09.06.2020

A Brazilian Team athlete talks to students about the journey from school training to the Olympics

The first day of Optional Activities Cycle of Lectures welcomed Diogo Hubner, from the Brazilian Handball Team. The olympic athlete talked to the students about his journey since school, how education was important to build who he became and the impact on his career, besides talking about the opportunities and challenges in the sport. The conversation also welcomed parents, family members, coaches, teachers and Beacon’s staff members.

By talking about how he started, the player highlighted the importance of his sports training at school. For him, “sport is a transformative tool, especially when thinking about the educational environment”.

During the Live, students had the opportunity to ask questions directly to the player, thus providing a bigger and more effective exchange. Considering the experience of Diogo, who has worked in big sport clubs such as E.C. Pinheiros , Niterói Rugby, Metodista-São Bernardo and C.R. Vasco da Gama. In addition to taking part in several championships such as the Olympics, world championships, Pan American and South American Games, collecting titles in seven National Leagues, seven São Paulo Championships and five Pan American Games.

The talk approached both professional and personal questions. The athlete talked about the difficulties he had to stand out, how the sport demands a good performance and the need he feels to always keep training, even during the quarantine. “Mainly, I need to be smarter than everyone else, if I’m not the fastest or the strongest, I need to think of other ways to achieve it, I need to adapt to my strengths and develop what I need to improve.”

Diogo explained the challenge of becoming a high-performance athlete and how it takes mental strength to maintain oneself. “It is in the defeats that you feel what you need to improve and where you need to grow. The obstacles will always be in our way, it is a long road, but it is very worth to keep going. Giving up was never an option for me.”

When asked about the difficulty that many athletes faced in continuing their studies, Hubner says that it is possible to conciliate school and college with high-performance sport in Brazil. He also highlights how essential it is for the athlete to conciliate sports and education since an early age. He talks about his personal experience when he got a degree in Physical Education and says he believes that sports can open doors for studies, providing scholarships at acclaimed universities.

“The person who wants to be an athlete and wants to follow this path needs to know that the journey will be very hard, but it will be rewarding ahead”, concludes Diogo.