Traveling in the team bus is not possible: Ambri coach Cereda suffers from anxiety disorders

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It’s just before midnight on Saturday. Ambri coach Luca Cereda and his sports director Paolo Duca are on their way from Biel to Ambri after the 2-3 defeat. In a private car. There is a special and moving reason for this: Cereda has been suffering from anxiety disorders for ten years. They make it impossible for him to travel to away games on the team bus.

“He’s a control freak.” Duca can say that so bluntly about Cereda. The 42-year-old is not only his team leader, but also his friend. And this has been the case for more than 30 years. When the two Ambri makers took their place at their heart club in 2017, it was clear to Duca: “I will not let Luca ride alone, I have even forbidden him.” Since then he has only missed two away games, on his wife’s 40th birthday and because he was abroad once. On the return journey, another staff member boarded as a passenger.

Long-term consequences of heart surgery

Last October, after a late race on a Sunday in Geneva, a first happened: Cereda let Duca, who was usually the passenger, take the wheel. And thus relinquishes control for the first time. “He was really tired. He even slept next to me.” This is enormous progress. Because Cereda has been working on his problems for a long time with the help of a psychologist. “My goal is to one day ride with the team bus again,” says the 42-year-old. “As part of the team. But I’m not there yet.”

The father of the family took the next step in this direction at the beginning of December before the last Ticino derby: he boarded at his home near Bellinzona TI and traveled with the team to Lugano. Cereda controlled the 40-minute ride. “A huge improvement,” says Duca. Next time the coach might want to try it in a match against EVZ. Train is the next nearby enemy.

Cereda is used to long bus rides from his three AHL seasons (St. John’s Maple Leafs, 2001-2004) in Newfoundland. But even then they were not pleasant for the former striker. He hasn’t had any panic attacks yet, which surprises him today. Because his anxiety disorders are attributed to the heart surgery he had to undergo in 2000 due to a heart defect. According to his psychologist, such problems can occur as long-term effects in people at different intervals after surgery. At Cereda they only start ten years later. It’s not difficult for him to talk about it.

He thinks it’s the loss of control that’s bothering him. Sitting on the bus, but not being the driver. The consequences are stomach pain and nausea. Cereda briefly tries sedatives, but soon realizes that it takes him less energy to drive to away games in his own car instead of constantly battling the anxiety.

‘We’ve never had an argument’

Cereda and Duca are each the first Biancoblu to arrive at the opponent’s stadium. And the last to go home. They always wait for the team bus to leave. Nevertheless, the coach and sports director for the team are back in Ambri. “I wait in the locker room for the players to arrive,” says Cereda, “in case any of them want to talk to me about something.” Conversations that other coaches could also have in the car.

What else happens in the Ambri car? “After defeats like now, it is a bit quieter,” reveals the longest-serving NL coach. “We will go over the match again.” The duo makes optimal use of this time. “We discuss the players’ performances and plan the training sessions.” Hockey is the main subject. It is an intensive exchange, ‘a discussion, a confrontation’, says Duca, ‘we are alone, no one bothers us.’ Sometimes they will ring or be called by one of the assistant coaches on the team bus.

The personalities of the two Ticino residents couldn’t be more different. Cereda is attentive, Duca is emotional. “It helps that we are best friends,” says Duca, “Luca is a good listener. I can’t just listen and say nothing for so long.” They form a unique combo that creates unique memories with their carpool during the countless hours in the car. “We spend more time together than with our wives,” they joke. And That will never be too much for them? “No, we have never had an argument before,” says Cereda, before saying goodbye after midnight and going back to analyzing the match with Duca.

Source : Blick