The U19 Slovak Men’s team consists of: Oliver Turek, Denis Antalík, Braňo Horváth, Martin Borovský, Matúš Vosátko, Braňo Linkay, Ronald Černý – with these guys Slovakia does not have to worry about their future, they make it look great.
This young team will represent their country in Bosnia at the 2015 Euro Rafting Champs (ERC).
As a very young team they had their first big event at their home ground at the 2014 Euro Champs (R4 category), on the fantastic Čunovo course, where they won the silver in Slalom. Later that year, at the WRC R4 Brazil, they won 3rd place in the Slalom and 3rd Overall. A fantastic achievement for these young men.
In conversation with their coach, Rast’o Zboril, we found out more about them and how they started.
Rasto, tell me something about your decision to make a team and then to cross over to become a coach.
“After the 2011 season my team crumbled away and so I was looking for some new guys to paddle with. I found a few fifteen-year old guys and we started to paddle. When they had their first competition in September 2012 they were in the raft and I remained standing on the river side as a coach. In the 2013 season we started to travel around to the nearby competitions.
In 2014 we won medals at Euro and World Champs.
Now we are hard at work to prepare for the ERC in BiH because half of team have graduation at school. “
Do you have any expectations in Bosnia?
”In BiH we will win, of course!”
Which discipline do your guys love the most?
“Most loved discipline is Slalom“
Will we see you in Indonesia?
“Money is the big question as to whether we will go to Indonesia (it’s too far still), but I think it is going well. It is our last season as U19 and so we must win everything possible :)“
And we wish you good paddling strokes on your way.
This year the competition in the U19 men’s category will be excellent. There will be a big fight amongst this young generation for the title Champs. And because in the U19 and U23 divisions team members quickly move on out of the age group, the number of competitions they can attend and prove themselves are limited (sponsors still tend to mostly support the Open division), so this is an important event for them to show what they are made of and deserving of support.
In addition to the men’s team, this club has also developed a female U19 team: SlovakJuniorRafters – Potápky are Tereza Dostalová, Katarína Valachová, Marcela Hambálková, Patrícia Smolková, Mirka Sojková.
I had a chance to paddle with them at the recent EC event in Wildalpen and I can say that the girls are stunning. Real little fighters. Side by side, with their older colleagues, they overcame all the obstacles of the Salza River.
It is nice to see the future of this sport in them.
Thank you Rasto. You are doing a great thing with these young people, so just continue, and we will follow their development from division to division, year after year. Stay motivated, enjoy the paddling, socializing and traveling, and we wish you all the best on this road.
Follow these guys:
Website: www.slovakrafters.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/TinaJuniorRafters
