DAVIDAVIS
Coach Telekom Veszprém
The ability to react, to adapt and resilience have always been highly valued and to some extent essenNal qualiNes in the profile of a handball coach. It is clear that not even the best planning in the world is capable of controlling the random effect of injuries and structural crises fuelled by results that are difficult to explain, but one can count on that. Somehow, the fragility of our sporNng structure, with finances held by strings in most of the clubs and unprofessionalised direcNves, trains you in improvisaNon, survival and daily work. The job and the salary go with it. Coaches, at least in theory, have the weapons to plan transfers according to different calendars and also to design strategies against injuries, the millimetric organisaNon of physical preparaNon, the most complex tacNcs and the most versaNle systems of play. In short, a great arsenal. Yet we never visualised how to deal with a pandemic. Who could do it? In Hungary, confinement to curb the Coronavirus also came in mid-March 2020. The closing of borders, the educaNon system at home and the limitaNon of social, economic and commercial acNviNes from levels of contagion much lower than in countries like Spain ensured that the first wave broke without major casualNes or damage beyond economic shreds. We will only know this with the passage of Nme, which has not been long.
HANDBALLINPANDEMIC COMPETING AGAINST THE UNCERTAINTY
At that time, national and international competitions were suspended without anyone being clear about the consequences or the outcome. With that degree of uncertainty and the limitations of the closure - which did not allow the use of sports facilities or team work - physical preparation to at least maintain fitness levels became a priority. I like to remember how all club members joined forces to deal with a highly stressful situation in which fear management in the face of an unknown health threat was mixed with the unpredictable economic effects. Each player received a personalised exercise plan from our physical trainer, just as the nutritionist provided the necessary dietary advice to compensate for the elimination of competition and training routines. The predisposition of the athletes was absolute. They all got the necessary equipment to work out at home and set up their own home gym, whether in the living room, terrace, garden or car park, and each day they sent in videos of their sessions so that their activity could be followed. Many were posted on social media and served to keep in touch with our fans. In addition, as every cloud has a silver lining, the new reality allowed the injured to "gain" time for their recovery. The most difficult thing to manage, in my opinion, was - and still is now - that in the end nobody can foresee what will happen even in the short term and working like this is certainly a challenge. Maintaining the concentration that comes with the pace of competition is very difficult under such extraordinary conditions. If a national team break already throws the team dynamics out of kilter, we now know that a pandemic turns everything upside down.
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DAVID DAVIS
