Traveling

Hey folks!

I am afraid that today's entry won't have much to do with the YOG. However, since I am lying here in my bed in a hotel in Innsbruck (yes, that Innsbruck!), being awfully tired and stuffed with food, I can just jot down some thoughts I had for a couple of years. So for you this is one of the rare chances to take a break from the daily routine of reading this blog ;).

When I was a teen and I was thinking about jobs I'd like to have one day (back then, astronaut and professional athlete didn't rank too high on the list any more), I always knew one thing for sure: It has to involve a lot of traveling. Don't ask me why, but for me, nothing spelled success as much as having to go to foreign places to work. And although a lots of things have changed since (e.g. the job I actually have - btw: What IS my job exactly? - and that I'm not a teen any more and thus certain things have become embarrassing) I still feel the same way: The further away a job is, the more attractive it becomes.

Thinking about it a little closer, I guess it's a rather stupid thing. Because after all, you are going to a different place to work, i.e. you got a job that needs to be done, and not for some leisure activities. So when in the past you've been jealous of people telling you that their work leads them around the globe, don't be! They are absolutely right when saying that all they see is the airport, their hotel and the job site. At this point, I might want to point out that I am no expert on these matters, however, I draw the experience I lack from what other people tell me.

I guess that's also the reason why so many people you meet 'on the road' are annoyed about the fact that they spend too little time in their own beds. If you talk to people whose job consists of going around the globe in a little under a week, they usually don't share your excitement about the whole process of moving yourself from one place to another. For them, it's just part of the business. The annoying part that is. I mean, to a certain degree I get their point. If you get older, I guess you start to cherish the simple things in life (your house, your spouse, your kids - in short all the things I don't possess) even more.

However, I take pride in saying that I am still in the phase where having to go away somewhere to work just adds to the overall excitement. I can't explain why, but somewhere in the whole process - from going to the airport to checking in to trying out ridiculously expensive colognes I'm never going to buy - I start to get this special feeling: This feeling that I am out for a new adventure and that I can show my skills in a new part of the world. Maybe it's also just the humbleness that somebody likes my work so much that he/she is willing to invest in airfare and lodging for me. Be it as it may be: I hope that I can conserve the attitude of liking to be on a business trip as long as possible!

Listen to the beat

Hey folks!

As you might have noticed, I decorated this blog with a list of songs I really enjoy. However, instead of making a dull "Top 5 of all time" list, I opted for something more creative and chose things like "Songs I can't get out of my head" (ok, maybe not that creative) or the current "Songs I have to close my eyes when listening to" (which is why they are banned from my car stereo). Btw: Feel free to post categories you'd like to have in the comment box - I think we should have a nice collection of "situational soundstracks" until August!
After this introduction, it's not hard to guess what this blog entry will be about: Music. However, the trickier question will be: What does music have to do with sports?

While at the CEP Seminar in Singapore, one of our first activities was a drumming workshop. At 9AM, all the Young Ambassadors and CEP Champs, a mere 100 people, gathered in the Learning Lounge of the NACLI in Singapore. Suddenly, the door opened and 5 guys with drums entered with a stomping rhythm. They made their way to the stage were they ended in a grand finale. After their epic entry, their leader David addressed us and said: "Guys, at the end of this day, you will be the best Samba band in Singapore". Looking at him in disbelief, we weren't all too convinced that in only an hour, we'd become a real band - let alone the best one in town.

For further description of the Community Drumming, I'd like to refer to US ambassador Erin's excellent blog. She also points out a very important aspect of the drumming workshop. I quote:

"A Samba Band takes different sounds made from different instruments and blends them to make one beautiful product. [...] Whether you are an athlete on a field or court, a student in a classroom, a professional in an office, or a member of a family - you play an important role in the final sound. That team, family, company, or class is not complete without you - make your sound heard.

So what she is aiming at is the incredible team building character the community drumming will have for the young athletes participating in the CEP program. With 3,600 youngsters originating from 205 countries, it goes without saying that there will be plenty of cultures, attitudes, visions and moral standards. However, with music as a catalyst, they will be taken on a common ground and thus be heard as one sound. After all: No matter where you come from, there plenty of things that are universal for not only athletes, but teenagers around the world.

I would like to focus on another aspect of the drumming though. Being Young Ambassadors, we face the challenge to convince athletes that the CEP program will teach them valuable lessons on their way to becoming champions. While this task is rather easy with nutrition and career management workshops, it becomes a little trickier with things such as drumming. "What use should banging on a drum have for my career as a swimmer", will probably be the question asked. The answer is as simple as it might be astonishing: The community drumming is not only a great activity because it boosts team work and intercultural learning, but also because it is actually sportive training!

