The Culture and Education Program - Overview

Hey folks,

Let's start first things first by letting me give you a short introduction what the Youth Olympic Games' Culture and Education Program (CEP) is all about. After all, the Young Ambassador Program was designed to promote the CEP to all the athletes participating in the YOG.

During the inaugural YOG in Singapore, the phrase "Giving the champions of tomorrow the skills they need today" was coined. This gives you, in a nutshell, a pretty good idea of what the CEP is all about. Let's just put it this way: Even as a young athlete, you most likely know how to speed down a hill on a pair of skis (Ok, I guess there might be more to skiing than just that. Anyway, you get my point!). However, there might be other things you don't know that well: What kind of food should you eat? How do you combine you sporting career with your schooling? How do you speak in front of a camera without sounding like an utter jerk (if you find that one out, please give me a call!!)? And maybe most importantly: What kind of advice can people that already know what it feels like to make it as an athlete give to you ?

Concerning the speeding down the mountain part, athletes are usually covered pretty well. They got their coaches to teach them the right technique, their physios to keep them fit and some even have the luxury of a psychologist to keep them focused. But what about the questions mentioned above? For all these, the CEP comes into play. The Innsbruck 2012 CEP consists of 6 different activities, covering a total of 5 subjects: Olympism, Well-Being and healthy lifestyle, Skills Development, Expression and Social Responsibility. In those 7 activities, athletes will have opportunity to find answers to all those questions stated above.

All those things are taught via workshops, discussions, interactive lectures and plenty of hands-on activities. No worries, I will put online a detailed description of all the different things to do in Innsbruck at a later date. For the time being, I just want to give you a brief outlook: There are going to be "Chat with Champions" sessions, were athletes can meet Olympians and ask them all the things they want to know. One environmental awareness activity is going to take place on top of the "Nordkette", where the guys can learn more about how to protect the alpine climate. And one of my favourite sessions is definitely going to be the cooking workshop, where athletes can learn how to cook delicious and healthy meals appropriate for their respective sport. Oh yeah, let's not forget the dancing workshop, where the guys can just have a splendid time! Rumor has it that the workshop is going to be led by Mr. Sascha from Russia himself ;)

As you can see, there will be plenty of things going on besides the sporting events. Of course, athletes have limited time at their hand, so they won't be able to attend all the CEP activities there are. However, if they just check out one or two of them, they will already have learnt something that will come in handily in their future career. Besides, I promise that they will have a real blast doing so. But more on that on a later date.

So long,
Flo

R.I.P, Локомотив Яросла́вль

Hey folks,

Originally, I wanted to write about the Youth Olympic Games' Culture and Education Program (CEP) today. However, there are some events in life so tragic that things that seem important at first just don't matter any more. The terrible plane crash of the Yaroslavl ice hockey team is one of them.

Like people all around the world, I was shocked and devastated by the dreadful images. Today I have learned that one of the 44 people killed in the plane crash was our fellow Young Ambassador Olga Salei's uncle. The scope of this tragic event - an entire sports team killed on their way to their opening match - is just too horrifying to be put into words. When realizing that all those people where not only great athletes, but also loving husbands, fathers, sons and relatives, it becomes even more impossible to understand.

My condolences and deepest sympathies go out to all people that have lost loved ones in this tragic incident. I am not sure if anything we say or do can make a difference to those people in such an hour of grief. I just hope that, by standing together, sport fans from all over the world can honor the memory of Lokomotive Yaroslavl and discover that, not only in light of such tragedies, supposedly important things like a game's outcome just don't matter any longer.

Friday Night Lights

Hey folks,

No worries, I have not gone bananas (well, maybe I have...but in any case, that could hardly be called a recent development) - I know that it is actually Saturday today. The reason I picked today's headline - as popular culture geeks will certainly know - is the novel/movie/TV series going by the same name. Basically, all three of them are about high school football somewhere in Texas, where it's all about those shiny lights on a Friday night.

Today, my team will start yet another team handball season. First game of the season is always exciting, since everybody is motivated and ready to go. I just hope that all the hard training we put in (although I was sidelined due to injury for a crucial period of time) will pay off today. So wherever you are guys, please keep your fingers crossed for us.

So long,
Flo

Young Ambassador 2.0

Hey folks,

It was with some guilty surprise that I discovered that the last entry in this blog dates from exactly one year ago. On September 8th, 2010, I blogged - in the aftermath of the mind-blowing, life-changing, memory-waking first ever Youth Olympic Games in Singapore - for the last time. Until today that is!

As you might now, the sequel is ante portas - the first ever Youth Olympic Winter Games are going to take place from January 13th to 22nd in Innsbruck, Austria. Not only is it a source of great pride to have such an exciting event in my home country. I also got the chance to once more be part of the amazing Youth Olympic Team Austria as a Young Ambassador for the Games. I feel both humbled and honored to be given this role once again. Humbled, because I was once again selected to be part of an outstanding group of incredibly talented individuals, speaking of both the Youth Olympic Team Austria and my fellow ambassadors. Honored, because I have now the opportunity to carry on the legacy the first generation of Young Ambassadors created in Singapore. However, I am not saying this because I want to teach the "new" ambassadors what our job is all about. Believe me when I say that they knew more than well what our role is all about from the start.

