Dinah Eckerle was the loyal Swabian in the handball Bundesliga long enough. She spent seven years in the gate of the Thuringian HC in Erfurt and two years with SG Bietigheim in her home region. The 26-year-old became German champion seven times before she realized that that couldn’t have been all.
In the past year and a half, Eckerle played for three clubs abroad: first in the Hungarian Siofok, then in the French Metz and now in the Danish Esbjerg. The faithful Swabian is suddenly on a European tour all over the world and has made interesting discoveries in the process. “In all three clubs there is a big difference to the conditions in the Bundesliga,” she says: “The structures are more professional than in Germany, and no other player there has any other job besides handball.”
This is exactly what is common in the Bundesliga. “Dual career” is what it means in technical jargon and is intended to give an appreciative assessment of what is actually detrimental to the quality of handball. The national coach Henk Groener blames the fact that the majority of the women’s national team still plays in the Bundesliga for the fact that Germany has not won a medal for 14 years. “Semi-professionals don’t win medals” is his motto, with which the Dutchman started his job in 2018.
The fate of the national coach depends on the performance at the World Cup
On Thursday the German handball players start against the Czech Republic (6 p.m., www.sportdeutschland.tv) to the World Cup in Spain. The national team wasn’t that hopeful for a long time. This is also because six of the 16 national players are involved in the Champions League: Eckerle in Esbjerg, Emily Bölk and Alicia Stolle at Ferencvaros Budapest and Alina Grijseels, Mia Zschocke and Amelie Berger at Borussia Dortmund. With Meike Schmelzer in Bistrita, Romania, a fourth national player is playing abroad.
In the past, German handball players were searched for with a magnifying glass in the knockout round of the Champions League. “Now German players are not only involved,” says Amelie Berger, “they are even successful.” All three clubs have their eyes on the knockout games. “We have taken a big step internationally,” said the Dortmund right winger happily and hopes that this will also be carried over to the German performance at the World Cup.
Dinah Eckerle is confident: “Our players who are experienced in the Champions League took a giant step in the last year, and we have to use this great potential now. It is not enough just to say that, in the end we have to put it down to them Bring the record. “
Dinah Eckerle is considered one of the best goalkeepers in the world.
(Photo: Marco Wolf / dpa)
Even the fate of the national coach is linked to it. Groener’s contract, which would have expired at the end of the year, was initially only extended until the end of April. Whether he will stay in office afterwards also depends on whether the team is convincing at the World Cup. Sports director Axel Kromer does not name a position by which he wants to determine whether the World Cup is a success or not. But he wants to recognize “a game idea” and see a certain “stability” and “further development” of relevant players in the course of the tournament.
National team captain Emily Bölk, who played in Buxtehude until 2018 and in Erfurt until 2020, but then moved to Budapest, can clearly describe what makes everyday life as a professional handball player in a top international club so different from that in Germany. “The hall in which we play and train is available to us without restrictions,” she says, “there are no schools in it, we could also train at eight in the morning.” As strange as that sounds, indoor space is actually an issue in the women’s Bundesliga.
“There is a gym next to the hall, we can go in there around the clock,” continues Bölk, “the staff is much larger, we have a physio and a masseur who are always there for us, a goalkeeping coach and an athletic Coach. We play and train with heart rate monitors so that the coach can see directly on his iPad who is breaking in. ” During the Corona season one was “chartered to away games”, reports Bölk and thinks that this is “a blatant luxury”. Every Champions League game will be broadcast live on Hungarian television, as will a league game on every match day. “With pre-run and post-run, that’s a bit like you know in Germany in football,” says Bölk.
Structurally, women’s handball in Germany “still has a long way to go”, believes Eckerle
In women’s handball, Hungary and Romania are countries where milk and honey flow. In spite of this, they will hardly play for the medals at the World Cup. The money, in some cases from the state, flows into the clubs, and international top stars afford them. Together with these, some of the German handball players are playing at a level that they now want to use against their clubmates at the World Cup. That’s the plan.
“Every year we play at a high level in the clubs is a year in which we also grow qualitatively as a national team,” says Emily Bölk. The only question that remains is whether the German team can keep their nerves under control this time and in contrast to previous years. The further a tournament went on and the more decisive the games became, the more erratic the team acted. “I hope that the more experienced players will bring in a certain routine this time, because a tournament like this is associated with nervousness,” says Bölk: “It’s a question of experience and self-image, and it also helps if the squad has a certain level Width. “
The German team is on the right track, but is still a long way from achieving its goal. “Structurally, women’s handball in Germany is not yet as advanced as in other nations,” says Dinah Eckerle, “Germany still has a long way to go.” Success at the World Cup could help find a shortcut. Because Eckerle believes: “With that we could attract a lot of girls to the clubs.”