clubs in the city and there is a wide range of choice for children. We in Grüna have a large handball and football club ourselves. Once they start, the children stay. That's the right thing to do. They have to do sport, no matter what kind.
Elizabeth Guth: The kindergarten comes to the Gussgrundschanzen once a year and watches the training. That's how we sometimes manage to get one or two children interested in ski jumping.
Frank Albrecht: We try to organise an annual winter sports festival with kindergartens. But unfortunately the snow conditions are not always favourable. We've only been able to organise it twice so far. There are always points of contact with the Grüna kindergarten, so every now and then a child finds its way here.

The ski training centre was established here in Grüna in 1965. Back then, we trained children in Nordic combined, cross-country skiing and specialised ski jumping. There were 50 children who trained four to five times a week, we had full-time instructors, trainers and a ski jump manager. That went on until the fall of communism and then it all collapsed. The new sports that came onto the market after reunification, such as taekwondo, meant that we had quite a drop-off. We then continued with two or three children and are now approaching 40 children as a club. With eight instructors, we are well organised. Last year, Elizabeth and Jens Frischmann completed their training as coaches with the city sports association and we are very happy with that.

Is the Saxon Youth Club of the Year award a reward, an incentive, a nice side effect or rather a waste of time?
Frank Albrecht: The fact that everything we do is run on a voluntary basis and everyone has a job, but still takes the time to be on the hill on Saturdays and Sundays at the weekend, makes this award something very special.
Elizabeth Guth: This award, the Saxon Young Talent Award, makes us proud and is a further incentive for our actions.
Frank Albrecht: We would like to take this opportunity to thank the sports fans who made this possible. To those who nominated us and to the jury who ultimately awarded us the prize. I would also like to thank all the members of the club, coaches, trainers, referees and parents who are so committed to their children.
That's what sets us apart, we stick together. Even the old members, who founded the club and are well into their 70s and 80s, are still loyal to us. The night jump in September is our club highlight. We organised it for the 25th time last year. The six weeks of preparation are very intensive, but we can see that this event is very well received. We had over 50 jumpers as guests this year. Together with the helpers and sponsors, it's a great job. Many thanks to all those involved.

Do the jumpers at your events come from all over Germany?
Frank Albrecht: We invite many clubs. It doesn't always fit into every club's competition calendar. It's an evening event that goes on until after 9 pm. We have jumpers from all over Saxony, from Lauscha in Thuringia, Rothenburg in Saxony-Anhalt, Bavaria and so on. That's sometimes a 200 km journey.

Is Chemnitz a sports city for you?
Elizabeth Guth: Yes, there are many things. It starts with football. Then there are the Niners, Matthias Steiner used to be...
Frank Albrecht: Over 200 sports clubs are registered with the Chemnitz City Sports Association, and there are many sporting figureheads there, such as swimmers, weightlifters or the gymnasts in Altendorf.
Elizabeth Guth: Chemnitz actually offers something of everything and for everyone.

What do you show friends or family when they visit you?
Frank Albrecht: Chemnitz is a city of modernity. There is one big thing, that is the CFC. They're getting a new stadium, they're trying to make it into the second Bundesliga. That would be a great thing. In Rabenstein there are the rock domes. You can go to the Rabenstein reservoir in the summer. And so on. There are also many beautiful places to visit around Chemnitz.

Does everyone in Chemnitz know that there is a ski jump here?
Frank Albrecht: Many people definitely don't know that. There are people from Reichenbrand who say "What, there are ski jumps here? Where are they?" So we're in the papers from time to time. But not everyone knows where the ski jumps are hidden. Which gives us a bit of food for thought about the whole thing: When we get the first snow here, everyone goes sledging like mad. Unfortunately, some people destroy our prepared sports facilities. We put a lot of work and effort into preparing the jumps for snow training, then the sledgers dismantle the barriers and drive down the outrun.

The last question: But do you have to encourage the people of Chemnitz?
Frank Albrecht: A lot is being done in Chemnitz. There are always problem areas. Whether it's the Brühl - many people are sitting around the table and trying to upgrade the area. There are neighbourhood festivals. I would like to say that the city is already alive. What bothers me a bit is the potential for violence that surrounds football. The clubs don't deserve that. In addition to the sports fans who go there as spectators and cheer on their teams, there are also some who contribute to unsavoury scenes.
Elizabeth Guth: It's difficult. I hope that the offers that are available in Chemnitz will be taken up.