Trailblazing the future of European handball management

The newly founded European Handball Manager Course aims high, as it intends to connect the academic approach to the world of sport and handball in particular with the daily challenges managers in this area face continuously.

Following a three-months long self-study period, the first phase with all participants present at the German Sport University in Cologne has concluded, and the participants’ impressions are nothing but positive.

"This course offers the great opportunity to implement basic knowledge into our daily work," said Axel Geerken who is the club manager of Bundesliga side MT Melsungen.

"This course is a must-do for everybody who wants to work or currently works in handball management," said Christian Fitzek of HSV Hamburg.

TSV Hannover-Burgdorf manager Benjamin Chatton praised the course lecturers: “All of them play in the first league of their respective field of work.”

Grit Jurack, three-time winner of the Women’s EHF Champions League and the German national team manager, called the course a "comprehensive package for handball managers." She added: "You learn a lot and on top you expand your professional and personal network."

Holger Glandorf, VELUX EHF Champions League winner with SG Flensburg-Handewitt in 2014 and the only active player participating, was impressed as well: "This study is an important cornerstone for my future career plans."

The EHF and its partner, the German Sport University, were happy with the start, too: "It is the right way to contribute to this study by investing into the successful future of handball and its management," said EHF Secretary General Michael Wiederer.

"Our trailblazers as European Handball Managers are a great group. Already the first presence phase showed the different perspectives, on which we can build on in the future."

The first two modules touched on basics of sport laws, sport economics, team sport governance and handball management. Questions such as "What are the tasks of a sports arbitration board?", "What are the general structures and interrelations in European handball?", "What means added value in terms of handball?", "What are the consequences of cartel law for handball?" or "How can clubs and federations implement compliance regulations and good governance?" were on the agenda.

Course lecturers included Sylvia Schenk (Head of the Working Group on Sport at Transparency Deutschland), Prof. Dr. Martin Gutzeit (Professor of Civil Rights, Employment and Social Law at the Justus Liebig University Giessen), legal adviser and former national team goalkeeper, Andreas Thiel, and EHF Secretary General Michael Wiederer.

The course continues with another two self-study periods and two on-site phases in January and May 2016 followed by the oral and written exams.