Empower to Inspire: Stoica focused on best version of herself

Few players make a significant mark at their debut major championship. But Angela Stefania Stoica was one of the most exciting revelations of the Women’s EHF EURO 2024, where she played an important role for a Romania side contesting their first tournament since the retirement of the legendary Cristina Neagu.

Coming into Romania’s left back position, previously owned mainly by Neagu, would have been something of an intimidating task. Stoica and her fellow left back Bianca Bazaliu rose to the occasion magnificently, with both ranking among the side’s top scorers — Bazaliu as the lead while Stoica was fourth for the team at what was her maiden championship, netting 17.

While the EHF EURO 2024 was her first A national team event, Stoica is into her fifth season in the EHF Champions League, despite being only 21. Her first four seasons were with CSM Bucuresti, before she joined Rapid Bucuresti for 2024/25.

The dreams

Some players readily name their dream regarding handball as winning as many titles and medals as possible. While that is the case for Stoica, she is also grounded, focused on her own performance.

“When I was young, I used to say that I want to be the best player in the world. But later on, I realised that too much pressure comes with such aspirations. Now, my main goal is to become the best version of myself, constantly improving my performance while still having fun and enjoying the game,” says Stoica.

“Of course, I wish to win trophies and titles — who doesn’t? But in the end, this is what handball is about: Going to practice everyday, knowing that you love what you’re doing, and of course success will come naturally.”

The biggest challenge

Originally from Ploiesti, Stoica now resides in the Romanian capital, but when she first joined CSM the young left back was commuting to training on a daily basis, managing her developing handball career around school. Then the situation reversed, as Stoica’s parents moved to Bucharest so Stoica could pursue her handball dreams without the time lost to travel, while they instead commuted to their jobs in Ploiesti.

Stoica says that time travelling to Bucharest for training around her school commitments was one of the biggest challenges she has encountered.

⁠”Other than the injuries from my career, I think that my most challenging period was when I used to live and study in a different city than the one where I was playing. I used to go to school in my hometown in the first part of the day, then practice in the afternoon in Bucharest, which was 1.5 hours drive from my home,” recalls Stoica.

“My parents would drive me all the way to the training, wait for me, and then drive back home. They helped me a lot through this period. I would arrive at home at 10 pm, and then prepare for the next day of school.”

The biggest inspiration

Neagu is not only a legend in Romania. She is one of the game’s all-time greats — the record holder for career goals scored at both the EHF EURO and in the EHF Champions League. It is of no surprise that any young Romanian player would name Neagu as their biggest role model, and that is the case for Stoica.

The fact that Stoica had the chance to play alongside Neagu and observe the way she worked and trained every day, as well as her mentality around the game, only served to build that inspiration further.

“At the former team I used to play for [CSM], I think everybody knows that my teammate was Cristina Neagu, from whom I learned a lot of things. Playing the same position and training with her everyday helped me understand a lot about handball, and also about the mentality that you need to have to become a winner,” says Stoica.

The young women featured in the International Women’s Day 2025 series so far have all named a different male role model as well as their biggest inspiration in the women’s game. For Stoica, that player hails from Denmark, and was not only a role model on court but the reason for her choice of playing number on her Rapid jersey.

“Another role model of mine, this time from men’s handball, is Mikkel Hansen. I’ve always loved his style of playing and when I was young I was constantly trying to copy some skills of his. To be honest, I think that wearing number 24 in Rapid was slightly influenced by the fact that he had it,” concludes Stoica.

Photos: kolektiff images; Sabin Malisevschi; CSM Bucuresti