In the last couple of days, we were invited to Innsbruck for the Young Ambassador seminar. In this series of workshops, discussions and plenty of hands -on activities, we were briefed on our mission in the time before, during and after the Games. For us, this was a great opportunity to see all the activities Innsbruck 2012 has in store for the athletes in it's Culture and Education Program (CEP).

However, apart from the "informative" part, the seminar was also a great way to meet all our fellow ambassadors. We did some very much appreciated venue tours to the usual hotspots (i.e. bars and clubs) and engaged in team building activities that lasted until the early hours of the morning :). Before leaving for Innsbruck, I did not really know what to expect. Of course I knew from experience what a great event the seminar was going to be. I was a little worried, though: "Having already experienced the seminar, could it maybe be less exciting than the first edition?".

I have to admit that I've been wrong quite a few times in my life - but believe me: I do not recall having been THIS WRONG about anything in a long time. The Young Ambassador seminar was again a mind-blowing experience, where I can hardly find the words to describe (which, knowing that I usually don't have a hard time talking, should tell you how great it actually was). The organization was just brilliant (special shout out to Verena, Anni and their volunteers for doing a tremendous job) and we were taken care of very well. However, there are 32 other good reasons why the last couple of days were so outstanding: The 32 Young Ambassadors, coming to Innsbruck from all over the world to contribute to the Games in 2012. I know that I might lose some credibility due to my quite inflationary use of superlatives, but believe me when I say: The Young Ambassadors, both in Singapore and in Innsbruck, are part of the most incredible people I have ever met.If you think that I am getting overly sappy talking about them: Just watch the guys in action and see for yourself :).

In the future, I hope that I will manage to put some regular updates on this blog. It's gonna be once again be a mixture between facts on the Games - especially the CEP program that I am responsible for as a Young Ambassador - and some personal thoughts. The blog is going to be in English 90% of times with some French or German maybe thrown in their as well once in a while. Feel free to comment on or share any of my stories.I also hope that I can do a layout relaunch pretty soon, since right now, it kinda looks like some Gothic metal fan page ;). Last but not least, just for the record: This blog is in a first-person, diary-type format and I am not trying to take the role of a journalist (special shout out to Kate :)).

Looking forward to the months ahead and hopefully see you in Innsbruck 2012!

So long,

Flo

Pictures: © Innsbruck 2012, all rights reserved. Click on the pictures for further information!

Winning and Losing?

Hey folks!

After writing about learning from each other and the amazing team spirit in the Youth Olympic Team Austria, I'd like to write something that has not yet fully landed in peoples' heads. I will pick up the topic of the YOG and media Fergus has started earlier. However, instead of turning it into a more global issue, I would like to take a different approach and describe it "from the inside". Because after all, I think that the inaugural YOG in Singapore did a far too great job as to be covered by the same approaches as the traditional Games.

One of Ferg's key point was that no story of the YOG seemed to be complete if it was not about a shiny piece of metal dangling from somebody's neck. To a certain point, that's fair play - after all, we are talking about sports and even though it should not only be about winning, doing better than somebody else is just the crucial element. However, it was definitely a disappointment to see that the media would just apply the same techniques, e.g. in storytelling, they use with every other major sports event, including the traditional Olympics. And that's a pity! Because, although being not the only player in this, the media for me is a crucial factor in reducing the image of sports to glorious winners and beaten losers.

Our Youth Olympic Team Austria accumulated a total of 6 medals - I think that's an incredible number for 16 athletes. And I can guarantee you: The atmosphere, as also described yesterday, was always filled with excitement when one of our guys or girls won a medal. First of all, we were of course really happy that one of our team mates, one of our friends, did so well in his/her competition. And on the other hand, I'd even say that we felt a little proud, because I tend to think that the encouragement and motivation from within the team also amounted a tiny little bit to the success.

However, it would be absolutely wrong to think that the medals were the only events the atmosphere was like this. I vividly remember how excited everybody was about our gymnast reaching the final and becoming an excellent 12th overall. Of course, who would care about becoming 12th in traditional story telling? But not only for us, the achievement our girl made that day was tremendous and definitely worth sharing with the world.

Or take the example of our shooter. He made a stupid mistake in his qualification round - something he told me happens every four years at best. I only heard it from someone else and expected to find him really devastated when coming home to the village at night. Far from it! He said to me: "Yeah, it was a stupid mistake and it's a pity it happened today. But life goes on and I will continue to work hard for the next competition." I think that those are remarkably wise and clever words coming from such a young athlete. And I totally believe that somebody handling a defeat like that would deserve to be reported about!

Those were just two of the countless examples I'd have. Bottom line is that there are so many stories worth telling, aside from the first three ranks. And I think that there is no better ground to take new approaches in journalism and reporting than the YOG. This is in line with something I've already written about in April:

"You might be a winner, but to be a champion, you need to show friendship, excellence and respect."

