Behind every Athlete is a great team

It was like any ordinary day in January when I received a call that would change my immediate life.  It was the US Training camp and I was selected among the nation to try out for the US team.  I was told, I was one of ten ladies trying out and that I needed to start getting prepared for the adventure of my life. 

That was the day I turned up the heat in my training and motivation.  This was my chance to do what I had only dreamed of a few, months before.  I imminently looked to see if I can get a team together to help me through this endeavor.  I had already been working out for several years at the Orlando RDV where the Orlando Magic practiced and trained. This became my new stomping grounds under the direction of Josh Hemann.

He trained me and motivated me to become a force to be reckoned with.  His previous training as weightlifting instructor came quite handy, since I had to start squatting over 200 pounds.  In fact there is a technique to accomplish quite a feat.  I was a beast and I roared as I lifted the weights. I could feel the change shifting in my body. 

With this change however I had to find someone who could help me stretch and keep me injury free.  That is when I solicited help from a dear friend of mine named Heather Curtis.  Her fifteen years of experiences working on athletes, massaging and stretching was worth its weight in gold.   She recently opened up a practice called Pain Relief Restoration that had become immensely popular.  I am sure it was because of her caring nature with each of her clients.   Despite how hectic her schedule, she always seem to fit me in.

At home I had my moral support. This was the person who will put you in your place when you really need it.  Her name was Michelle Wells and she not only my best friend but my number one fan.  She is the one who got me started and the one who continues to move me forward.  People do not realize how much time and dedication you need to devote in order to even be considered for the team.  You sometimes lose sight of the end result and you need that ONE person to bring it back to reality.  That’s what she did. 

You know the saying that you only have one family; well my brother Milivoje is the one person I can definitely depend on to listen to my crazy ideas and say “I guess you can do it.”  Now it doesn’t sound so motivating to you, but it actually gives me the extra push I need because he is my younger brother.  He is the one that you call with good news and visualize him as the  crazy man in the supermarket screaming up and down.

The other big building block is all the friends and family out there always cheering me on and saying that I can do it.  I cannot thank everyone one enough.  It is so wonderful knowing that I can always count on everyone to be there.  A smile here; a nice comment there keeps me going in the right direction. 

Cheers to quite an adventure and hope you can fly along with me.

The beginning of sports for me

Training to be on the US Skeleton team has made me reflect on many of the sports I tried as a child or my young adult life.  Each sport I attempted was a new challenge I had to conquer.  As I mentioned before my father was a huge inspiration for me when I was younger when it came to sports.  He instead that the calves I had been made fun of would help me excel.  At an early age I started doing shotokan karate.  I went on to win several championships and medals.  I actually made it to the black belt as my father beamed in approval. 

I was also quite involved as a tennis player where I too not only participated in many tournaments won many of them as well. It was perhaps my determination to be successful that made me work even harder. I could not let my dad down.

Perhaps for me the hardest sport I ever participated was Woman’s rugby.  It was not because of the physical aspect of the sport but it was because my success depended not only from myself but from the rest of the team.  I started playing Rugby 2001 when I went Kansas University for the Jayhawks.  Best way to describe this sport was football without the pads.

My position was a prop which was the person who took the brunt of the game.  Each time a penalty whistle was blown I had to do a formation called a scrum and push against the other team.  After several games my body was torn apart but at least I was lying in bed with a smile.  It’s the best sport to take out all my aggressions.

Now as I work toward my new goal, I am bringing everyone along for the ride.  The common question I am getting is “but Anja, isn’t dangerous.  Won’t you get hurt?”  All I can do is smile because this would not be the first time I have been hurt.  While I was playing I not only tore my ACL but also destroyed my wrist into 50 different pieces.  I had several surgeries for each of those incidents and carry the scares proudly for both. 

I know I started out trying to be a bobsledder but sometimes one door closes and another one opens.  I did not have the height the other girls had for bobsled but my body was a perfect for Skeleton.  I cannot describe to you the feeling it is to slide down at 65 miles an hour over a nine foot wall.  It’s a freedom I have never felt while testing my own physical strength.  My visit to the Olympic Training center awakened my senses and gave me a taste of something I really wanted more of.  Hence is why I am starting to train five days a week with my trainer Josh Hemann at the Orlando RDV.  His expertise with lifting and explosive running has gotten me to where I am now.   

Childhood Dreams

Now some people will think okay where in the world would a person like I get the courage or the guts to try out for the US team. I have always been a little on the wild side. That is probably why I have

earned the nickname the crazy yugo.

