“Very educative”: Coaches praise EHF seminar ahead of EHF EURO

The head coaches of the 16 national teams competing at the EHF EURO are all busy preparing for the final tournament, which takes place on 4-20 November in Slovenia, North Macedonia and Montenegro.

Their preparations, however, are not only about finetuning the teams’ tactics or analysing the upcoming opponents. On Tuesday, the head coaches gathered online for a national team coaches’ seminar, set up by the European Handball Federation.

Regarding the changes to some rules introduced by the International Handball Federation per 1 July 2022, three EHF departments (EURO Events, Competitions, and Sport & Game Services) teamed up to offer a discussion platform to clarify the adaptations and its implications – not just for the referees and delegates, but also for the head coaches of all teams playing at the European Championship.

The agenda of the two-hour seminar included:

• Changes to the rules of the game, EHF EURO 2022 officiating line (Oyvind Togstad, EHF Technical Referee Committee member/Elite Referees & Delegates);
• Use of officiating technology at the EHF EURO 2022 (George S. Bebetsos, EHF Officiating Programme Coordinator)
• Communication: handball officials vs. players’ expectations (Grzegorz Wieclaw, EHF Expert, sport psychologist)

According to Bebetsos, it was important to bring the head coaches “in contact with the world of refereeing, for the latter to explain to them what and how the EHF EURO referees will whistle – the officiating ‘line’ – to inform them about the use of technological means in EHF EURO officiating, as well as the latest amendments to the Rules of the Game.”

It has given the head coaches a valuable look behind-the-scenes of the refereeing world.

“We opened the window to the realm of EURO refereeing and drew back the curtains so coaches could see what is inside,” said Bebetsos, adding the EHF is satisfied with how the seminar evolved.

“A fruitful discussion ensued with the coaches, as predicted, focused on the use of technology – particularly the Video Replay. They requested either additional explanations or its (even) wider application,” Bebetsos said.

“It was a highly engaging, enjoyable, and beneficial project that we should prioritise ahead of our major events, besides our ‘regular’ video clip issuing targeting to the EURO officiating line.”

The EHF has indeed hit the bull’s eye with this initiave, according to several head coaches who attended the online seminar.

“I am glad we had the first coaches’ seminar ahead of the EHF EURO,” said Croatia head coach Nenad Sostaric.

“Three important topics were covered, which will help coaches to prepare for the competition even better. I found a lecture by Grzegorz Wieclaw very interesting about relations and communication between coaches and referees,” added Sostaric, who led Croatia to bronze at the 2020 event.

“I hope this will become common practice in the future, and that we will have a chance to have workshops, too, to be able to share our experiences on these topics.”

Romania head coach Florentin Pera agreed with Sostaric’s feedback.

“It was explained to us how the video refereeing system works, what decisions can and cannot be analysed. Therefore, we are now prepared to start the tournament with all the knowledge in our minds,” said Pera, who will lead Romania at a major tournament for the first time.

“It was a very educative workshop from a coaching point of view. We were shown different situations that may happen on the court, were encouraged to keep a positive attitude towards the referees and delegates," Pera added.

"And, from my part, it was about finding out new things and applying them in game-like situations.”

photo Nenad Sostaric © 2020 Uros Hocevar | kolektiff images