For a country with more than 2 million people, success in Slovenia’s game is amazing. He won seven medals in the last Winter Olympics, he has the biggest name in NBA today in Luka Donic, and comes from the world’s best cyclist, Tades Pogakar, i.e. small European nation. Are Slovenia just enjoying a rare generation of gift athletes, or is something else?
Gregor Juraq, a professor at the University of Lajublasna, who specializes in physical fitness and activity, believes that there are many reasons that Slovenia is a great place for young athletes to grow.
“All population is quite fit, and has such a high physical literacy, so they have a lot of knowledge and are quite inspired,” Jurak told DW.
Schools laid the foundation
It all starts in school, where the staff has a lot of qualification. Physical education teachers are required to undergo a five -year specialist training before teaching, much more standard than many other European countries. Slovenia has more physical education classes, and those classes are relative Ellie small, with a maximum of 20 children.
Sports facilities are well developed. Girls are distinguished from boys from sixth grade, which, according to Jurak’s research, improves girls’ Chanas to develop strong physical fitness. The school system works closely with the Sports Club. It makes a great basis in good physical health for all young people.
“Our study revealed that the mother defines the lifestyle of children in the family. And since our mother’s time is physically active – they are among the best in Europe – they are real passing thesis for their children,” Jurak said.
Is the reason for this more impact than the father? “They are the manager of free time. They are holding all the legs of the table in the family,” he explained.
Above all Slofit Program, a national monitoring system for physical and motor development of children. It is used annually at every primary and high school in Slovenia since 1987.
Jurak is the leading researcher on the slofit, and told DW how the data gives parents a chance to inspect their child’s physical development, while teachers can use it to help children who are physically struggling. While mainly a health tool, it can help the parents find opportunities in the local community that are compatible with their child’s fitness levels, as well as help to identify which performances show exceptional ability.
‘Football is so effective’
After its partition from the Formors Yugoslavia in 1991, the national identity of Sports Slovenia, especially became a large part of the Winter Games. The geographical variety of Slovenia – the country has enough green spaces, mountains, hills and flatlands – have played a role in the development of sports. Jurak believes that one of the biggest factors, however, is the fact that football has not taken all oxygen in the room.
“Football is not so effective,” said. “I think one of the bad sides of football, it is so business that they can walk in another game. It’s not true in Slovenia.
“Maybe it is one of the advisors for our young athletes, as they are not exposed to the discovery of high commercialization in early periods, BIS it will also affect them in a real negative way, so when it comes to the symptoms of the personnel.”
Jurak said that the country is trying to stimulate other activities, including Slovenia’s most popular sport, mountaineering. So cycling is popular, but mostly for entertaining rather than the objectives of the competition.
Talent and development
Slovenia is a question of natural ability beyond the structure and landscape. As British cycling magazine RouleurPogacar’s Vo2 Max (rigid exercise tests that determine the maximum amount of oxygen that a person can consume during physical activity) is a surprising 89.4. A tour de France is between 70 and 85 for Peloton Rider. It wonders many whether Pogakara already had gifts, or if it was growing up in Slovenia that made it possible.
For Jurak, the answer is clear: “He is a super talent, but wood is [Pogacar] Do this kind of super talent without this atmosphere? Probably not. ,
Pogkar is on the verge of winning his fourth tour de France. Only four riders have five and 26, a real chance that Slovenian stars can win more than anyone before. Perhaps the largest part of his legacy, however, his success on the bike tells us about talent development, and what it has done for the people of Slovenia.
“In the past, we did not have a high self-set, which I would say, as Slovenians,” Jurak said. “But in the last two decades, through the success of the game now we found, we can compare big nations. So I think this is the major benefit of the success of this game.
“We are a small nation, we are just 2 million, but the success of our game is real from identifying and nooring some athletes within a small pool of children,” he concluded, pointing to examples of both Pogakar and fellow cyclist Primos Rosalik.
Edited by: Chak Penfol