I grew up in Belgrade Serbia, formally known as Yugoslavia. I am

the oldest of two and my parents Berislav and Miroslava always taught me to use my imagination.;Especially my father. Every night my father would tuck us into bed creating a bedtime story that he

made up which kept us entertained till we fell asleep. He encouraged us to reach pass the stars and focus on the heavens. The Sky was the limits and we can create our own dreams.

The thing was I really did have big dreams. At one point in my life I wanted to be a war journalist and be down in the trenches and report amidst the chaos. That is when I told my father I wanted to go to Romania and report on what’s happening. The Year was 1989 and their president Nicolae Ceausescu was punishing their people for defying his order. The people were starving as the war was happing outside their window. I told my father that I wanted to go there and report back myexperience of what was going on to my classmates. His response was if you find a way we will go.

That was an open invitation to my imagination to run wild. The very next day I spoke to the principle

and told him I was collecting food for the people of Romania and that I needed the school’s assistance. I

was allowed to go to each class room and speak to them about donating to the starving nation. To my

surprise the food started rolling in. I was able to pack my bedroom with food piled high for my cause.

My father who traveled quite a bit was away and did not have the slight idea of what was happening at home. When he did return my mother politely asked him to peek in my bedroom to see what I had

done. The man was shocked and astonished and did not remember our discussion. This was my way to

get to Romania and follow my dream.

The following day we packed up our red Renault 4 with all the donations and made our way to

the boarder. My father thought that getting to the boarder would complete his task but he was very

mistaken. I wanted to get into Romania and personally deliver my accomplishments. So at the boarder

we received a personal guide who allowed us to get to the Red Cross in Romania. We drove past several

bullet ridden homes with people begging for food. We were also able to experience a candle light vigil

placed in the middle of the street. We were very fortunate not to get shot at during this awe inspiring

moment. We did however see how our donation assisted this poor nation.

Upon our return I was hailed as a true hero for doing what I did. Both my father and I were
interviewed by several news originations and newspapers. I was even chosen as hero of the month
which we called “grand prix.”

A dream on the couch to a reality in the gym

It started with a dream on the couch one day during the 2010 Olympic Winter games.  People were not only skiing cross country but were ice skating and playing hockey all during the same time frame.  I looked at them and saw them trying their best to defeat their opponent at a sport that they were truly dedicated to.  I too wanted to be as dedicated to a sport and make it to the world’s arena.  That’s is when I turned to Michelle and stated with confidences that I wanted to go to the Olympics in 2014.  She quickly replied that finding tickets to Russia could be a great goal.  I said no you don’t understand. I want to be IN the Olympics and you need to find me a sport.  I specifically did not want to do badminton nor curling.  It was her task to find something I could fit into. 
A couple of days later in a joking manor she suggested I try out for Bobsled.  She began pointing out that each the girls were about my size and body type and all I had to do is push in jump in.  She kept arguing the point and I just laughed it off.  Later that week I decided to just Google a little about the sport and see my chances.  There I saw the beginning of what can be a reality.  THEY WERE LOOKING FOR GOOD BOBSLED PUSHERS.  All I needed to do was apply with some measurements and how much I could lift.  Now I am not going to say it was all an easy feat because mind you being a stubborn person that I am I applied SEVERAL times.   In fact I emailed the bobsled/skeleton association a total of three before I received a response to try out in my backyard on the UCF campus. 
There I was one of many women vying for a chance to go to the second round. I had to do what is called a combine test where I had to do 30 meter sprints, shot toss, broad jump, squats and power cling.  I tested high so I was invited back to the second round which was also in Orlando.
When I arrived there in my old Adidas shorts and my 2.2 liter water bottle the other girl were sporting Oakley sunglasses, nice shiny iPods and the new age athletic tape. I was definitely a felt out of my league and rethinking the possibilities.   It was perhaps fate that day when I met the bobsled coach and he noticed one thing I had the other girls did not.  I had a pair of well defined calves that has pledged me since childhood.   They were something that children in Serbia would poke fun and call me a tomboy but today in the America they put them on pedestals.  This is perhaps one of the reason I was selected to try out the for the US national team and above all else they said I had potential. 

The beginning...

This is the start of a new hobby where I try to journal my experiences of becoming the flying skeleton.   HOLD ON TIGHT....ITS GOING TO BE A BUMPPY RIDE.