WNegotiations went on for a long time, but in the end Henk Groener and the German Handball Federation (DHB) couldn’t find common ground. After a good four years as the women’s national coach, the Dutchman is retiring with immediate effect. The 61-year-old will no longer be on the sidelines at the last European Championship qualifier in April in Greece.
“It was our will to continue the collaboration with Henk Groener, which has been going on for more than four years,” said DHB President Andreas Michelmann, “so we very much regret that we were ultimately unable to agree on a contract extension.”
Groener had succeeded Michael Biegler in the DHB women after the disappointing home World Cup in 2017. In all four tournaments led by the former Oranje coach, the German team was eliminated before the semi-finals, and the DHB women also missed the Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
In between there was stress, at the beginning of 2021 the long-time captain Kim Naidzinavicius (118 internationals) and line player Julia Behnke (85 internationals) resigned after a quarrel with the coach. Now Groener is gone too, and there is a new start.
DHB wanted to continue with Groener
It is the end of a lengthy process, the DHB had unusually only extended Groener’s contract by four months before the World Cup in Spain last December and announced a detailed analysis after the end in the quarterfinals. A decision was supposed to be made in February, but nothing came of it. It was only at the beginning of March that the association said it wanted to continue with the national coach, but the tough contract poker ended with the separation.
“We have been in intensive dialogue for several weeks and, as has already been publicly communicated, we would like to extend the contract with Henk Groener,” emphasized Axel Kromer, Sports Director at DHB. Unfortunately, they “could not find each other in terms of content”. The full focus is now “on the search for a successor”.
Time is of the essence, on April 20th the end of the European Championship qualification with hosts Greece in Chalkida is on the agenda. With a win, the DHB selection books the ticket for this year’s finals in Slovenia, Montenegro and North Macedonia (November 4th to 20th). After the 36:10 in the first leg, it should be a matter of form.
Due to the premature separation, Groener gave his farewell performance against his home country. Most recently, the DHB women had lost the two qualifying games against the Netherlands, as leaders in Group 3 without losing points, in Krefeld and Rotterdam.
Groener started in January 2018 with the clear task of developing the team step by step towards the top of the world. “Attack at the top in the medium term” (Kromer) was the goal. But even under the Dutchman, the longed-for medal games were not achieved in two World Cups and two European Championships.
