Philipp Lahm, for example, or Manuel Neuer. And of course Thomas Muller. Christopher Bissel is one of a number of famous athletes, all of whom have realized their dream of becoming a pro at the ball. The handball player from HC Erlangen went through all the youth teams in his club, recommended himself to the second team for initial training sessions with the pros, and finally made the breakthrough – which is a unique selling point, at least in Bavaria. And that in the strongest league in the world, which cannot necessarily be said of the Bundesliga. The 26-year-old recently extended his contract with the prosperous first division club by three more years, and a long and difficult season will come to an end on Sunday with the home game against Balingen-Weilstetten. The topic of staying in the class was ticked off in the second half of the season, and some observers had given the squad, which was made up of prominent figures, a little more credit.
On the other hand, the traditional Franconian club can claim the greatest success in the club’s history: nobody thought they could reach the Final Four in the cup. Among other things, they got rid of the four-time cup winner SG Flensburg-Handewitt, a competitor with significantly better opportunities, not just financially. The left winger Bissel can claim a not inconsiderable share of it. Bissel is a leader, someone who always gives his all.
Bissel is a toxic defender, with the second most steals in the league in terms of ball wins these days. Almost 85 percent of his throws land in the goal, which is also an excellent value. “Chrissi is an emotional leader whose physical style of play is also extremely important because he can always inspire the whole team,” said HCE Managing Director Rene Selke recently when his contract was extended. What is particularly valuable for the club, however, is Bissel’s close connection with his hometown club. Born in Erlangen, he has a particularly good connection to the fans, after all he comes from among them. For a professional company, such emotions are worth their weight in gold, Selke also knows that: “Due to the close connection to his hometown, he is of course the identification figure for everyone in Erlangen. We are very happy that we can build on him for another three years.”
Bissel had to go through the steel bath of all talents – long trips away and then not a single minute of action
The path was not easy, even Bissel had to go through the steel bath of all talents on the way to becoming a professional athlete. Initially a footballer, he tried out handball at the base at his school – and got stuck: “When the effort became so great that you had to make a decision, I enjoyed handball more and the teammates were closer to me.” Bissel was always characterized by diligence and ambition. After youth he played for two years in the U23, parallel to the first team. Coach Robert Andersson brought him to the professionals. The Swede is an old school coach, young players had to work their way up. But also one who rewards performance, Bissel remembers: “He didn’t line up by name. If you did your best in training, he let you play.”
Bissel had a name. After all, father Carsten was the one who took over the club in a dilapidated state eleven years ago and made it what it is today. As chairman, he sets the direction, pulls the strings, but likes to stay in the background. The lawyer does not interfere in sporting matters, especially not with his son. Which wasn’t always easy. Carsten Bissel talks about trips away from home across Germany, where his son spent hours on the bus and then sat on the bench for the entire game. The father never intervened, for Christopher the name was only an issue at first: “Of course it was like that at the beginning. You generally have to prove yourself as a young player first. If there is still this background story, then it is looked at with a particularly critical eye looked at it. But it was never like I was blamed.” The topic never came up in the team cosmos, the constantly increasing performance soon made it disappear completely.
Emotional leader and identification figure: Christopher Bissel was born in Erlangen and has a particularly good relationship with the fans, as here after the victory in the round of 16 against Wetzlar.
(Photo: Wolfgang Zink/Imago)
Under Andersson’s successor Adalsteinn Eyjölfsson, Bissel made it into the starting lineup because left winger Martin Stranovsky was injured. The Slovakia international had arrived from Barcelona and was the club’s first big name, but Bissel’s performances were so consistent that the Iceland coach continued to count on him. Four years have passed since then. At the beginning of the second half of the current season, Raul Alonso took over as coach. Like his predecessors, he only has positive words about his left winger: “He’s a player who gives 100 percent every day, in every training session. Chrissi is highly professional and extremely ambitious.” Such players make a coach’s job easy, and Bissel has “made an extraordinary handball development in the past few months. He always surprises us with outstanding performances.” Alonso is “happy that I can continue planning with him”.
There is something else that makes Christopher Bissel a special professional: in addition to his sporting career, he has passed his second state exam in law. That too should be unique, and not just in Bavaria.
