SYou found out in October when, as always, they stretched after training. Danny Leger then told his athletes that he would probably no longer be their coach. “At that moment we all said: Uff, that would mean a hole for us,” says Jeremias Marx on the phone. The speed skater is one of four who questioned the end of their coach in an open letter on Monday. Until the end of the year Leger worked as a national sprint trainer for the German Speed Skating and Short Track Association (DESG).
World Cup eighth Joel Dufter and Hendrik Dombek, Stefan Emele and Marx have teamed up to say what many athletes don’t dare to say. In an open letter, they primarily criticize the lack of, as it were, non-existent communication with the DESG – and thus also with its President Matthias Große. The Berliner got into speed skating through his connection with Claudia Pechstein.
No answers from DESG
We hear from athletes, employees and former employees: The association presents itself as open on the outside, but on the inside it looks completely different. Athletes spokesman Moritz Geisreiter, for example, is openly denigrated by the association. “Nobody has to fear anything when they talk to us,” said Große in a balance sheet of the first six months of his presidency. “This fairy tale, introduced now and then by the athletes’ spokesman, is something we hear with great, great discomfort.”
Several former coaches report that they do not get any answers to inquiries and messages. This was also experienced by the sprint team, which on December 15th asked DESG for an interview by email. On December 21st, they followed up with a second, more detailed email in which they explained their concern: “The reason why we are now contacting you directly is that we all see our future as a sporting activity in great danger. We were not shown any concept of the association in which we will train from 01.01.2021. It is also questionable who our trainer will be. ”The mail was also sent to the Bundeswehr, the employer of the four sports soldiers, who responded immediately and informed the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB). He did not react, says Hendrik Dombek.
What is the plan of the Great?
In mid-December, athletes spokesman Geisreiter complained that many athletes were insecure but did not dare to speak publicly. Somebody has to start to make a difference, says Marx now. And there was hope: Maybe it will still go with “Danny” to the Olympics. It won’t be long until then. A coach change so shortly before the Olympic Games is at least unusual. Many wonder: what kind of plan is the great one pursuing? He himself repeatedly speaks of a tough “restructuring” of the association. Leger’s case is not an isolated one. Nine positions are advertised on the DESG website – many of the trainer’s contracts were not renewed when they expired at the end of the year. On Wednesday, treasurer Marina Wunderlich also announced her resignation.
How do turbulence and uncertainty affect the athletes? “Every coach has a different tactic, instinct, and builds you up mentally. A person I have trust in is no longer available, ”says Stefan Emele. Every trainer has a different philosophy, a different feeling for the technique that is so important in speed skating, says Marx. “The most important thing is that we are focused in the competitions and not buzz through our heads: How will the association go on? What does my sporting future look like? ”Says Emele. “I was three weeks before my most important competition, the European Championship this weekend, and I wouldn’t have had a training plan if Danny hadn’t jumped in again,” says Dombek.
We hear from athletes and coaches that what counts is what is most important for sport: how the athletes are doing. Dombek was told that “what you have signed does not go down well”. Team boss Helge Jasch let the athletes know on Wednesday that the presidium considered their statements to be damaging to the association; they have to reckon with consequences. “We weren’t really spoken to now either,” says Dombek. “Criticism is ignored.” Perhaps there could be a head of the association, he fears, when it comes to the nominations – hopefully not before the Olympics.
Grosse told the German Press Agency on Wednesday: “I can’t remember that football professionals in the Bundesliga have ever publicly complained in this form when a coach was taken away from them.” Football coaches are mostly fired when their team has one shows poor performance. However, a former coach reports that the president told him there were no technical reasons for the dismissal. The athletes’ performance was not bad. This also applies to Danny Leger’s sprint team; they all say that they have improved significantly through training.
On the phone, Matthias Große did not want to speak in detail to the FAZ and referred to a later date. “The Presidium will respond adequately to the statutes,” he said simply. “This way of doing things will have consequences.” The athletes, says Dombek, understand this as an attempt to intimidate. Your new trainer will be introduced on January 22nd.
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