Andrew Liebner’s Journey From the ‘Last Frontier’ to the ‘Rainbow State’
Liebner -far left - in Sochi, Russia in 2014.
Before Andrew Liebner came to Hawai’i island, he lived in Austria in the Dolomite mountain range as a professional athlete in training. He was building the foundation of a coaching career by participating in biathlon training for cross country skiing and shooting. While in Austria, he was able to learn from some of the best coaches in the world. There he published his book Wild Shot which detailed why these international coaches were so good. He learned high level skills from Italian, Austrian, and Slovanian coaches, but was also a coach himself in the last two winter Olympic games. Liebner grew up in a small village in Port Lions, Kodiak Island, Alaska. Liebner’s parents were school teachers who had moved to Alaska to teach students from the Native population. His family, along with most other families in his village, had moved to Alaska without the rest of their family. His neighbors and classmates became his family, and his classmates were his siblings.
“Many people moved up to Alaska in the 70s and 80s, and many were remote from their families,” Liebner explained. “We all had a strong bond, like a family.” “Alaska is far away from the rest of the states, it’s part of the U.S. but not really,” Liebner said. His village was isolated, like many places in Alaska, and he had to drive all the way around the nearby mountain to get to another place. Because his community was so remote, Liebner remembers using the phrases “lower 48” or “going outside” to describe someone going out of state.
When Liebner was in second grade, he almost died from a volcano eruption. He spent time on a ventilator due to ash in his lungs. At his elementary school, named after the nearby Mt. Redoubt, he recalls seeing inches of ash all over the playground. “We ran around with masks on,” Liebner described.
Aside from the nearby volcano, Liebner also recalls the drastic weather of his hometown. He recalls “enjoying the feeling of the freezing part of fall, the dead of winter, and the warming of spring.” During the winter, stargazing was a favorite pastime. With no light pollution, the brightness of the stars was stunning. But during the summer, there was no night sky to observe stars in. In Hawai’i, stars can be seen year-round, and the little light pollution on the island contributes to the view. One thing that Liebner misses about Alaskan winters is the snow. “You can’t make a snow angel, but you can make a sand angel,” he said as he explained his favorite activities to do in Hawai’i.
When Liebner was in Austria he was one of the younger coaches in the Olympics, but he was able to coach cross country skiing to people from all over the world. In 2014, he coached the national team of Peru, and in 2018, Mexico. He explained his experience being similar to the “Cool Runnings” movie.
“I was able to take a good person recognized in their community, make a mission for them, and get them physically and mentally ready to compete against some of the best in the world,” Liebner explained. “I was really proud of them, I know the road they took to get there.”
Liebner in a September training session on a glacier in Northern Austria
Liebner obtained his early schooling in Soldotna, Alaska, before going to the University of Alaska Anchorage. He eventually transferred to Northern Michigan University for the rest of his undergraduate years. After obtaining his undergraduate degree and living in Austria he came to UH Hilo for graduate school.
Liebner is now in the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program that UH Hilo offers. He plans to be a high school coach after he graduates from UH Hilo, and he may move back to Europe or Alaska to coach.
“There are not many places that offer this (MAT) program. Normally, you have to integrate a few courses through your last years of undergrad to get a [teaching] license,” Liebner explained. “I am doing this one year program just to get [my] license, and I get a chance to teach at a school in my second year.”
Liebner is still coaching today, though remotely. He is currently coaching someone from Panama with the mission to go back into that nation, with the status of a celebrity athlete, and inspire youth to do positive actions.
Liebner - far left - in Alaska in 2007
“Part of the reason why the Panama athlete is getting sponsored is because I am focused on having a positive effect on people and supporting anti-drug use for kids. My main focus is who the athlete is impacting and how many people we can affect positively.”
Liebner’s large inspiration is the athlete Billy Mills from the Sioux tribe in South Dakota. Mills won the 10,000 meter run in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
“My goal was to build an olympic program in native communities so that they could march with their own flag in the olympic games,” Liebner said.
“Imagine if Hawai’i was able to create a team. They could compete for the US, or race under the native flag in the Olympic games. [Imagine the] waves that would resonate beyond that, people would know that story for decades. That’s the impact that I want to [have].”
Liebner exhorts that it just takes one person to put something together and do it. And in the process, you can inspire others with the opportunity.
Liebner - 3rd from right - in Pyeongchang, South Korea in 2018.