Let me explain: In sport sciences, their are the so-called coordination abilities. They are basically responsible that we coordinate our limbs and sensory system to work together. Or, put even blunter: Without coordination abilities, we would find ourselves lying on the floor, because we wouldn't be able to integrate our different bodily functions to stand upright. According to sport scientist Zimmermann, there are a total of 7 coordination abilities: ability to connect, differentiate, balance, orientate, react, adapt and, voilà, rhythmize. Let's take the example of our swimmer: When swimming, you need to find a certain rhythm for your strokes to be as efficient as possible (I'm sure my dear colleague Callum Ng could dwell on that ;)).

After the seminar, I was curious, so I talked to one of my coaching instructors, a certified sport scientist and coach. And he confirmed what I thought from the beginning: "Rhythmic activities, even if they are happening outside a sports setting such as drumming, are a perfect training for your ability to rhythmize. After some training, your feeling for the drum rhythm will automatically improve your abilities to rhythmize in sports."
I think that this is a crucial point for our work as Young Ambassadors: If we can demonstrate to our athletes that the CEP activities will not only contribute to their holistic development as humans (which is of course very important), but also improve their skills as athletes, they'll be more than eager to join in. And after what we have seen now, even activities that, on the first glance, have nothing to do with sports such as drumming, can actually be as important as a good work-out in the gym. Although I am sure that the latter can never be as much fun as being part of the best Samba band in Singapore!

Million Deeds Challenge

Hey folks!

After some digression in my recent blog entries, I'd today like to talk about a - in my book - very cool initiative to promote the Games in Singapore and thus the YOG as a whole. It is called Million Deeds Challenge and can be described as a virtual torch run to bring the Olympic Flame from Olympia in Greece all the way to Singapore - a distance of 9,236 km as Google maps just told me. So if you are currently sitting in Olympia, you might as well get started now.

As the name indicates, the Million Deeds Challenge seeks to collect one million deeds of Friendship, Excellence and Respect from people from all over the world. Every single deed brings the Olympic Flame a little closer to its final destination in Singapore. The idea for this program came from a group of students of the Holy Innocents High School - another example that you don't have to have your PhD to have great and visionary ideas!

Participating in the Million Deeds Challenge is dead easy. You just need an account (which will be valid for the whole Why Oh Gee universe!), a good deed (well, maybe that's the tricky part) and you are good to go. And the best thing: You don't need to set a new 100m world record or save your grandmother from a burning house (although I was told those are accepted as well). It's, as always in life, the little things that count: Giving a smile and saying thank you, give somebody your seat on the bus or getting an A on an exam (ok, that's not that easy after all). The only 'catch' there is: You are not allowed to post the same deed twice or more.

At the moment, a total of 53,000 deeds have been posted, so we'll need another 947,000 to get the Flame to Singapore in time. Right now, it's stuck somewhere between Iceland and Great Britain, waiting to continue its journey to the rest of the world. So please people: It's easy, it's fun and it's most definitely a good cause, so just join in and post your deeds on the Million Deeds Challenge's website. I'll set a good example and will from now on post one good deed a day (Being a former boy scout, this should be a piece of cake!). Ok, now I am off to do the dishes...I need some material to get me started after all.

What's the worst that could happen?

Hey folks!

For me, one of the biggest differences between the Olympic Games and 'ordinary' world championships has always been that the Olympics seemed to stand for something more. It was this mysterious universe of traditions, rituals, myths and the like. It was where heroes were created in the competitions and plenty of times also outside. Being Austrian, I feel obliged to take Hermann Maier as an example. Two days after his terrible crash in the downhill race, instead of being dead, he was back up on his feet and won two gold medals in Super G and Giant Slalom.

Having witnessed countless examples of mind winning over matter, David kicking Goliath's bottom, I've always been a big fan of inspirational stories. Although they might have been on a smaller scale than the Olympics (well, they most definitely were actually), I think they are still worth sharing here on this blog with you. So in the course of the next months, I will pick out some of the stories I like best to present to you. Today, I would like to start with the story of Thomas Geierspichler, a 2-times Olympic champion, who competed in three Paralympics so far.

Thomas gave a speech in my hometown in February. And
what seemed like a boring PR obligation (a sponsor invited us to go there) at first, soon turned out to be a very valuable lesson. His story in a nutshell: Thomas had an accident at the age of 17, leaving him paralyzed from the hip down. First, he couldn't cope with his fate and tuned into alcohol and drugs. However, soon he realized that this will only destroy him and with the help of this faith in God, he overcame his addictions.

One evening, while working out, he was watching a broadcast of the Paralympics, I think it was in Atlanta 1996. He watched the award ceremony, with all the athletes on the podium and the national anthem of the winner playing. And at this moment, he thought:

"One day, I would love to hear the National Anthem being played for me."

