Vranjes reflects on overcoming disbelief from others

Vranjes joined the EHF Respect Your Talent (RYT) programme as an ambassador in January 2025, participating in his first camp that month, which was the sixth overall since the launch of RYT in 2019. There, Vranjes shared lessons learned through his career with the young players present, who are just starting their own journeys.

“I had a lot of obstacles. I was a small kid. Playing handball as a playmaker, 1.66 m, there were many people that didn’t believe. I had the luck that I had some people around me, the coaches, the club where I was playing, who saw something — I don’t know what, actually [laughs] — but they saw something that I had and believed in me, and showed that it is possible,” recalls Vranjes in an exclusive interview with the EHF.

One element many RYT ambassadors highlight is how they would have benefitted from such a programme in their youth — having access not only to top-level training but information about nutrition, mental health and recovery, to name just a few areas the programme addresses and that are covered in the various webinars and online sessions found in the RYT app.

“One thing the player now has is also the help, the regeneration, the athletic trainers, the nutrition, the mental health fitness coaches. We didn’t have anything. Yeah, we had a medical team. A masseur sometimes. It was like you get hurt and then you play. Today is totally different — they have professionals in every different aspect around as well,” says Vranjes, adding that, despite the fewer resources available, there was one very important step taken early in his career that helped guide his mentality:

“At 17 years old, I wrote down my journey, my career, in steps. I had a vision, I had a mission, then we had the goals of course, and the part-goals on the way. It was really like a staircase.”

Although he had the map drawn, Vranjes still faced obstacles as he made his way to the top. As he already highlighted, his height was one factor used against him by those who doubted. He says that maintaining steadfast belief in himself was ultimately the key to being motivated to put in the hard work and achieve his goals.

“I didn’t get a big role when I was 17, 18 years old. I played in the first league, but I was playing two minutes, five minutes, for two years, three years. But this patience, this belief that I also had in myself to prove...For example, one coach said to me: ‘You are too small to be playing handball. I think you should choose football instead.’ And that, as a 16-year-old, to hear was hard. And I don’t think someone should tell another person that it is not possible,” says Vranjes.

“You should experience, you should try, you should show your will. That made me sad, of course, and insecure for a moment, but then I decided in my mind that I will show everybody that it is possible. So, obstacles were there, but my belief and my will to work hard somehow won over the people that didn’t believe in me.”

To the rising stars, Vranjes advises making the most of the experience and expertise around them.

“The mind is incredibly important. As a young player, you will need help today with things. You will need help to get experience from the ambassadors, from the experts, because the hard work that is behind the players that are on top level, on a high-performance level,” says the former centre back.

“They have already reached a level, because they are here at Respect Your Talent. So, they are good. But patience, I would say, because it takes time. Consistency — you have to do it over and over and over for many months, years, to come to a level. It takes time. Believing in themselves, because we have different environments, we are different countries, different coaches, different ways of leadership in different countries. So we also have to be aware of that. But believing and putting in the hard work, I would say, and really do it.”

Photos: kolektiff images