A Discussion on Handball
Julkaistu: 01.11.2017 00.00

A Discussion on Handball

A long exclusive interview with Boris Dvoršek

You surprised many people by coming to Finland and coaching for Pargas IF. Why did you choose Finland and PIF?

– When I got it the offer from PIF, my first opinion was that it is the big challenge for me. I was thinking on the next way – it is not hard to prove your (coach) quality when you have a good team and a good players, but PIF team can not be good if lost all 18 matches in the last season. Because of this I decided to accept the offer from PIF, I told to myself prove your quallity with no good team, come here and make a good team of PIF. It is not easy, we need time for this, but I am sure that we will succeed, and that we are on the good way. At this moment we are better than last season, but we have a lots of hard work on training in this season and the future.

Handball is quite marginal in Finland while being big in Europe? What do you think are the main reasons behind this?

– Finland has excellent conditions for handball – great infrastructure (sport halls), lots of kids want to play handball, kids have talent for our sport, here are great conditions for successfull training, people like handball and come to watch the matches, there is excellent organization in federation and clubs. But where is the problem?

– My opinion is that without great results of the Finnish national team, handball can not be so popular. But in this moment, reallity says, national team has no quallity for big results. In Croatia handball is very popular, the first sport behind soccer, but this popularity started after we took the gold medal in the Olympic games in Atlanta 1996. After this we took several medals like World Championships (2003) and Olympic Gold Medal (2004). Only because of these results handball is very popular [in Croatia]. These results of the national team, and also clubs, but all in international competitions, is very, very important. With the results come lots of things - more players, more kids, media, lots of spectators, lots of competitions, quality coaches, and much more money. In Finland you have good example in volleyball and lately in basketball.

What strategy should the federation and clubs pursue to make handball bigger?

– Strategy of the federation and clubs? It is not easy for me to tell something about this because I've been here only for 3 months. But my opinion is that Finland can be better in many things.

– First, the federation, in cooperation with the clubs, must make it plan and programme for the next 12–16 years (3–4 olympic cycles). Money is very important. You must have money for this plan and programme. With money, you can have professional coaches nad players. Without professional coaches and players there is no chance to make excellent results. When I talk about coaches, they can be from Finland and abroad, but foreign coaches must have a high level.About the professional players – I mean on domestic players; without excellent professional domestic players you can not get results with the national team. It is not good that Finnish clubs take the foreign professional players of average quality, in this case it is better to go with domestic younger players. Because of this I think that the federation must decide how many foreign players can play in clubs in the premier league and which quality of players (for example number of matches for their own national team).

– My opinion is that foreign players can play only in the premier leaque, not in division 1 and others. With professional coaches and players the league will be much better, handball will develop and in period of 12–16 years the national team can make it good result. This period can be 8 years, but for this you must have high level players today. With better league, clubs will have chances for better results in European competitions, which will develop the popularity of handball, with lots of kids, lot of matches, sponsors, media coming to handball.

– My opinion is that every week there must be one match on TV, always the same time and same day, so that everybody knows the time for handball. Clubs must have very good coaches, not only for the first team, it is most important that you have very good coaches for different age categories. Because of this the federetaion must organize a seminar for coaches every year. I'd like to see two seminars, one for high level coaches, for example 3–4 days, with 9–10 lectures with different lecturers, two coukd be from outside of Finland, but the others should be Finnish coaches, so that the federation can give a chance to all domestic coaches to represent and develop themselves. The second seminar should be for the coaches of different age categories, only for coaches who work with juniors, this seminar could be 2–3 days with lectures for that particular level of coaches. Federation must insist that all coaches have a licence and by attending the seminar you get the licence for the season. These seminars should always be in the same period of the season, always at the same time, for example in May or June or the beginning of September, before the league kicks off. If federation insists on licence, handball will get coaches with proper training. This creates better trainings, better kids, better teams.

– Next, the clubs must organize international matches for different age categories and every year teams should go on 1–3 international tournaments with different hanball schools (important!) – in Germany, France, Croatia, Slovenia, Spain and Denmark, Sweden, Norway. For example, Croatian clubs go on on 2–3 tournaments like this every year, parents pay everything, but we make a plan for this at the beginning of the season.

– The federation must have excellent coaches for the young age categories and make a plan for this. Some changes in the competitions could be made, for example a Final 4 tournament for the championship in all categories – duration 3 days, from Friday to Sunday). This would make for lots of good matches, lots of good players in one place at the same time, and could be very good for coaches of the national teams.

– The federation must organize handball camps for example in July or June. A camp for 3–4 categories, 6 days of trainings with good coaches for boys and girls, the same can be good for the national team coaches. On this camp everybody who want to comes should be accepted, and the coaches would make first selection at the camp. The fedraton could organize one international tournament during the season for different age categories for example with 8, 10 or 12 teams.

– These are many and big ideas, and it is not easy to organize this.

Coaching in former Yugoslavia is characterized by science and study? Is there in this Finnish handball and sports coaches in general could learn from?

– I think that most Finnish coaches are good. I also think that Finnish hanball must have its own Finnish Handball School. They can take and learn lots of things from different handball schools, from Sweden, Denmark, Croatia, Spain, Norway, France and others, but everybody must insist and make an own Finnish Handball School. That, I think, gives you the answer to the previous question.

Handball has developed into a much faster game with emphasis on speed and skill. In the 90s an offensive foul was almost impossible and defenders could tear shirts and grab arms without fear of progressive punishment. After a goal the game was restarted when the ball was in the middle without a chance for a fast attack. What do you think are the most important skills and qualities in a handball player today?

