Austria's Ice Hockey team needed his services after losing a player to injury. To top it off, this happened on January 12, the day before the Innsbruck 2012 Winter Youth Olympic Games Opening Ceremony and the team’s opening match.
“It was so cool. I thought it was a joke,” the 15-year-old said. “And I’m here. It means everything to me.”
Currently studying in Salzburg, JAKUBITZKA has been in the national youth team for five years now. To his disappointment, the coaches left him out of their Innsbruck 2012 squad just three weeks before the Games.
An email informing him that he was on standby did not make him feel any better.
“I was sad. I thought I would be in the team. I’ve always played well," he said. "I was surprised, but what could I do?"
“My mother said that s**t happens. At first it was really hard, but I got past it because life goes on. I had wondered why he didn’t pick me, then I thought since I couldn’t change it, I’d work hard and show everyone my abilities,” JAKUBITZKA said.
The call on January 12 changed it all.
JAKUBITZKA’s school released him, he quickly packed, and a family friend picked him up and drove him to the train station.
“I was happy the whole journey here. I never thought about why the coach chose me. I forgot everything else. Only the Olympic rings were in my head.”
Three hours after the initial phone call, JAKUBITZKA, an Innsbruck native, was back in his hometown.
“When I first heard the Youth Olympic Games was coming to Innsbruck, I thought ‘Great', and I hoped I’d be here with the team.”
Harald PSCHERNIG (AUT), the team’s assistant coach, revealed that the decision to leave JAKUBITZKA out of the initial squad for Innsbruck 2012, came after much discussion.
“It’s hard for every player who’s left out. But we knew if one player was injured, we’d call him. And that happened,” he said.
Without doubt, JAKUBITZKA was not in Innsbruck just to make up the numbers. The nature of Ice Hockey and the toll it takes on competitors means every player on the roster is involved every game.
“I always give my best, and I hope my teammates do too when they see that,” the No.23 said about what he adds to the team.
PSCHERNIG, who has been coaching for 18 years, agreed.
“Daniel has a good spirit for the team," he said. "He’s good to coach and listens closely to the captain. He’s very open to the ideas we tell him and he’ll show it on the ice.”
Austria’s Men’s Ice Hockey team was knocked out of the competition after defeats to the sport’s powerhouses Finland, the United States, Russia and Canada.
JAKUBITZKA, a forward, played in all the matches, and despite his side's departure from the competition, he was still planning used the experience to the full.
“We’ll stay around to watch the games, because the teams are very good and we can learn much,” he said.
It is an attitude JAKUBITZKA will require in the long run. His dream is to turn professional and play in North America's National Hockey League (NHL), considered to be the best league in the world.
But it is not an NHL star whom the Austrian youth looks up to. JAKUBITZKA talks fondly of a man named Oldrich JINDRA (CZE), when asked if he has a mentor.
JINDRA is a family friend and an Ice Hockey coach based in Switzerland.
“He taught me a lot in Ice Hockey," JAKUBITZKA said. "As I grew up, he was always on my side, giving me advice. He even came all the way here to watch me play against Finland.”
The humble teenager was keen to thank his mother for all she has done for him as he tries to carve out a career for himself on the ice. “She’s always given me what I need,” he said.
And so the journey is complete, from Salzburg to Innsbruck, from heartbreak to home.
IOC Young Reporter Tan Thiam Peng
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