-There are many things that didn't work. But there are also allegations against me personally that are extremely damning. I do not see myself as described in that letter, says Alexander Stockl in Dagsnytt 18.
Recently, there has been a storm about the jump coach. After the World Championships in January, the athletes of the national team sent a letter in which they pointed out several things that were not working in the coaching staff of the national show jumping team.
For Stockel, the past few weeks have been an enormous amount of pressure.
– I am very excited to continue, but the challenge for me personally is that it affects my health. “Right now, I'm pretty much downstairs and I think I have to take care of myself and my family right now,” Stockl says.
– Intensive tour
At the same time as Norwegian jumpers Johan Andre Forfang and Kristofer Eriksen Sundahl celebrated second place in the team competition in Oberstdorf, the national team coach sat in Oslo's Dagsnet 18 studio.
– The situation is not as it should be, I have to be there with the athletes. “We had received a letter informing me before I left for the USA, and it was at a very late stage, so I chose to stand over those gutters to see what the situation was,” says Stockl.
It has been a few weeks since his last tour with the national team. Immediately after the World Flying Championships at the end of January, the Norwegian jumpers sent a letter to the jumping committee. There they criticized the national team coach and called on him to resign. Stöckl later confirmed that he had rejected the severance package.
National team coach: Alexander Stockl.
Photography: Ismail Barak Akan/NRK
Stockl doesn't want to say anything concrete about what was in the athletes' letter, but he thinks it's a shame that it took two weeks before he could read the letter.
– I think that the issue itself was dealt with in a very special way, to say the least. But I had to talk to them, and it was a good conversation, and it was an intense tour of the athletes' dissatisfaction with the way we work as a team, says Stöckel.
The coach says he is not currently in contact with any of the jumpers, but is nonetheless excited to continue as coach of the national team. He believes that people now need to talk to each other more.
– The challenge today is that we must return to what we were, and talk to each other, not about each other. It has been a challenge in recent weeks. I feel completely alone. I do. “I have support from the coaching staff and staff, but other than that I feel very lonely,” Stockl says.
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– He is on a sympathy tour in the media
On Monday this week, the national team players and Stockl met in a meeting in Gardermoen.
– We were able to talk together, we were able to start a dialogue, but it is a process we are in now. You really have to give it time. At the same time, I held a meeting with all the staff the day after the meeting with the athletes, and together we will try to achieve a good end to the season. “That's one thing, but the other is the process that I'm very dissatisfied with,” says the coach.
After the meeting, the athletes did not want to comment, but on Wednesday the athlete's representative Johan Andre Vorfang stated that he and the other players reacted strongly to some of Clas Brede Bråthen's statements on the matter. Among other things, they felt threatened by the silence, Furfang said.
After showjumping in Oberstdorf, Johann André Forfang reacted strongly to Stöckl's all-time appearance in Dagsnytt on the 18th.
Executive Actor: Johan Andre Forfang.
Photo: Agence France-Presse
– This was not an agreement. So now he rules. It's hard to think of anything about it until you know what he has to say. Furfang thinks he's on a media sympathy tour.
In the face of this statement, Stokel takes a long time to think before answering.
– I think this is very unfair. I stand up for the media, as I always have. I've stood in the media whether things are going good or bad. I was asked to come here and that's why I came. It's something I have to do, it's part of my job. I think it's unfair to say that. “It's simply painful,” Stöckel answers.
Forfang did not wish to say anything more about this matter at the moment.
– At one point or another we will talk about it, but we want to perform well for the rest of the season, says Forfang.
It takes self-criticism
At the same time that Stockl is having a hard time, he is criticizing himself about several things. Among other things, how to follow jumpers who have not joined the World Cup races.
– “I feel I could have done better in terms of technical follow-up and keeping in touch with those who missed the World Cup,” says the coach.
Self-criticism: Alexander Stockl admits that he did not do everything perfectly, but at the same time he puts the responsibility on others.
Photography: Ismail Barak Akan/NRK
He believes the coaching staff should have distributed tasks better, but it was also demanding due to the lack of coaches in the support staff.
– We have the challenge that we have limited resources. Standing on the plain with five people when there is an award ceremony, while Germany, Austria, Slovenia and Poland stand there with 15 people. It's very difficult to keep a system working when there are so few of us, Stokel believes.
– I can say that I definitely made mistakes during my time as a coach, but as a system we also did a lot of things right. I don't think the responsibility lies solely with me. The responsibility lies with everyone. “We couldn't communicate, and we couldn't follow the athletes in the best way,” Stockl says.
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