RYT reaches new heights as sixth camp held in Vienna

Lindberg, Vranjes and Morros were all participating as RYT ambassadors for the first time, while Prieto and Kavticnik are well-established in the programme with three camps and numerous online ambassador sessions behind them. All five together have won 22 major titles across the EHF Champions League, Olympic Games, World Championship and EHF EURO.

Current Olympic and world champion Lindberg said that what inspired him to take part in the RYT programme was “this ability or this opportunity to give some of the things that I learnt along the way, pass it on to the next generation, and hopefully they can use it. If I can inspire just one of them to take some of my advice, and use that, that’s enough for me.”

RYT player Marko Grubisic Gojun from Croatia, said that meeting the ambassadors and hearing their stories was extremely valuable — perhaps even unexpectedly so.

“Their stories and their journeys towards the success is something that a lot of us here, players that are young, maybe not even seek, but it is good for us to first of all hear it, and then comprehend it. Because, at the end of the day, every athlete has almost the same path to success — it is a very complicated and tough road,” said Gojun.

That very path to success to which Gojun refers was the theme of the camp — specifically, “the player’s journey.” The camp encompassed training sessions as well as a “Team Talk” segment, where the players were divided into groups, each of which was assigned one ambassador, in order to discuss the training session topics further.

Training sessions included the topics manage your journey (dual career), fuel your journey (nutrition), stabilise your journey (mental fitness), protect your journey (sports law and anti-doping) and share your journey (interviews and social media). For each of the training sessions, one ambassador was paired with a topical expert, aiming for the expert and ambassador to simultaneously share their knowledge and first-hand experience on the given subject. The media, anti-doping and nutrition sessions included practical elements.

“I want to reach the top, definitely. It’s a hard task, I know, but there’s still time, and I think we are on the right path,” said Marin Krstevski in his interview during the camp. “The sky is the limit. With the advice we got from the ambassadors, I think that everything is possible. They shared their journey, so it is going to be helpful for us in the future.”

The topical experts were Wolfgang Stockinger for dual career, Bojana Jelicic for mental fitness, Hans Holdhaus for nutrition and anti-doping, Andreas Joklik for sports law, Xavi Vegas for social media and Simona Margetic for media.

Morros found the breadth of knowledge provided in the camp very useful from the perspective of a player, as his career taught him how there are many areas that impact your game.

“There's a lot of topics that affect your performance — your lifestyle; the way you eat; if you rest or you don’t rest; the way you handle pressure; your relationship with social media; situations off court, like legal situations. I think all these aspects off-court affect after players’ inside. And of course, at the end of the day, you need to perform on the court. You need to give your best. You need to bring up your potential on the table. But if the other parts are not correct, are not well addressed, it's difficult to perform the right way on the court,” said Morros.

The camp concluded with each team presenting their most important learning from the event.

“They are the future. And for me, that is one of the most important things for us, also here: That we give back,” said Ljubomir Vranjes of his first RYT camp. “We are so privileged that we could make a hobby into our job, and we should be really happy that we can do something like what we are doing but also give back.”

And what advice did the new ambassadors think most important to pass on to the aspiring handball stars?

“They have to ask the question, if it is worth it to do this, to become the new Nikola Karabatic. Is it worth it to be there? Are you ready to put in this? Are you believing in yourself?” said Vranjes, while Lindberg, very much in line with the RYT philosophy, commented:

“Take responsibility of your own career. That’s the main part, and it’s in every aspect. There’s nobody else doing it. It’s only you. Be honest to yourself, and take responsibility.”

RYT content at your fingertips

It is not only players attending the RYT camps or even players that are part of the programme that can benefit from the content designed to help young players control their own journeys through the sport — the expertise provided by the RYT is available for all through the app. The app is accessible for free via the App Store and Google Play Store.

The RYT app currently offers 24 specialised training sessions covering the topics that formed the agenda at the camp: Dual career, mental fitness, media, anti-doping, sports law, and nutrition. The goal is to equip aspiring professional handball players with the knowledge and strategies to navigate challenges in the sport, their education and their personal life.

The content was developed — and is continually developed — by a team of world-class handball players and top experts.

The RYT app is specifically recommended for players aged 16–21 years, their trainers and support staff.

WATCH THE HIGHLIGHT VIDEO HERE