Welcome to another impressive episode of our "Coach the Coach" podcast! Today we have the privilege of diving into the depths of Christian Winkler's career, Managing Director Sports at Red Bull Ice Hockey. We take a look at Christian's personal life, his stages as a player, which ultimately led him to his current position as Managing Director. We place particular emphasis on the aspects of player development and coach development at Red Bull Munich in order to gain insight into the strategic considerations and experiences of a Managing Director.
It is always fascinating to hear about the different stages in people's lives and careers, especially when they have a dual perspective on education and professional development. From the very beginning, it was important to Christian to pursue an education alongside sport in order to have a different perspective and a plan B should a professional career not work out. That is why we first talk about his beginnings at SC-Riessersee and his current position at Red Bull Munich.
We dedicate the second block of our podcast episode to the area of player development. Specifically, we talk about the development of young players in the PENNY-DEL, their individual support in training and the role of the coaching staff. We would also like to know from Christian what needs new generations of players have and how the way we deal with players, parents and agents has changed.
Thanks to the new infrastructure that the SAP Garden will enable from next season, Munich ice hockey will reach a new dimension. Another novelty is the newly founded Red Bull Juniors club, based on the existing program at the academy in Salzburg. Christian gives us exciting insights into what this is all about and what goals they want to achieve in the long term.
In the third block we talk about trainer and personnel development at the top level. Christian gives us valuable insights into the philosophy and approach to developing coaches at Red Bull Munich.
This episode promises not only captivating insights, but also lots of inspiring moments - it's worth sticking with it!