Vaida Repečkienė made her debut on the international stage at the age of 50 representing the Lithuanian club and becoming one of, if not the, oldest debutant in the history of the EHF's club competitions. The line player admits that she felt "unusually nervous" ahead of her European debut despite the rich experience of playing in the domestic league over the years. But Vaida is used to feeling immense pressure and high adrenaline as she works as a nurse in the intensive care unit alongside her handball career, with both professions being physically and emotionally demanding. However, she is adamant that "when there's a will, there's a way", and that is her life motto.
"True, saving people's lives and scoring a goal are my sources of adrenaline. It can also be said that I experience similar emotions in both of my activities. Contributing to saving a person's life at work creates an indescribably good feeling inside, then you understand how important, responsible and necessary the medical profession is. After scoring a goal, defending or performing some positive action on the court for the team during the competition, satisfaction and even greater fighting spirit boils inside. I experience positive emotions in both areas - that's also what motivates me." says Repečkienė.
The Lithuanian fell in love with handball during her childhood or, more specifically, in fourth grade when she was only 10 years old. But then, she stopped playing at 21 and had a decade-long break from the game before resuming playing in her thirties. Vaida adds, "I was missing handball so much, so I just found the coach of the local team and started training again." She spent most of her career representing a club from her hometown called Šiauliai and joined Žalgiris Kaunas a couple of seasons ago.
When asked how she combines her job with playing professional handball she says, "I work as a nurse in the intensive care unit most days. After working shifts for 24 hours, I sleep a bit and go to training in my city with the local women's team. I recover while playing handball, I fly around the court. On the days before competitions, my teammates and I travel to Kaunas to join training with the Žalgiris' squad. Sometimes it happens that after working for a 24-hour shift, you have to rush to the competition on the same day, sleepless. There have also been cases of falling asleep in the bus on the way to the competition, getting ready for the fight and running out onto the court. And it's not difficult, because as I have mentioned, I forget the fatigue and feel great pleasure, tiredness goes away for these moments."