So Thomas continued working out and started to compete on a professional level. And finally, after having won two medals in Sydney, he fulfilled his dream and won the 1500m race in Athens. Nowadays, Thomas is still active and continues to win races and break world records all over the world.

Towards the end of his speech, when it was time for some questions and answers, of course somebody asked him, where his incredible perseverance and will power came from. And this is the part that really opened my eyes and made me see a lot of things in a completely different light since. He replied:

"You know, I fully believe that one day, I will be able to walk again. So everything I do is meant to lead me to this beautiful day when I can walk again. And I am not afraid at all. And you know why? Because what is the worst thing that could happen to me? The worst thing that could happen is that many years from now, as I lie dying in my bed, I could realize: 'I was wrong - I can't walk'. And believe me: There are definitely worse things than being wrong."

I just really love this story, not only because he still stays optimistic and fights on despite all the stuff that has happened to him. I also believe that his thoughts are very, very smart. Because, he is right: In many cases, the worst thing that could actually happen to us is that we are wrong. And I agree: There are definitely worse things than that!


Note: All pictures © Thomas Geierspichler. Please click on the pictures for more information. No copyright infringement meant!

It's emotional addiction

Hey folks!

Wow, not even a week of blogging and I'm already running out of ideas. No, just kidding, I just thought that today, I'll throw in a little something about myself so you actually know the guy sacrificing his sleep to promote the Olympic Values ;) Don't worry, I don't want to give you a blow-by-blow account of what I've done in life from the day I was born until today. Over the next couple of month, I'll rather pick out a couple of episodes I think were important on my way or that at least I find entertaining to remember. For a start, I feel obliged to write about the topic that probably had the biggest impact anything ever had on me in my life: Playing (team) handball.

Handball, or team handball as it is called in the United States, is a sport mainly played in Europe. It consists of six players on the field and one goal keeper. Apart from that, each team has another 7 players and up to 4 officials on the bench. Substitution is like in basketball, i.e. unlimited and substituted players can re-join the game. When describing the sport, I usually draw comparisons to other sports: The underlying principle is, like in soccer/football, to score a goal. However, as the name indicates, we take the ball in our hands like basketball players, only that the ball is small enough to be held comfortably in your hand. And unlike basketball, the physical contact is more intense (Not as bad as rugby, however sometimes things can get really messy). I found this nice video, uploaded by Manchester Handball Club to give you a little illustration.

I was introduced to handball at the age of 7 by my dad, who was a former Austrian national team left wing. He was also my first coach until I was about 13 years old. Since I am left handed, I played my entire career as a right wing, which is the far right position on the field (And thus being left handed gives you a better shooting angle). I remember that I was only mediocre at best at this time and thought about quitting several times. However, instead I talked to my dad (he wasn't my coach any more back then) if he would give me some extra lessons outside of regular practice. So he taught me some moves for my position and worked on my 1-on-1 skills. Over the time, I got much better and was eventually nominated to play on the Lower Austrian state team.

Until I reached the age of 18, my teams won several youth championships with one third place and one runner-up at the Austrian Championships. Funny enough, I got more runner ups than wins in the Lower Austrian Championships, but that's a different story. In addition, in my last season with the adults team, we won the Lower Austrian championship and the League Cup. It was my last season because I was already 19 and it was time to go to college. Since college was 450 km away, I signed up with a team there. And since the only team in the area was first league, I took up the challenge.

Playing first league was an experience I don't want to miss in a thousand years, although the credit side remained rather empty: I hardly ever played on the first team and in the whole season, I scored two goals (A good player has an average of ~7 goals...per match!). Still, in this one season, I really learned what it means to work hard for a goal and constantly push yourself to keep going. Usually, I would have classes all day and at 5pm take a two hours train ride to practice, work my bottom off for 2 hours and go 2 hours back, where my homework was comfortably waiting for me. So after a year of this, I hope you get how happy I was the day I scored my first, and only, two goals in the first league.

After that season, I ended my career. Not because it was too tough, but rather because I had to decide between playing handball and focusing on my studies. I admit, handball was, still is and probably will always be the biggest passion of my life. Yet I knew that if I continued playing it, many other dreams and visions I have in life would be left behind. And although I quit playing, handball is still a vital part of my life. At the moment, I'm working as a project manager for my old club and I started training to be a coach as well. And the funny thing is that nowadays, I get the same feeling of satisfaction I used to get when playing a good match when signing another sponsoring deal or seeing a youngster performing a trick I taught him. So I guess even though I thought the day I'll quit playing will mark the end of my life, it is eventually only a question of perspective. After all, sports is much, much more than just being physically active.

Yes we can!

Hey folks!

Since picking up somebody else's posts and elaborating or commenting on them is a vital part of blogging, I thought that today I'll add my two cents to the excellent video blog Callum Ng posted a couple of days ago. As Callum used to study philosophy, I won't dare to try matching with him intellectually. All I can offer is my own interpretation of the stuff he says.

