A small player with huge skills

Things have gone fast for Trine Ostergaard over the past year or two.

She has become the first choice player on the right wing in her club, Women's EHF Champions League participants FC Midtjylland, as well as in the Danish national team, for which she was one of the key players when the Danes won bronze at the World Championship 2013 in Serbia in December.

'Fast' is also an adjective you inevitably have to attach to 22-year-old Trine Østergaard who often benefits from her speed in counter attacks for FC Midtjylland team and the national team.

She started playing handball at the age of eight or nine in Galten FS, a small club near Aarhus, where she played until 2007 when she moved to Ikast where FC Midtjylland have their home court.

However, handball is not the only sport in which she has proved her skills.

"I also used to play football, even at a pretty high level, but since I was 15, it has only been handball for me. I had to make a choice and I realised that I had more of a future in handball than in football," she tells ehf-euro.com.

"I still miss playing football from time to time, though, and therefore I enjoy when we play football as part of warming-up ahead of matches. We do that before every match, and I suppose I have to admit that I'm among the best at that," she adds.

No other team than FC Midtjylland

The right wing played an important part in the Danish national team that won bronze at the World Championship back in December 2013. It was the first time since 2004 that Denmark won a medal at a major women's championship.

"It was mega cool to be part of that. It was great just to be nominated, and winning a medal was a really great experience and a big triumph.

"It was definitely one of my greatest experiences as a handball player so far, but it has also been great to win medals with FC Midtjylland," says Ostergaard who gives her club a great deal of the credit for her success.

"Right now I can't see myself playing in any other club than FC Midtjylland. I simply love playing with my teammates there, and working with the coaching staff and the people around the team. I simply feel so well here," she says.

The bronze medal at the World Championship came as a surprise to many people, including many in Denmark, as the team was not even expected to reach its peak yet. The idea has been to peak at the World Championship 2015 in Denmark and at the 2016 Olympics.

Trine Ostergaard, however, was not all that surprised by the success in Serbia.

"Even though we won the bronze, I don't think we played as well as we actually can. I don't think that you have seen the full potential of the team yet.

"I am not sure if you will see it at the (EHF) European Championship in December this year, but I definitely hope we can top at the World Championship on home ground in 2015.

"After having watched the Men's (EHF) European Championship here in Denmark in January, I am really looking forward to being part of a similar event next year. It will just be mega great, so I hope very much that I will be nominated," she says.

Room for improvement in defence

While she thinks that the national team can still improve even further, she also sees room for improvement in her own play.

"I'm not the biggest among us handball players, and this means that I still have some shortcomings in the defence which I will have to work with, but I'm working on that already," says Ostergaard, admitting that her greatest assets lie in the attack.

"I'm fast and that's a good quality for a wing and, of course, I can benefit a lot from my speed in our counter attacks," says the talented winger who has some obvious ambitions regarding the club as well as the national team.

"My dream is to win the (Women´s EHF) Champions League with a club where I really love to play and also to win some more medals with the national team – and simply to develop as a handball player."

This is the fourth part of a new series powered by eurohandball.com and ehf-euro.com. In the weeks to come we will throw the spotlight on the many young female handball talents all around Europe that are likely to make an impact on the international stage in the months and years to come.

Part 1: Sweden's Maria Adler: "My time will come"

Part 2: Austria's Sonja Frey: A pair of coaching brothers paved her way to handball

Part 3: Shenia Minevskaja: Handball in her genes

Part 4: Koumba Cissé jumping into the spotlight

Part 5: Aniko Kovacsics: Step by step towards her dreams

Photos: DHF / EHF