Iversen and Ikast look to finish off a perfect season

"We are going 100 per cent for the gold, but we don’t know the two German teams [BVB Borussia 09 Dortmund and Thüringer HC] well. I haven't followed what they've been doing at all, and I don't really know what they're coming up with either,” says Iversen, assessing the other teams in the finals.

“We know Nykøbing and have met many times. But it's a different tournament here, so anything can happen in these matches. I think we're in a good place and have been quite convincing so far, so if everything goes as it should, we can at least get through to the final and then we'll see what happens there,” she adds.

“I would like to play the EHF Champions League again, but when you don't do it right now, you have to get as far as possible in the next best tournament. And I want to say that winning an EHF title is exactly what I lack in the medal cupboard. So, personally I think it's quite important. I'm missing that on my CV," says the experienced line player.

When Iversen says she knows Nykøbing Falster Håndbold she is not exaggerating; she began her career at the club before moving to Odense in 2012; after returning to Nykøbing four years later, Iversen got to play the EHF Champions League with them in 2017/18.

She has now been at Ikast since 2018 and the club has supported her through her pregnancy and birth of her son Elliott in January 2021. Despite suffering several injuries earlier in her career, Iversen says giving birth and returning to handball afterwards was “completely fantastic” and at the same time one of the hardest things she has been through.

"It was very much about the mental and psychological. It was in such a way that you didn't quite know where you stood or what to expect. Because there wasn't a plan to follow. When you have to come back from a cruciate ligament injury, for example, there is a fairly measurable plan. It wasn't really the case after the birth,” says Iversen.

After around five months of rehabilitation, Iversen could finally glimpse a comeback on the handball court.

"I was back when we played the Danish Cup final in Odense in June 2021. I remember how the whole arena went crazy when I entered. We had to face Copenhagen, but Nykøbing also had to play, and since it's my old club, all their fans were there. Then the roof lifted on the hall, as almost the whole of handball Denmark had followed my fight to get back to the handball court. At that time, I finally felt a sense of redemption that I could return to the handball court,” she remembers.

But that was not the end of the comeback process.

"Of course, I had started training before, but I was not in really good running shape or in good enough physical condition to be able to participate properly or make a difference. During the summer I went all in to come back strong and good. So, when everyone else was going on holiday I started my pre-season,” Iversen adds.

“I had four or five weeks, when there was no vacation for me, as it was hard training that was on the programme. I was still not 100 per cent ready after the summer break, but I was able to participate in all the training sessions, just in a little worse shape than everyone else. But I moved an insane amount that summer," says Iversen.

Elliott is now two years old, and Iversen has found a way to balance being a mother with being a professional handball player.

"It requires a bit more planning, and it requires a whole lot of other things than you have been used to. Before, I thought it could be hard if you didn't sleep properly after a match, and that you then had to get up and have a training session. Then you could be a little tired and stuff like that. I have now gained a completely new perspective.

“It really requires a lot in a different way to be a mother - and not least a completely different structure. But at the same time, it has also given me the world's greatest respite. I really love it. I can also enjoy it in a different way when I'm away. There is not one workout that is taken for granted in any way, because it is simply where you recharge, and also where you allow yourself to think about something else – and that has really given me a lot," Iversen says.

Now her attention, and that of her teammates, turns to Graz and Ikast’s semi-final against Thüringer HC on Saturday 13 May at 15:30 CEST. A win would see the Danish side just one step away from lifting their first European League trophy, and give Iversen hopes that she will fill that gap in her CV.

Ikast in the spotlight in the Spin show

Don't miss the chance to learn a lot of behind-the-scenes information on the EHF Finals Women 2023 when the regular Spin show on the Home of Handball Twitch features Ikast's goalkeeper Jessica Ryde on Monday 8 May at 18:00 CEST.

Photos © Frederik Dahl, Hamistolen