New Master Coaches awarded at the Women's EHF EURO 2024

Organised by the EHF Sports and Game Services Department the course spanned months, starting with the first module at the Men's EHF EURO 2024 in Germany, and continuing for the second module at the M20 EHF EURO 2024 in Slovenia.

It all culminated on Sunday, with 22 participants from across Europe completing their final step towards the Master Coach certification, including Aleš Pajovic (the head coach of Austria men's national team), Peter Gulyas (former Hungary national team elite player), Ardean Elisei (former Romanian national team elite player), Paula Ungureanu (former Romanian national team elite player) and George Buricea (the head coach of Romania men's national team)

Over intensive seven days, coaches benefited from nine lectures, covering a wide array of subjects, focused on an interdisciplinary approach, prevention, analysis, practical coaching and communication, and it all ended with coaches presenting their thesis in front of the EHF Master Coach Course jury and being awarded with the title of Master Coach.

“In this new edition of the EHF Master Coach Course we tried to implement new methodologies and strategies in order to improve our participants experience over the course. We invested a lot in practical coaching – first in Celje with the men's demo team, now in Vienna with the women's – to give participants chance to be on the court, coaching and executing their training plans, while we analyse their feedback to players, methodologies used and reflect on that after training sessions with all colleagues and experts,” says João Pedro Monteiro from EHF's Educational Path and Sport Management.

“We also promote collaborative learning, working in group to allow them to open to new ideas, to head perspectives from colleague coming from different countries, and it worked very well. We think they acquire a lot of important coach competencies and we try to prepare our coaches for the reality of their jobs in every segment.”

Having 22 participants from 12 different nationalities means also a cultural diversity and a different approach to handball which can be beneficial for all parties involved. During the EHF Master Coach Course, 18 EHF Experts were involved, and their work was not only during the modules but they were also following up and helping participants throughout the year.

“A reformulation of the Master Coach thesis preparation was done, with the help of the EHF Experts that mentor each of the participants during the thesis written process. During the three modules, a total of 32 EHF Experts contributed with their expertise. The main purpose of this course is to provide a high-quality education to many participants coming from so many different national federation partners – we believe this contributes to the development of handball in their countries,” explains Monteiro.

“Some of our participants do not have the chance to get a Master Coach course in their country and here they can take the knowledge that they acquired to their countries. Others that have the opportunity in their countries, they still choose the EHF Master Coach Course because of the opportunity to be inserted in an international context: colleagues of 12 different nationalities; EHF EUROS and younger age category competitions; and EHF Experts of 19 different nationalities,” adds Monteiro.

After an introductory first day, the second day commenced with three-time European champion Ljubomir Vranjes sharing insights on sports management and the complexities of leading a professional club. A closely connected topic on dual careers was led by Pajovic, Gulyas and Elisei who emphasised balancing sports and post-playing careers.

“Dual career is important. I had luck that my dual career was closely connected to handball, my wife and I am lucky we were able to pursuit that. When I was a player dual career was not in focus and it’s good new generations can have mentors and understand there should be something else. You never know what can happen – injuries, you don’t make it and then you don’t have a plan. So studying is equally important,” says Pajovic.

Later, Tanja Šarenac, a physical performance and strength and conditioning (S&C) coach with over 25 years of experience, working alongside athletes and experts across various sports, then took the floor, focusing on how tailored physical preparation can unlock peak performance.

“The EHF Master Coach course is a treasure trove where coaches can, not only access cutting-edge information, but also exchange and refine their ideas and coaching philosophies. It’s the place where handball coaches get an inside look at methodologies from other disciplines, and how these ideas can be used to shape the next generation of players and teams. Personally, lecturing at the Master Coach programme has been a constant source of inspiration,” Šarenac says.

“My journey as a lecturer began back in 2018 and since, I've been on a mission to emphasise something vital: handball and S&C training are not two separate entities, they are two sides of the same coin. The best S&C methodologies should complement, and at times, fine-tune the principles of handball training – and vice versa.

“My goal has always been to bridge that gap, translating fundamental training principles and sports science evidence into practical, real-world examples. Not just from handball practice, but from a variety of sports.”

For Šarenac, the role of a handball coach goes beyond just tactical and technical skills.

“A great coach needs to be well-versed in these foundational principles, able to communicate seamlessly with other performance staff, and even weave these insights into their own daily coaching practices,” she says.

On Wednesday, Dr Marta Bon, former Slovenian player and coach, and vice-chair of the Women's Handball Board, talked to the participants about individualisation and the importance of planning in coaching. Later, Croatia beach handball national team head coach Mladen Paradžik tried to bring beach handball closer to indoor handball and highlighted the benefits beach handball could have for the players. Hans Holdhaus concluded the day with an interesting topic about anti-doping and what are the responsibilities of the coaches.

The final two days before thesis presentations were devoted to practical coaching and long-term player development. Dr. Patrick Luig, a member of the EHF Methods Commission, focused on all segments of fast play in elite handball covering the theory on day one, while on the second day coaches had a chance to transfer the theory to the on-court experience.

Zoltán Marczinka’s session on long-term athlete development provided a framework for nurturing talent over time and ensuring sustainable success, while Jacqueline Mueller finished by sharing her expertise on strength-based reflection and action and coaching profile sports management.

The final chapter of the EHF Master Coach course showcased the participants' dedication and expertise as they presented their thesis. After engaging in discussions and covering interesting topics, the coaches successfully completed their journey. EHF Methods Commission chairman Pedro Sequeira led the awarding ceremony, where each participant received their Master Coach title, a significant milestone in their career.

“In my opinion, this Master Coach course is important for all coaches to meet, learn something new and exchange ideas. We had a very interesting three weeks this year and very good lecturers.

“Some topics can be real eye openers. For me personally, it’s good to see in which aspects I could get better. Still, my favourite parts were practical trainings and group tasks, being on a 40 by 20 court. That’s my thing. We were a bit nervous when it came to thesis presentation, but it’s normal given I hadn’t had an exam in many years,” concludes Pajovic who also received his Master Coach title.

Photos © EHF/kolektiff