I am not saying that all the winners are no champions - absolutely not! They are great athletes and they have worked very hard for their success. But please: Let us also read and watch stories about the other champions out there. After all, they are not always marked by shiny objects dangling from their neck...

Team Spirit Austria

Hey folks,

Yesterday, I wrote about the many different things that the people in Team Austria (and I am convinced in other teams as well!) have learned from each other, even outside the CEP's guiding frame. Today, I was looking through some questionnaires we gave our athletes and coaches on the flight back home. We had asked them to share their experience and also to be so kind as to give us permission to use their statements.

The questionnaire had six different phrases that people should complete, e.g. "My favorite moment of the Games was...". And one thing is rather interesting and remarkable about this very question. As you might know, we only had so-called individual sports, i.e. people not competing as a team, in our delegation. However, nearly everybody, both coaches and athletes, completed the phrase as follows:

"My favorite moment of the Games was...supporting and being supported by Team Austria!"

When we were in Singapore, everybody of course had a tight schedule: Going to venues, practicing, going back to the YOV, doing CEP activities, competing...Nonetheless, people would always ask me for tickets to go watch other sports. And although we only had 16 athletes, it was quite often that 10 or even more of us would be at a venue, screaming our lungs out (or maybe that was only me? Anyways!) for our guys. This led to some really memorable situations, like when we handed out Austrian flags to Singaporean school kids and suddenly, the whole block was branded in red-white-red. Or when we went to cheer for our table tennis player, who would later say that being cheered on by us was one of his favorite moments of the Games.

In psychology, there is often a differentiation between intrinsic (from within) and extrinsic (from the outside) motivation. Needless to say, all the athletes going to Singapore are very motivated from within - otherwise they would not be that good. However, I think for every young athlete, it's a very good feeling to know that your talent and achievements are also appreciated by other people. And that your team mates, no matter how busy their schedule is, take a one hour bus ride just to watch you compete.

When I think back of our time in Singapore (which I still do a lot), this is one of the first things that comes to my mind. And it will also be one of the first things we will work on for our Youth Olympic Team Austria in Innsbruck 2012!

Learning from each other

Hey folks,

So approximately one week after our amazing experience in Singapore has ended, I feel ready to write another blog entry. Apart from the usual physical fatigue after such an event (hours were long and sleep was short), I also experienced this kind of mental fatigue. Experts might call it reverse culture shock - the kind of shock you get when you go back to your culture of origin. Anyways, it was just a little bizarre to be back home after the nearly three weeks in Singapore.

In the following updates to this blog, I would like to write about certain things that will live on from the Games. Those might be more global things (speaking of which: Fergus has written a masterpiece on the YOG and media with an excellent capital model!), however, since I can only speak for myself, those might as well be more personal insights. If you allow, I'd like to be selfish and start with one of these stories.

In Singapore, the Austrian delegation comprised of 16 athletes and my job was to promote the Culture and Education Program (CEP) to them. This particularly meant to tell them about the various activities going on, signing them up for stuff taking place outside the village and actively motivating them to get involved. However, over the course of time, it was interesting to see that we initiated our own education program - by teaching and learning from ourselves!

Let me explain: In our team, we had ten girls and six boys competing in 12 different sports. They came from all Austrian regions and all had made different experiences in their lives. Of course, the CEP was a great initiative to teach them things they would maybe not have such an easy access to if it wasn't for the Games. However, I personally believe that they also hugely profited from being together with their peers and learning from them. And although I can't point my finger at it (after all, we are talking about teenagers, who are not too much into openly showing that they have learned something ;)), I could really see that every single one of them has grown during their time in Singapore.

However, it would be foolish to say that only the athletes have learned something. I personally have to admit that I learned a million new things.

• From our shooter, I learned how to take defeat like a real champion.
  
• From our gymnast, I learned what it means to sacrifice, e.g. by controlling your diet, for your sport.
  
• From our canoeist and ringer, I learned how to clench your teeth and go for that medal.
• From our triathlete, I learned that even after taking a gold medal, the next day starts with another training session
• From our sailor, I learned what dedication it takes to make it to the top
  
• And from our rower I learned the importance of mastering foreign languages.

Bottom line is that in only 18 days, we all made so many valuable experiences, from which we can extensively draw in our futures. I already feel the effects: In Singapore, I realized that also in the future, I want to accompany youngsters on their way to sporting excellence. That's way I will work even harder to finish my education and thus be able to, hopefully, help them even more. I also would love to try out rowing, because I think it's a real fascinating sport, not only because of the great abs it gives you. And last but not least, I restarted working out and playing handball. And guess what: It feels good and rewarding. I might would have done these things even without Singapore, however, it would definitely would not have been with the same motivation and satisfaction.

Unfortunately, I can only talk from my personal experience, since I can not look into anybody else's head (yet). However, I am convinced that my athletes will feel similar effects. Maybe not now, in the immediate aftermath. But they will. And they will realize that their experiences from Singapore will tremendously help them in their future. Not only in sports, but with everything they want to achieve in life.