Matjaz Zupan – “Benkovic can do that already this year”
The Slovenian team has been established at the top for many years, but it is still one of the biggest mysteries in the ski jumping circus. It is enough to talk to the coach of the Slovenes once, to make sure of it. Matjaz Zupan is a man, who holds the reins, guiding his charges through the World Cup.
He has soup today 35 lat, and behind 20 years of an active career.
For eight years, the Slovene competed in the World Cup competitions, and his greatest achievement was the second place in the flights in Planica. W 1988 He won a silver medal with the Yugoslav team at the Calgary Olympics.
You can communicate very well with Zupan in German, because in high season 1999/2000 he was still an assistant to the Austrian Heinz Koch, who coached the Slovenians at the time. So at the time he had to, with books and tapes, learn to speak German fluently. It only did him good, because German is still the dominant language in the World Cup.
The Slovenian team has no captain. Zupan has a philosophy, that everyone on the team must be treated equally.
However, the most important jumper for the union is Primoz Peterka, because thanks to his successes, he brought financial benefits intended for work in training. “There's more money in the last two years, enough for training, but unfortunately not for research”, says the coach. The Slovenes have to react to the development of other teams' equipment, and this entails considerable costs.
A particular problem is the conditions for training in the country, where there are almost no ski jumps. In addition, the K-120 facility was damaged by wet heaps, artificial snow, and no jumps yet.
This winter the hill should be ready for jumping. “At least that's what they say”, Zupan smiles. Currently the Slovenes have one hill in their country “mammoth” and two K-85 facilities. “This is a small problem for the national team, but
much bigger for clubs and for juniors.”
The team most often trains on ski jumping hills in Austria: “Villach, Ramsau, Innsbruck, all these places are not far away.” The problem is the situation of the players, because the state also supports the work of others, who are successful. Handball
and football are more popular. “There is a problem with sponsors”, Zupan presents the situation. There are not many companies and people in a small country, who would like to support the team financially.
However, with a player like Rok Benkovic, Slovenes cannot look to the future with anxiety. “Rok is a young boy with ambitions and possibilities. He can achieve a lot already this year. The danger is this, she wants everything too fast. I have to slow him down, but the year is ambitious, he wants to achieve it”, Zupan describes his 17-year-old ward.
However, Peterka is still in the spotlight. “He is very popular in Slovenia. Many people want to see it, but I want to treat everyone equally.” Peterka and Benkovic are not the only raisins in the cake: “I believe in Igor Medved, he works well, needs two more years. I have a good feeling for next year. There are no problems with money, so it just needs to mature.”
Zupan thinks, that Robert Kranjec's adolescence is over. “He is a meticulous worker, all he has in mind is ski jumping. He's already doing too much, which is not very good.”
After his hard fall in Planica a few years ago, concussion and coma, already after a month Kranjec returned to the ski jumping hill.
Damjan Fras is a worry for the coach, who has little faith in his own abilities. “Damjan can jump very well, but he's not in shape right now”, says Zupan. Looking at the upcoming world ski flying championships in Planica, the Slovenian coach does not see Fras in the squad. “Carnivoran, Benkovic, Peterka, I hope Medved, these are my people. Fras and Zonta are not “aviators”. We don't want too much”, says Zupan modestly about goals for the World Cup in Slovenia.