In October 2021 Shahar Zubri officially retired after three Olympics and an amazing career.
Almost immediately, he was called by the sailing association to coach the women's windsurfing team in the iQFoil model in the Paris 2024 campaign.
Tzuberi, a bronze medalist from the 2008 Beijing Olympics, took over a team that included a small number of veteran surfers and many young women, and within a year managed to bring some of them to the medal races in international championships.
At the World Championships, which took place exactly one year after he took office, no fewer than four Israeli surfers appeared in the finals - Daniela Peleg finished with the silver medal and Maya Morris with the bronze.
Now, just before he opens the new season, Tzuberi was available for a special interview with Israel Hayom: "You can say that I got used to being an artist, and I continue to get used to it, it's not something that stops being created. Every time there are new challenges. Specifically this year, it's the first year of criteria in line coach, and next year is an Olympic year as a coach."
Cumulative
Targeting the 2024 Olympics, photo: Oren Aharoni
What kind of coach are you?
"Overall, I'm very tough. There are things I'm not willing to compromise on, like my professional truth. However, I'm also very attentive and understand the athletes' place. For me, it's their career first, and I want to give the best service. The athlete too You have to know how to demand. I don't deal with youth and motivation, it's not something that comes up on the agenda, it's obvious to me. Everyone in the team is motivated and wants to succeed."
What is more stressful, competing or training?
"Slowly I understand that being a trainer is just as stressful. In training, you reach that stage in the competition where you have done everything and now it's the athlete's turn. Even while I'm doing it, I don't have a high heart rate when I sit and see things, and time also passes like an eternity, you see and experience , but not within the physical activity."
There are quite a few successful past athletes who did not succeed in their coaching career - what is the secret of your magic that you have achieved in such a short time?
"I give a lot of credit to the female athletes. I got a very broad group, the vast majority of which are young people with a lot of motivation. In addition, they changed surfboards, which opened up an opportunity for young surfers to come and conquer the peaks, they want it and don't deal with nonsense and there is a good professional environment, both in quantity And they are quality.
How important is it really to keep a past athlete in the system, like in the cruise that has you, Gal Friedman and Gidi Kliger?
"I think it is very important, as an athlete, you see that you have where to aspire and where you have progressed, even if you are not a medalist, those who were on the national teams and know the system, but not at any cost, that is - then there was great criticism of how Friedman was not in the system, when then he Not so wanted. When there is this readiness and the system also wants it, then you have to make it happen."
Gal Friedman, Gidi Kaliger and Shahar Tzuberi, photo: Danny Maron
Will a medal in Paris 2024 as a coach be as exciting as the bronze medal you won in Beijing 2008?
"Perhaps more, because motivating an athlete to action is much more difficult and satisfying as soon as there is success. I always tell my female athletes that I remain the same Shahar, competitive who wants to get medals and aim as high as possible. My time as an athlete simply ended and I changed my hat, but the qualities remained."
"The role of the coach is to know how to put the ego aside and look at the best interests of the athlete. The athletes on the team appreciate my hard work, and this is also the secret of success."
How do you combine everything with two girls at home?
"It's not easy, I get help from assistant coach Stav Boymel. I also have an office job at home. Sometimes I come home, put the girls to bed and go back to work. Everyone manages to combine work and career, I can too.
"The biggest difficulty is the trips abroad and the months when I'm not at home, especially for my wife, who I leave alone at home with two daughters.
Maybe it's hard for me on the longing level, but on the operational level it's much harder for her.
They are trying to make adjustments, but in the end she knows who she married."
Accumulations in London 2012, photo: EPA
"I would like to see Spichkov train with the national team"
Tzuberi's year was successful in all respects, and not only because of his first year as a coach, but also because a month and a half ago his wife Liat gave birth to his second daughter, Dani, and she joined the family, which also includes 3 and a half year old Niv.
But 2023 will be no less busy, as Zuberi has already left for a training camp in Spain, in the Canary Islands.
After that, at the end of the month, the opening competition of the season will take place, and later, in May, the European Championship will be held in Greece.
In the summer, the big goal of the year will come - the World Championship in the Netherlands, where the Olympic tickets will also be distributed to the top ten.
What do you think about the status of the coach today in Israel?
"I think he is getting better and better. I hope that the incoming minister Miki Zohar will continue to improve and promote the status of the coach, with things that did not exist before and also see the differences from the time when I was an athlete. Today, many girls receive things even before they have reached achievements, which I would not have received as an athlete.
"We are constantly trying to improve, it is still not 100 percent, but I look at other countries, when in the end the neighbor's grass is not always greener. The essential thing is that the private sector in the world is more connected than in Israel, here we are further behind than other countries."
Do you feel like you are getting everything you need?
"Unequivocally. They say 'no', but I know there are constraints and a system, I don't remember what kind of dramatic 'no', but I've only been in office for a year and maybe more dramatic things will come. I'm still young and I choose my wars. Basically, I feel They tell me 'yes' to many things, and also give me a free hand to determine the vision, and I'm very happy about that. They give me the peace to work."
What differences do you see in the industry compared to your time as a sportsman?
"In my field, where I competed against Nimrod Moshiach, the whole envelope was around me, but I had to check and think - no one worked for me and now I feel that everyone is working for the athletes. The physiotherapist comes to Sdot Yam and they don't have to come to him, all these little things. The athlete doesn't You have to be flexible, everything is much more accessible and convenient, focused on your industry and the place of training. It has become much easier for them."
There seems to be a lot of talent and depth to the campaign.
"I have eight girls on the team. The vast majority are at a high level, and the battle for the Olympic ticket will be challenging, even for me as a coach. Thanks to the team, which was established in 2016, many young athletes see that it is possible to go far. The change of model also opens a door for young athletes, including me I started my career when they changed the model. This surfboard is special and attractive, and made many athletes think whether to retire or not."
Would you like to see Kati Spichkov training with the national team?
"Sure, I would like to and it's under my control. I decide how much she trains with the national team or not, and right now I'm very mindful of the fact that the center of her life is in France, and I try to combine my professional work and the demands of me and the system with her personal life and the fact that she doesn't live in Israel."
Kati Spichkov at the top of the podium, photo: Moshe Mangan
How will the athlete be selected for the Olympics?
"There are tests, plus the coach's opinion. The union's strategy is to give more power to the coach, and back him up with achievements, in order to choose the best representative who can bring the medal in Paris."
So how will the campaign end?
"I very much hope in a positive way. We are already looking ahead to Los Angeles. I want to keep this quality and young team for another campaign, so that not all the resources will go down the drain because there is only one representative in the Olympics."
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