Izvor: SportCom.hr
Autor: S.V.
Razgovarali smo sa srebrnim olimpijskim vaterpolistom, Ivanom Krapićem. Što nam je rekao o svom sportskom putu, obrazovanju i karijeri, pročitajte u nastavku.
RSS: Ivane, hvala što ste pristali na ovaj intervju. Riječki sportski savez zajedno sa Visokom poslovnom školom PAR trenutno provodi projekt sufinanciran sredstvima EU u sklopu Erasmus+ Sport programa, kojim se promovira dualna karijera sportaša, PASSPORT (Project for Academy Sport SupPORT). Hrvatskoj ste javnosti itekako poznati, ali budući da je ovo europski projekt, za one koji Vas ne znaju, možete li nam ukratko opisati svoj sportski put?
Ivan: Pozdrav svima!
Hvala Vama na pozivu, uvijek se rado odazovem kada je tema koja spaja sport i obrazovanje.
Moj sportski put je započeo kao i većini djece u to doba kada sam došao na bazen kao zaigrano dijete 1996. godine koje su roditelji upisali u sport isključivo radi zdravlja. Iz godine u godinu vaterpolo mi se sve više sviđao, stekao sam već i prijatelje na bazenu tako da sam uživao dolazeći na treninge jednako kao što uživam i danas 20 godina kasnije. Prošao sam sve uzrasne kategorije Primorja iz Rijeke te kao 16-godišnjak počeo igrati za seniore. U to vrijeme sam počeo također igrati za mlađe reprezentativne selekcije počevši od U-16 pa do U-20. U Primorju sam se zadržao do 2016. godine nakon čega sam se uputio u Napuljsku Acquachiaru godinu dana te od tada pa evo još uvijek i danas nastupam za Jadran iz Splita. Za seniorsku reprezentaciju Hrvatske sam počeo igrati 2009. godine te sam imao čast okititi se zlatom na Mediteranskim igrama 2013. godine, Zlatom na svjetskom prvenstvu 2017 godine, zlatom na svjetskoj ligi 2012. godine, srebrom sa Olimpijskih igara 2016, srebrom na svjetskoj ligi 2009. i 2019. godine te broncom na svjetskoj ligi 2017. godine.
RSS: Upisali ste i završili Visoku poslovnu školu PAR u Rijeci, koja svoje studije prilagođava vrhunskim sportašima kao što ste vi. Zašto smatrate daljnje obrazovanje i usavršavanje sportaša važnim?
Ivan: Jedan od mojih najvećih „trofeja“ je i diploma sa PAR-a gdje sam završio 3-godišnji studij. Imao sam tu čast i zadovoljstvo da sam bio jedna od prvih generacija koja se upisala na PAR te sam sa zadovoljstvom odlazio tamo. Za mene takav način studiranja je bio potpuna nepoznanica jer svi moji kolege iz kluba su imali velike probleme uskladiti svoje obveze na fakultetima sa onima na bazenu tako da ja sam se osjećao privilegiranim što mi je moj PAR izlazio u susret što se tiče mojih sportskih obaveza i na tome sam im i dan danas zahvalan na čelu sa dekanicom Gordanom Nikolić. Također ono što mi se tamo odmah svidjelo je što se radilo u manjim grupama tako da svaki student je dobivao pažnju koliko mu je bilo potrebno za savladavanje gradiva. Sve to govorim iz razloga što je obrazovanje u sportu dosta marginalizirano te mi je drago da sam ja uspio i tu barijeru savladati.
RSS: Koliki je izazov bio uskladiti treninge sa studiranjem?
Ivan: Kao studentu/sportašu uskladiti sportske i studentske obaveze mi je bio velik izazov koji sam uspio savladati puno lakše nego moji ostali kolege baš zahvaljujući PAR-u.
RSS: Smatrate li važnim provoditi projekte poput PASSPORT-a, projekte kojima se nastoji podići svijest o dualnoj karijeri sportaša te neformalnim metodama obrazovanja dodatno usavršiti vrhunske sportaše?
Ivan: Aktivnosti Visoke poslovne akademije PAR i danas pratim te mi je drago vidjeti da u suradnji sa RSS-om provodi tako značajan projekt kao što je PASSPORT na čemu svim sudionicima čestitam i želim mnogo sreće u budućim sličnim projektima.
We talked with the Croatian Olympic silver water polo player Ivan Krapic. What he told us about his sporting career and education, read below.
RSS: Thank you very much for accepting this interview, Ivan! Together with the PAR University College, Rijeka Sport’s Association is currently implementing a project co-funded by the Erasmus + Sport programme of EU, which promotes dual career of the athletes, PASSPORT (Project for Academy Sport SupPORT). You are well known to Croatian public, but since this is an European project, for those who do not know you, can you briefly describe your sporting journey?
Ivan: Hello everyone!
Thank you for the invitation, I always like to respond when it comes to sport and education.
My sporting journey began as with most children at the time when I came to the pool as a playful kid in 1996, when my parents enrolled me in sport exclusively for health. From year to year, I liked water polo more and more, I made friends, enjoyed coming to the training just as I enjoy it now, 20 years later. I went through all age categories of Primorje Water Polo Club from Rijeka and started playing for the seniors as a 16 year-old. At that time, I also started playing for younger representative selections starting from U-16 to U-20. I stayed in Primorje Water Polo Club until 2016 and after that, I went to Naples Acquachiara for a year. Currently I play for the Jadran Water Polo Club from Split.
I started to play for the Croatian senior national team in 2009, and since then I was honoured to be awarded with the gold at the 2013 Mediterranean Games, the World Championship in 2017, the gold medal in the 2012 World Cup, the silver from the 2016 Olympics, the silver at the 2009 World Cup in 2019 and bronze at the 2017 World Cup.
RSS: You have finished your education at PAR University College, which adapts their studies to top athletes as you are. Why do you consider further education and training of athletes important?
Ivan: One of my biggest “trophies” is a diploma from PAR where I completed a 3-year study. I had the honour and the pleasure that I was one of the first generations enrolled in the PAR University College and I was happy to go there. For me, such a way of studying was a complete unknown because all of my teammates had great problems balancing their sporting and educational responsibilities so I felt privileged that I managed to balance my obligations for which I am grateful to PAR University College led by the Dean, Ms Gordana Nikolić. In addition, what I liked there was that we worked in smaller groups so every student was getting the attention he needed to acquire knowledge dealt with in lectures. I am telling this because education in sports is marginalized and I am glad that I managed to overcome this barrier.
RSS: Was it a challenge to coordinate training with study?
Ivan: It was a great challenge to coordinate sports and student responsibilities as a student/athlete but thanks to PAR I managed to overcome it much easier than my other colleagues.
RSS: Do you think it’s important to implement projects like PASSPORT, projects that seek to raise awareness of dual career of athletes and non-formal methods of education to improve further the knowledge of top athletes?
Ivan: I’m still following the activities of PAR University College and I’m glad to see that, in cooperation with RSS, they are doing a great projects such as PASSPORT. I congratulate all participants and wish the best of luck in future projects.