Seventh edition of European Handball Manager in full flow

The seventh edition of European Handball Manager has started, with 18 participants completing the first two modules of the certificate programme in Cologne last week. Among them are four (former) players from the German Bundesliga.

The topic of leadership in sport has gained special significance this time.

European Handball Manager is a joint project of the EHF and German Sports University Cologne, which started in 2015. The throw-off to the latest course year has come less than two months after 11 participants from all over Europe successfully completed the sixth edition of the education programme in September – despite largely relying on online teaching.

Among the 18 participants of the current course are Michael Allendorf (MT Melsungen), Benjamin Meschke (TVB Stuttgart), Max Ramota (Bergischer HC) and Michael Spatz (TV Großwallstadt), who want to use the certificate programme to prepare for their second careers once retired from actively playing the game.

“MT Melsungen offer me an interesting perspective in the management area,” Allendorf says. “The part-time training at the Sport University Cologne to become a European Handball Manager is an ideal preparation for this. Beyond the transfer of expert knowledge and the strong practical relevance, I find the exchange of experiences with the other participants and the resulting networking opportunities valuable.”

The content of the European Handball Manager programme has been further developed with the integration of the important topic of leadership in sport.

Former world-class handball player Carlos Prieto and Raul Alonso, sporting director at HC Erlangen, raised awareness of the topic of leadership from their perspective and demonstrated its importance for sporting and economic success.

Based on this, Jacqueline Mueller from Loughborough University has analysed the participants’ individual leadership profiles in order to identify strengths and weaknesses. The analysis provides approaches for the further development of the participants’ leadership qualities.

“The coronavirus pandemic posed a major challenge to the continuation of the European Handball Manager programme,” says Helmut Höritsch, senior director of the EHF Competence Academy & Network.

“We at the European Handball Federation are even more pleased that we have been able to further improve and continue this offer together with the German Sports University Cologne.”

More information on the European Handball Manager programme is available here.