Nepela became interested in skating after watching the 1958 European Championships on television — Karol Divín won the men's title for Czechoslovakia. In February 1958, his mother brought the seven-year-old to a Bratislava ice rink. After two weeks, she approached Hilda Múdra to complain that her son was being ignored by the instructors and Múdra agreed to teach him. She described him as a diligent and punctual student. Nepela trained at the Slovan Bratislava club.