Basically, in his blog Callum advances the view that our lives, through our collective experiences, will add up to something great. This means that, I quote by memory, success is nothing else but the outcome of our collective experiences, combined to form something great. In the end, this knowledge that our experiences are all interlaced and can add up to make a difference in this world, should make everybody happy and satisfied.

I think this blog addresses a very important thing: That, by believing in ourselves, we can use our experiences (which I interpret as an umbrella term for our knowledge, skills and in some cases even wisdom) to make something great. Whatever this great something might be depends, since success is a very subjective term, but I don't want to focus too much on that. I can only concur with Callum, because I think you don't have to be Einstein or Obama to make a change in this world.

In the first entry of this blog, I wrote as a metaphor for going to Singapore: "Imagine you live in a nice country, where nobody dares to dream as big as you do." This country was of course my own Austria. I don't know how much you know about us folks (I'm already flabbergasted if you know we don't have too many kangaroos hoping around the mountains), but Austrians tend to be rather static. If something has worked for 50 years, there is no need to change it - even if it has never actually worked, but we rather got used to it. That's also why I deeply enjoyed Callum's blog, because he dares to proclaim: "My life will add up to something great." Where I come from, a similar exclamation would hands down earn you the "Arrogant Bastard of the Year Award".

I know that there are many charlatans out there making a fortune by giving you sweet pep talks (btw: Is there anybody out there sharing my admiration for Joel Osteen??). But to a certain degree, they are right. You can achieve everything you want to, if you just believe in yourself.
And I also think that with an extraordinary group like the Young Ambassadors and CEP Champs are, with so many great experiences, we can add up to something really great. I guess all we need to do this is actually believe in ourselves and dare to be great.

I guess there will be many entries following on the topic of being successful, believing in oneself and making a difference in this world. Until then, I'd like to hear your thoughts on the issue. Do you think that 'ordinary' people like us can really add up to something great and make a difference out there?

Friendship, Excellence and Respect

Hey folks!

As promised yesterday, I am going to tell you something about the Olympic Values today. Also like I mentioned yesterday, most people thought of things like "no doping", "no racism" or "fair play" to be the Olympic values. (One guy really impressed me by throwing in "Citius, Altius, Fortius" which is Latin for "Faster, Higher, Stronger". I should really have paid more attention in my Latin classes!).
However, while fair play and the complete absence of racism and doping are of course underlying principles for every athletes, they are rather an expression of the Olympic Values. Let me explain:

When being introduced to all the amazing CEP activities Singapore has in store for the young athletes, most of them were designed around the Olympic Values. The basic scheme is that athletes will do an activity focused around one or several values to illustrate to them, which influence the Olympic Values can have on his career and his life. So as I said before, they are the base for attitudes like fair play or no doping to emerge. For example, if you know that excellence can not be achieved with performance-enhancing substances, you are hopefully less likely to do doping. And if you realize that a true champion is not only made out of excellence, but also friendship and respect, you'll also understand the importance of fair play and the like.

Talking about champions: When giving presentations in my old high-school, I used this example which I like very much. I told them a story about two athletes (Out of courtesy, I shall not mention their names). One athlete has won everything there is to win in his sport, however, he was also very much respected among other athletes and a very nice guy. The other one was also a very gifted athletes, however, he was a loner and nobody really liked him as he only cared about being successful. Turned out that the two guys were on the same team in a competition and the latter one won. Being a rather extroverted personality, he proclaimed that he is now the greatest athlete in his sport. The other one of course heard this and hence said the following sentence:

"Dude, you might be a winner, but you are NOT a champion."

What at first glance seems like only a semantic difference, is actually a huge difference in real life. It means that you might win a competition and be a successful person, however, this does not mean that you are a champion. Because it takes a champion to show Excellence (winning competitions), Friendship (being friends with your team mates and even opponents) and Respect (respect and be respected by others). Of course this is a big difference, because success and medals will soon fade and put on some dust. However, being a champion is something that stays with you for all your life, no matter what you do.

And you know what? I think that's true. Because for me, you don't have to be a person like Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps to be a champion. Actually, you don't even need to be an athlete to be a champion. Let's face it: For every athlete winning an Olympic Medal, there are 100s, probably 1000s that didn't get as far. However, you might be a musician, an author, an engineer or just an ordinary guy - as long as you shape your life by Excellence, Friendship and Respect, you have all the chances you need to become a true champion.
So when the YOG will unite 3,600 young athletes from all over the globe in Singapore, the goal is clear: To teach them the values they need to become true champions - be it as an athlete or whatever it is they want to be!


NOTE: Pictures 1,3+4 © SYOGOC, picture 2 © IOC. Please click on the pictures for further information. No copyright infringement meant!