Pro Ankle Challenge

My name is Raivis Hščanovičs

I was born in 1987 in Riga, and spent my childhood between Ķengarags and Jūrmala. I studied at Riga's 6th Secondary School.

My life story took a completely different turn very early on than one might expect from a child.

At the age of 7, I was diagnosed with an oncological illness.

Then, at the age of 9, football entered my life.

Of course, at that time, I couldn't have known how much of my future life it would take up. Football became my passion, later my profession, and ultimately, one of the greatest teachers of my life.

⚽ FOOTBALL

My football career took me from a child who simply wanted to play football to professional sports.

It involved victories, losses, teams, games, travels, injuries, and a great many life lessons.

I have described part of this journey in my autobiographical book "Vēzis un Uzvaras" (Cancer and Victories).

The book is not just about football. It's about a period of life from childhood and the fight against illness to professional sports, successes, mistakes, and experiences that have shaped me into the person I am today.

And with the first book, this story doesn't end.

My plans include a sequel to "Vēzis un Uzvaras", and I also want to publish the book in English so that people outside Latvia can read this story.

Therefore, by purchasing my book, you not only get to know my story but also support my future writing journey and the creation of subsequent books.

🎓 MY EDUCATIONAL PATH

My educational path has not been a straight line.

At the age of 18, after secondary school, I enrolled at RSEBAA to study management.

At the same time, I received an opportunity to join Skonto's main team. Before me was the opportunity I had dreamed of – professional football.

I quite quickly realized that at that stage of my life, I didn't have enough resources to fully combine higher education studies with a professional football career.

I chose football and discontinued my studies.

At the age of 24, I returned to higher education again and enrolled at Alberta College to study law.

After about half a year, I understood something quite simple – this was not my path. Working with laws, documents, and papers was not what I wanted to associate my professional life with.

Later, I enrolled at the University of Latvia in the sports coach study program. Due to personal life circumstances, I also had to discontinue these studies after a few months.

However, this time the direction was right.

Sports, the training process, and working with people is the environment where I want to develop professionally.

Therefore, I continued my professional education in sports purposefully.

I have obtained a Category C fitness trainer qualification, and also continued my football coaching education at the Sports Education Agency, obtaining a Category C football coach qualification.

Currently, I am also completing the process of obtaining my Latvian Football Federation C license – the theoretical part is finished, and the final practical steps remain.

And I don't plan to stop here either.

For me, coach education is not just a certificate on the wall. It is continuous learning – both from formal education, other specialists, athletes, and the training practice itself.

🏃 WHAT AM I DOING TODAY?

Currently, I work as a football coach and fitness trainer, with a special focus on working with children and young people.

I am increasingly interested not only in what an athlete can do, but also in how they move and on what physical foundations their athletic performance is built.

That is why in my work I pay great attention to general physical preparedness, movement quality, strength, mobility, foot and ankle function, and the athlete's understanding of their body.

At the same time, I haven't left football myself.

I have resumed my football career and am currently participating in the development process of Rēzekne's first league team both as a coach and as a player.

This gives me an interesting perspective – I can still look at the training process from both sides of the field.

Both as a coach. And as an athlete.

WHY AM I DOING ALL OF THIS?

Because today I have knowledge and experience that would have been very useful to me at the ages of 9, 15, 18, or 25.

I have experienced illness.

I have played professional football.

I have experienced serious injuries.

I have made mistakes.

I have started over.

I have been an athlete and become a coach.

And now I want to use this experience to help future athletes build their path more wisely.

No coach can run a sprint, do an exercise, or make the right decision on the field for an athlete.

But we can give them knowledge, tools, and foundations upon which to build their path.

That is exactly what I am trying to do today.