10 female stars that empower to inspire

Barbara Arenhart

A stalwart and history-making goalkeeper for her national team and a self-described nomad when it comes to club handball, Barbara ‘Babi’ Arenhart can be summarised in two words: Resilience and joy. Life brings challenges, and Arenhart has faced more than her fair share, yet has learned it is all about simply continuing on and finding the beauty in the process.

Rinka Duijndam

For Rinka Duijndam, handball in its early years was all about fun. Navigating the world of professional sport brought new focuses and as she tried to find her place there, Duijndam ended up losing her joy in the game and ultimately herself. Come back stronger from a burnout, she found both again after a rewarding journey.

Joyce van Haaster

Once a promising handball talent, Dutch goalkeeper Joyce van Haaster had to start her career – and her life, for that matter – from scratch again following a severe disease. She succeeded with flying colours and is now an international icon of wheelchair handball.

Andrea Lekic

Andrea Lekic is a player with a recognisable style of play and a true professional – and one of only four players to have scored more than 1,000 goals in the EHF Champions League. The ever-present force of European handball does not only inspire on the court but also off the court. Lekic is dedicated to the work with children and young stars of our sport as a Respect Your Talent ambassador.

Diana Lixandroiu

Being an inspirational athlete has nothing to do with age – take Diana Lixandroiu, one of the up-and-coming stars that helped Romania shine last summer at their home Women’s 19 EHF EURO 2023. The 18-year-old left back plays the same position as the biggest star of Romanian handball – Cristina Neagu – and doesn’t shy away from any comparison with her idol.

Katrine Lunde

Record seven-time EHF Champions League winner. The most capped player in EHF EURO history. A champion. A role model. A legend. Katrine Lunde is a star that never stops shining. Becoming a mother or having to recover from a potential career-ending knee injury has never put an end to he career, as the Norwegian goalkeeper does not think about stopping – only about stopping balls.

Daniela Mendes

Portuguese beach handball player Daniela Mendes credits the sport she fell in love with at first sight with giving her joy and meaning after a tough start in life. Born in the beachside town of Matosinhos, north of Porto, she had to become independent very early on. When her mother suffered a stroke, she took care of her younger brother. “In the blink of an eye my life took a 180 degree turn,” she says. “But handball made me a much happier person.”

Mothers on the ball

On the court, they are heroes who decide games by throwing a ball with over 100 km/h and scoring crucial goals. Or by throwing themselves in the line of those shots. Off the court, they are hard-working stars proving that women do not have to choose between their careers and motherhood. In fact, they can have both and pass all tests and challenges with flying colours. Meet the mothers in modern handball.

Nora Mørk

As a youth player she was “a brat,” in her own words. Of course, Nora Mørk went on to become one of the most loved all-time greats of the sport. She has impressed the world of handball over and over again, not only on the courts, but also by overcoming countless knee injuries and getting back to the top of her sport each time. “I didn’t want to come back and just be a decent handball player, I wanted to come back and be amongst the very best,” Mørk says.

Bojana Popovic

The Montenegrin star player that kept shining in handball well after her retirement, Bojana Popovic has proven that women, and mothers for that matter, can succeed in a career that might seem doubtful to others. "For women, it can be hard. After you finish your playing career, many of us want to become mothers. You lose a couple of years there, then if you want to start a coaching career, it takes a couple of years too. Many of them give up, unfortunately." Popovic didn’t, fortunately.

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