Young gifted sportsmen from all over Europe – Germany, France, Finland, Spain, Russia, Estonia, Lithuania, Belarus and Latvia – arrived for the training to the capital of Latvia.
The Tretiak School is a special sport event of the international scale and the only place in the world, where master classes for young sportsmen are held by the outstanding hockey-player, goaltender and coache Vladislav Tretiak. From the time of its foundation and during all eight years of its operation, the school has been supported by Rietumu Bank.
This year, 46 sportsmen, both promising talents and recognised professionals, arrived to Riga for the training. The youngest was 8 and the oldest was 22. Most of the time, the hockey-players stayed in the Inbox ice hall in Piņķi, in the suburbs of Riga. Trainings on ice, dry trainings, theoretical classes, one “fasting day” in Jurmala, with football on the beach and a picnic with pilaff and shashlik in the open air – the young sportsmen had such a tight schedule, that next year coaches promised to think about easing it slightly.
One of the participants of the summer training, recognised young Russian goaltender Igor Shesterkin, arrived to Riga for the second time, “I am well familiar with the chief coach Vladislav Tretiak. The school is very good; it provides a considerable progress. The trainers excellently feel sportsmen and, alongside with developing their available skills, try to give them something new. The entire knowledge I obtain at the training can be at once used in a real game.”
The composition of coaches at the School has practically not changed during the eight years of its operation. At trainings, nine coaches work with young hockey-players on ice – Vladislav Tretiak, Sergey Naumov, Andrejs Žagars, Nikolay Grebnev, Victor Durnov, Gunars Gailis, Edgars Lusiņš, Māris Rozenieks, and now also the coach of goaltenders of youth national teams of Russia Vladimir Kulikov. For him, ten days in the Tretiak School are not only the conduction of trainings, but also a possibility to see and select young professionals for Russian teams.
“A coach for goaltenders is one-of-a-kind profession,” says Andrejs Žagars. “He works with two-three sportsman in a club, and a rare organisation can afford having such a specialist, especially when talking about children and youth clubs. Therefore, sportsmen and their parents are independently looking for goaltender trainings. In this respect, the Tretiak Goaltenders School is a unique platform, a place where every lesson for young hockey-players is virtually worth gold.”
For “throwers”, active hockey-players, the participation in the Tretiak School is a great individual opportunity of starting their preparation for a new season earlier, to work on their shots, refine their skills. Such an opportunity is actively used by Latvian sportsmen from the national team and Dinamo Rīga – Martiņš Karsums, Kristaps Sotnieks, Oskars Bartulis, Artūrs Kulda, Petr Shchastlivy.
“This year we had a very strong senior group,” says Sergey Naumov, recognised Latvian goaltender and coach of the Tretiak School. “For the first time, we had such strong and professional young goaltenders from Russia, winners of world titles, who brought a special drive to the trainings. They were struggling among themselves, and our young trainees got an opportunity of learning not only from the sport legend Vladislav Tretiak, and not only from experienced coaches, but also from their senior colleagues – real professionals. Continuity is very important for the growth of sportsmen, and our school has this unique link between generations.”
On the last day of the school, when young sportsmen took off their uniforms (which, by the way, weighs about 30 kg, and after a training could weigh as much as 40 kg) and turned into common boys, cheerful and sharp-tongued, the awarding ceremony took place. The boys got gifts and diplomas from the hands of the ice-hockey legend Vladislav Tretiak.
When addressing participants of the training, Vladislav Tretiak said, “You took the right decision, when choosing one of the best sports – ice-hockey, which teaches to work in a team, achieve victories, develops fighter’s features of character. I can wish you only one thing – love your profession. Only on this condition, you will be ready to have sleepless nights, train your fingers to the bone, lick your wounds and spit blood. But when you love what you are doing, it is, though not easy, but always great to achieve your goal. And you have your goal – to become the best. Meanwhile, nobody can say whether you will become the best in hockey or in another profession, but I do not doubt that this sport will help you to solve any problems or difficulties and achieve success!”
Kind parting words of the coaches, a tasty cake with the school logo, sincere smiles, firm handshakes and plans for meeting next year – this way the Tretiak Goaltenders School finished its eighth training in Riga. In two years, the school will have its first jubilee, which the school organisers intend to celebrate definitely in Latvia.
Eleonora Gailisha Mass Media and Public Relations
Phone: +371-67020506
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