Leave a situation that from a competitive point of view was at the top. a wonderful reality ... I'm the first to recognize that we can always do better and surely there were many things to improve. I was a point of reference for top-level athletes, some at the top of their potential, others in search of that top. I was lucky enough to be the technician of many, perhaps too many high-level athletes, who grew up with me and who made me grow exponentially as a technician and who quite likely would have brought me towards unexplored heights ... better not to mention those apexes, I care about superstition and I continue to be the biggest fan of these guys. I left others while they began to gain a minimum of awareness of their means and who knows where they can arrive.. Still others I left there at the dawn of their careers and we cross our fingers for their future.
Here’s what I left. I left my heart and a loads of professional achievements and feelings and stuff.
How is it possible to unplug and have to start all over from 0?
How is it possible to reset something that has been build in almost 20 years without the support and help of friends / colleagues? All by myseld it would never have been possible! Thinking only of how many problems my numerous absences due to the endless national and international transfers or internships or camps with the national team. had created in my club sends cold shivers down my back - and this is just a small aspect, avoiding to opening a pandora's box. But the answer is simple: strength and courage, life pushes and forces you to change. and then, again, the support an help of (new) friens / colleagues.
Is it perhaps an exam? Start walking all over again, from those first steps that are so tiring, but also so happy.
I have always considered myself a lucky technician, I was very young or perhaps too young, when I started being the technician of very strong athletes or at least with incredible potential. I use the word technical because I believe that the Maestro is a different figure ... I was too naive and young to understand its meaning. Now I began to glimpse it, but there is still a long way to go to understand its FULL meaning.
Having to start something all over again is an interesting challenge… you thought you already made it, saw yourself approaching the finish line as the winner, but then, all of a sudden.. maybe in the old continent things were going too well and my "the cobra's bite" was diminishing.
I had a long period of adjustment and now I'm starting to see it through- it's not only about fencing, or maybe that is too complex a thing to discuss here, but the flow has begun flowing again .... before it was just a didactic exercise: giving fencing lessons. Now it is returning to be something more, while i get to know my student team. I begin not only to understand them, but to perceive them. Communication is not easy, I am working a lot on my knowledge of the language and they do not always understand me and even more often I don't understand them. But the non-verbal communication is getting stronger and stronger, especially with some of them and the perception that we can do great things together increases day by day.
Maybe that's it, the magic has turned on again. But much stronger and bigger feedback is needed than only feeling. We are eagerly awaiting the start of the competitive season and after a few months driving through it we will know better who and where we are.
In the meantime, i have rediscovered feelings that have been lost for a long while.
The greatest gift (and weapon) we have received lies in the power to desire things and when desire becomes intense enough, it tends to become reality!
Come on folks, let’s get it on and push hard!
Dear Carmine, what a sincere and touching blog post! Thank you for writing that post and opening up your heart! I relocated twice in my life, changed languages and countries, and found new friends and new passions. I want to tell you that change is never an easy thing. But I agree about the courage, excitement, and hard work. These things can bring you high. The sky is the limit! We are very honored to have you on the AFM coaching team, and we have no doubt this collaboration will be a huge success! We will work hard together to make our dreams a reality and achieve our goals. You have many outstanding qualities - professionalism, creativity, ambitions, hard-working attitude,…