For the third time in our brief history (celebrating two years this February), someone from our trainees has reached the admirable milestone of 50 workouts! After Iva and Ivica achieved this feat last week, Matea accomplished the same this one. Each of them was unique in their own way. Iva was the first one, making her of course also the first girl to achieve this; Ivica was the first guy, and Matea, at the age of 15, is the youngest among them. Many things unite them, and choosing just a few Matea’s distinguishing features was not easy, as I’ve been realizing during our training sessions for almost seven months now. And I know that there is certainly more excitement to come, as her biggest fan and supporter, Danijela Jurčić, can confirm. But that doesn’t mean I won’t try…
By the way, I understand that the number 50 might not sound like a significant achievement to some of you, but since most of my trainees maintain a rhythm of two workouts per week, it still represents six months of dedicated and consistent effort. As for Matea, our journey began on July 2nd 2018, which now seems so distant. Yet, these seven months have literally flew by for me. From those first few introductory, calmer, and more timid on her part summer workouts, through supporting her at one of her many competitions, to the relationship that goes far beyond the mere trainer-client context, which, from my perspective, is one of the most fulfilling and exciting aspects of my work, especially when it comes to individual workouts.
In today’s world, where fewer and fewer children engage in sports of any kind, spending more and more hours and days indoors staring at screens of various shapes and sizes, I genuinely love passing by the school’s playground on my way to Matkino and hearing children’s laughter or the sound of a bouncing ball. It always surprises me when I’m greeted by the same scene, especially if it isn’t summer, at Matkino, which is a whole different story. I used this introduction to express additional enthusiasm and gratitude for the opportunity to be part of such a beautiful story, which, as always, starts at home and the way your parents raised you. Moreover, Matea can and knows she can, despite the occasional teenage ‘outbursts’ be grateful and proud of her mom, Danijela. I’ve praised her before for a reason because through all these years I have not encountered anyone who so energetically, willingly, and passionately directs and supports her children in achieving what they have set for themselves. Naturally, much of this has been passed on to Matea. Besides, being charmingly curious, but also firm and determined when necessary with a touch of ongoing playfulness is the mixture I love most about this little mischief (I know she’ll beat me for this, but I’m fine with it). It gives you a burst of positive energy, after which you have to sincerely ask her, ‘how old are you again’, and get the expected, ‘three and a half’ answer which you enjoy tremendously. On the other hand, there are moments when you stop and ask yourself the same question because it’s hard for you to perceive that she is only 15. For example, this second side of her has led to helping me not only shoot but also demonstrate an abdominal workout for our Facebook page. This video surely is not the end of it since we’ve already decided and agreed that we won’t stop there, even before all the positive comments poured in. Also, during the winter holidays, Matea completed one challenging workout from each of my remaining programs. After that, she, as expected, signed up and successfully completed our first ever SpartanFit Challenge.
In conclusion, as I have already expressed gratitude and pride in being part of such a beautiful sports story, I am genuinely looking forward to what lies ahead. I already told her, semi-jokingly though (which doesn’t mean it’s not true), that I have enough material to train with her until she turns 18, and after that we’ll see. What I’m sure of is that there will be no quitting, and, of course, the rest of the story depends on her personal interests, choices, and goals. I will make a conscious effort to be helpful at every step of her journey and development. It’s no surprise that others have recognized her effort, hard work, and dedication so she’s also helping out her trainer during their field & track workout with children and locally in one of the dance classes as well. Even though she will be the first one to say she doesn’t take herself seriously, we around her know what lies behind that joyful and cute appearance. If that wasn’t the case I surely wouldn’t include her in one of my instructional videos which is a huge deal for me because I value SpartanFit’s and my own integrity immensely. And I didn’t even think twice about it which speaks a lot, especially considering this was my first co-operation in that sense. Trust I have in this beautiful, young woman is well deserved and fully justified. And what comes next, well, we’ll discover together quite soon.
Original release date: January 20, 2019.