Vilstrup Andersen: making beach handball dreams come true

“But I am not complaining at all,” he promptly adds. “It’s sometimes hard to find a balance between my love for that sport and the fact that I am planning every single holiday that I have for playing it. My mum sometimes tell me I can’t go on like this forever.”

Since he was young, Vilstrup Andersen’s dream was to become a professional handball player, and to make a living out of his passion. In that perspective, moving to Hildersheim in 2020 was a big move. But a couple of months later, as the German club was not too keen on letting him play beach handball with the Danish national team, the former left back decided to leave.

“It was a huge sacrifice, because this kind of contract was something that I worked for since I was five. It’s almost as if a normal person said, ‘I’m leaving my job to focus on my passion in which I’m paying for everything and that is not giving me any income’,” he says. “But in the meantime, beach handball is giving me experiences that will last for the rest of my life.”

Beach handball has given Vilstrup Andersen titles, as he was twice crowned European champion with Denmark, in 2019 and 2021. Medals that, when he was a kid, the right-hander would only have dreamt about.

“To represent your country is of course a goal when you are a young competitive athlete. But it’s something to dream about it and something else completely to actually achieve it,” he explains. “If you had told me 20 years ago that this would happen to me, I probably wouldn’t have believed it.”

Vilstrup Andersen has become such a stalwart in the Danish national beach handball team that he is now the player with the most caps and goals scored. But not only that, but he sometimes gets recognised in the street. But he is not too used to having his selfie taken yet.

“It happened a couple of weeks back, and my first reaction was to ask if the kid was serious. It’s kind of hard for me to understand,” he smiles. “But in the meantime, I hope that I can show the younger generations that you can follow your dreams if you are willing to commit to them 100 per cent.”

Vilstrup Andersen also appreciates the fact that he can actually share his passion with his family. He used to play beach handball with his brother Ronnie in the team, and his parents and some other members of his family have been following the Danish national team around.

“They’ve planning their holidays to come and see us play, which I think is fantastic. They came to Greece, Portugal or Qatar, places they never would have been to if it wasn’t to see my brother and me play beach handball. It’s fantastic to be able to share your passion with your loved ones,” he says.

The Vilstrup Andersen family will, of course, be travelling to Portugal in May, where Denmark will try to win a third gold medal in a row at the Beach Handball EURO.

“It will be interesting, as some teams might be affected by the indoor season still being played. I know Spain will be a tough opponent, as will be Croatia or Hungary,” Vilstrup Andersen says.

The opportunities and excitement provided by beach handball are enough to make Vilstrup Andersen think it was worth going back to Denmark in 2020, taking a job as a carpenter, “that I had no ability in, but one in which my boss was OK to let me take time off to play beach handball” to make a living.

And the best Danish scorer in the history of beach handball is not ready to give up his crazy way of life yet.

“I hope to keep on playing for many years to come, I’m not ready to retire. But not only do I want to be part of the next chapters of the Danish national team, but I also want to play a part in it.”

photos (c) Uros Hocevar, Sasa Pahic Szabo / kolektiff