Move from the capital to the province to find yourself

– Evgenia, was your acquaintance with Andrey an accident?

I would say it’s not a coincidence. It was in Moscow. I parked my car near the grocery store, and Evgeny next to me – a motorcycle. Then we stood in the same grocery department and chose cheese together. Now we eat cheese every day for ten years. (smiles – “MK”).

– You were united by the fact that you were both coaches?

– Surprisingly, when we met, our activities were not related to sports. I worked as an assistant financial director in an oil and gas company, and my husband was the director of a chain of restaurants in Moscow.

– Did the meeting become fateful – did it change not only your personal, but also your professional life?

— As it turned out, we both love sports. Surprisingly: I am from Chekhov, he is from Tver, and we found happiness together in Serpukhov. When they began to live together, they moved to a village near the city to my relatives, to an unfinished house. They built both it and their life – almost anew. We thought that both are eminent athletes, so we need to do what we love and what our soul lies in: train children, raise champions. We are happy that our sports family union is an example for pupils.

– How old are your children? I wonder what sports they chose?

– Son Arkady is six years old, daughter Agatha is three years old. Everything is predictable: Arkady is engaged in wrestling, and Agatha, of course, in gymnastics (laughs – “MK”). The son has already participated in competitions, won prizes. In addition, he also comes to gymnastics, he has already chosen a bride for himself (smiles – “MK”).

And the daughter goes in for sports almost from the cradle. When she was one and a half months old, I came out of the decree, and she was either with the nanny or with me in the hall, she knew all the girls. Agatha started studying at the age of three.

This year I participated in the competition “New Year’s snowflakes”, took second place. By the way, these traditional competitions have been held at the Nadezhda Sports Palace since 2019 and appeared thanks to the Sokolov family – Sergey and Yulia.

They inspired me to organize the first competitions, and also helped to hold the tournament free of charge for all participants. In addition, they gave us a carpet, on which gymnasts from Serpukhov and the village. Proletarian. I am very grateful to them!

— How did you start working at the Zubrenok sports school?

– We were offered to train in the village of Proletarsky in the Saturn sports and recreation complex. There Andrei is engaged in Greco-Roman wrestling with the guys, and I teach rhythmic gymnastics.

– Evgenia, why did you become a rhythmic gymnastics coach?

– It’s simple: I am a master of sports in rhythmic gymnastics, a champion of the Moscow region and a multiple winner of all-Russian and international competitions. I love gymnastics, it’s my life’s work. I’m always in a hurry to workout. This energy is transferred to children, they also run to classes (smiles – “MK”).

A small lyrical digression. Our interview took place in the gymnasium of school No. 19, where Evgenia taught classes. The girls diligently performed all the exercises: the sports equipment came to life in their hands, the hoops easily flew up, and the balls smoothly rolled all over the body.

“Although the exercises with the ball are now the most difficult for children,” the coach comments, “because special concentration is needed.

– The age-old question: do girls need a special predisposition to do gymnastics?

– This stereotype. There are no children who cannot be taught. According to our methodology, we try to find an approach to any child! The task is to unleash the potential of the child by the age of six, at the same time we begin to go to competitions. It happens that a slow and shy girl comes, but after two years she is no longer afraid of spectators, judges, coaches. To do this, we go to tournaments every month.

This is a whole journey: for the first time, the child does not understand something, moves poorly around the playground, cannot open up … But on the tenth time, the excitement passes, the children become liberated and show excellent results.

While we were talking with Evgenia, the girls finished training and, as a hitch, sat down on the twine together. It immediately became interesting – how much do you need to train for this and is there a chance for an adult to do this exercise?

– Muscles need to be stretched, warmed up, and in a month, or maybe earlier, any girl will sit on the twine. Sometimes there are tears, because you have to sit long and hard without a break, train your muscles. Adults can too. Some need more time, others less, but the most important thing is diligence and work.

We also managed to talk with Andrey during a training session at the Saturn Sports and Sports Complex. He said that his student Kirill Kurakin this year will be a graduate of a sports school, going to the army. And then he wants to return and become an assistant coach. The teacher continues in his student – and the Arsenyev family is a vivid confirmation of this.