What do 50 enthusiastic young handball players do on vacation? They go to school. The youth department of the Kunstadt handball community went to the Altenkunstadt Kordigasthalle during the autumn holidays. The coach was the former handball national goalkeeper Chrischa Hannawald. He had invited people to his “handball school” for three days.
Celebrate the goal together
“When we asked Chrischa Hannawald whether he would set up his well-known “handball school” with us, we didn’t know that so many of our young players would register for it,” said Irene Dinkel-Dill from HG Kunstadt. In the Kordigasthalle, the goalkeeper turned out to be a down-to-earth star with 436 first division appearances. Hannawald had left his trademark at home for his guest appearance at Obermain. During his active career, the 53-year-old European runner-up in 2002 was also known for standing between the posts in shorts. In Altenkunstadt, Hannawald appeared casual in his tracksuit and baseball cap. However, his training style was anything but “casual”, which the 50 HG Kunstadt players and their guests internalized from the first minute.
Former national goalkeeper Chrischa Hannwald presented himself as a “touchable star” for three days in the Kordigasthalle opposite the handball talents from Obermain.
Snap your fingers three times and there was immediately silence in the Kordigast hall. All eyes were on the almost 1.90 meter tall giant.
Professional goalkeeper gives important tips
Some educators may well be jealous of so much natural authority. This was not only well received by the children, but it was also the basis for intensive training. But the main focus of all of this was fun.
The trainers at HG Kunstadt quickly noticed the great progress of their offspring. “Handball is a team sport that is not about racing around the hall as a lone fighter, but rather about seeking success together,” is Hannawald’s credo. That’s why handball was dispensed with in some units. Instead, a small foam ball was used, which you had to quickly pass to your teammates.
“You can’t wait for the ball to come to you. You always have to actively approach the ball,” says David Delp, one of the three licensed handball coaches at the Chrischa Hannawald Handball School.
Whoever decided to go it alone was forced to do three push-ups by the professional goalkeeper. “It’s great to see how you look after each other and keep an eye on everyone despite the different age groups,” praised Chrischa Hannwald.
In addition to the three trained trainers, many helping hands from the ranks of HG Kunstadt were responsible for the handball school “experience”. As trainers, Tanja Dill, Christian Hahn and Caroline Fürst, for example, are on the field at least once a week anyway.
Numerous children and young people experienced both strenuous and fun training with the ex-national player. Photo: Matthias Schneider
There they teach the “minis” or teams from the mixed E-youth to the male D- and female C-youth how to play handball. Despite being exhausted, the children were highly motivated to complete the next training session with Chrischa and his team at 9 a.m. sharp, reported Tanja Dill. A big thank you also went to the sponsors Christian Klemenz, Rainer Dinkel and the Leikeim brewery. “HG Kunstadt is a great club with a lot of talent and an outstanding team in the background, where “community” is really important,” said Chrischa Hannwald at the end.
At the end, the athlete gave an autograph session and promised that we would definitely see each other again on or off a handball field.
By Matthias Schneider