– Today the most important skills are strenght, coordination ,speed and speed endurance. It is very important that you learn players to play in both ways, defence and attack. The most important thing is that you have players who excel in tactical thinking in the full sprint. Because of this the level of technique is very important.

The game has become faster. How is training adapted to support this?

– So, training becomes faster, physical preparation is different , there is lots of running, lots of running with the ball (exercises for speed in specific handball situations and situations from the matches), lots of training in the gym, the selection of the players is different, you must find players who have the prerequites for modern fast handball. Recovery after hard training and matches is very important, the players must always be cool and relaxed.

You have been training Piffens junior teams during this season. Do you feel that coaches are up to par with the game?

– Yes of course. I made a plan and programme for the whole club and coaches for the different age categories, and we do trainings on the same way in all categories (exercises and intensity depends on category). We have really good coaches in the club. Every month we organize a coach meeting, where I teach the coaches about different handball topics. The excellent coach must learn to the end of the life. I give the coaches lots of information about the Croatian handball school and they give me information on Finnish handball and we learn and develop our knowledge together.

What do you think is good in Finnish handball junior coaching?

– The best thing is that there is no pressure, the juniors play handball and enjoy it. I like this. In Croatia there is too much pressure from the beginning. It is good that kids learn handball through different fun games, funny trainings and repeat once more with no pressure. It is very important that the kids always have a smile on their lips and are happy after training and can barely wait for the next training.

What would you like to improve in Finnish handball junior coaching?

– My opinion is that we must have more matches. Without matches, no good players. The best way to learn handball is to play handball. I also think that we can be better in learning technique. In the Croatian school of handball a player must learn everything about technique up until he is 16 years old.

What expecations do you have for the game on Wednesday?

– Honestly, I expect victory, like always. I also expect a hard match, it is a very important match for both teams. I am happy to compete with my friend Besim. My team has had good trainings, the players are better than last season, they do a really hard job on trainings, but what we really need at this moment is a victory. With this we will be much better in the future. I believe and hope that this victory will come tomorrow. I believe in my players and sure that they will play good tomorrow. We need to play our best match if we want to win. ÅIFK is good team with an excellent coach and I am sure that the match will be very good and interesting, and hope that many spectators will come and enjoy the game.


Boris Dvoršek

Boris "Bota" Dvoršek, born November 9, 1970, is a master handball coach from Zagreb. Boris is married with two daughters. Boris has a professional coach license with the Croatian Hsandball Federation and has a handball coach degree from the University of Zagreb, faculty of kinesiology. He is a lecturer at coaching in the Croatian Olympic Academy and at the coaches school at University of Sport and Kinesiology . Boris has coached youth and senior national teams since 1994 and has an impressive, over 20-year experience in coaching at the most demanding levels.

Professional experience (abbreviated to last 20 years)
  • 1 Aug 2017– head coach of Pargas Idrottsförening rf, Finland
  • 1 Aug 2016–31 May 2017 – head coach of ASV Eppan Handball Lowen (Italy)
  • 1 Oct 2015–1 Mar 2016 – head coach of RK Borac from Banja Luka (BIH)
  • 10 Mar 2013–15 Sep 2014 – head coach of HC ZAGREB Croatia osiguranje (now HC PPD Zagreb)
  • 1 Aug 2011–10 Mar 2013 – head coach of second team and coordinator of youth ages HC Zagreb
  • 1 Oct 2010–1 Oct 2012 – Assistant coach of Croatian senior National team (women)
  • 5 Nov 2011–1 May 2012 – Croatian national team coach U – 18 (men)
  • 1 Aug 2009 – trainer of HC Trešnjevka (women) in I A League
  • 1 Aug 2007 – trainer of HC Medveščak (men) in I A League
  • 1 Jan 2005 – trainer of HC Trešnjevka (women) in IA League
  • 1 Feb 2006 – head coach of Croatian U-17 National team (girls)
  • 1 Jan 2002–31 Dec 2004 – head coach of second team and U-21 team of HC Zagreb
  • 1 Oct 2000–1 Dec 2001 – trainer of HC Trešnjevka (men) in IA League
  • 1 Aug 1998–1 Oct 2000 – trainer of HC Karlovac (men) in IA league since
  • 2000–2001 – trainer U – 21 National team on qualifications for European Champhionship in Azerbaijan and for World Championship in Ukraine.
  • 1997–2001 – U-19 National team trainer
  • 1994–1997 – head coach U-17 National team
Achievements (abbr. to last 5 years)
  • 2014 – Croatian championship – 1 st place, HC Zagreb
  • 2014 – Croatian Cup – 1 st place, HC Zagreb
  • 2013 – Croatian championship – 1 st place, HC Zagreb
  • 2013 – Croatian Cup – 1 st place, HC Zagreb
  • 2013 – SEHA LEAGUE – 1 st place, HC Zagreb
  • 2012 – Croatian Championship 1st place (Cadets), HC Zagreb
  • 2012 – voted the best coach in the national championships
  • 2010 – 9 th place – European championship in Denmark/Norway, Croatian Women's National Team
  • 2011 - 7– th place – World championship in Brazil, Croatian Women's National Team
  • 2012 – 6 th place – London Olympi Games 2012, Croatian Women's National Team

Boris has coached top players, such as Denis Špoljarić, Vedran Zrnić, Igor Kos, Goran Šprem, Igor Vori, Zlatko Horvat and Ivano Balić just to name a few.

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