PRAGUE – Milan Garčar is helping Radim Cepek to prepare his team for the upcoming World University Floorball Championship, which will be held in Prague at the end of May. He is not hedging his bets. “Our aim is to win the championship,” he declares, a few days before the tournament.
Where is the Czech team at present preparing for the World University Championship?
“Up to now, the team has been divided into two parts, one training in Prague and the other in Ostrava. Head Coach Radim Cepek has gone from one group to the other, and he has managed to get to all the training sessions.”
How are the preparations for the championship going?
“We’ve done our best to find some sparring partners to play against these groups. For example, in Prague we worked with Chodov. When we weren’t able to get anyone, we played three against three, with substitutions, on a reduced playing area. That was the first part of the preparations.”
And after that?
“Then we got together in the sports centre in Nymburk. That’s when we all came together for the first time, apart from Petr Kološ, who had some study commitments, and apart from David Rytych, who was still abroad. Both of them will come directly to Prague for the tournament.”
What did you do in the training sessions?
“We had four sessions, some team talks, and some teambuilding. The training camp was the pivotal part of the preparations, and now we are trying to digest it all. Now there will only be one or two more sessions.”
I presume the division into two groups was because plenty of the players had some commitments in the towns where they study!
“Yes, the boys have their studies and other responsibilities. They can’t travel right across the country. There’s no money available for everyone to spend three weeks or so together. It just isn’t possible. Martin Zozulák from Pardubice and Petr Kadlec from Brno have been coming to Prague for the training sessions, and that is quite a big effort on their part.”
How strong is the Czech team?
“There’s plenty of quality in it. We have some defenders from the national team, two national team goalkeepers. Three of the players were at the IFF World Championships. So our aim is to win the tournament. We’re not hedging our bets.”
Do the players have enough strength left over after such a demanding season?
“You’d better ask the boys that, but I think the national team is something special and some reserves of strength will be found. They didn’t all have such a long season. Only the Vítkovice and Tatran players, and perhaps the semifinalists. The main thing was that the players were in contact with the coaches for a long time. They knew that they would be in the squad, and were able to keep in training for the championship. They are all putting a lot of work in, so I think they still have some strength left.”
How do you think people are going to respond to this event?
“There’s a campaign going on in an attempt to involve schoolboys and girls and university students. Players in the university floorball league, which is quite a popular tournament, should also be aware about it. But it is hard to guess how it’s going to turn out. We all know how it is with sports events in Prague. It’s hard to imagine that there will be long queues in midweek. Nevertheless, it would be fine, and it would be better for the players. I’d point out that we have good starting times for our games.”
(Source: OC 2012 WUC Floorball)
