New momentum in Flensburg: Young coaches are shaping the future of handball!

New momentum in Flensburg: Young coaches are shaping the future of handball!

Magnus Frisk Jensen is taking on a key role at the Flensburg Academy, signaling major changes in performance. From now on he will take over the central management tasks in the area of ​​the B-youth, A-youth and the Bundesliga reserves. This reports Handball World. The academy relies on a strong team: Olaf Knüppel is new on board, who, together with Matthias Hahn, acts as head coach of the A-youth team. Knüppel is enthusiastic about the responsibility that rests on his shoulders and describes it as an exciting and honorable task.

If we look at the B youth team, everything remains the same, because Jonah Sowada and Jürgen Bauer are still in charge. There is also news in the coaching team of the second team: Leon Witte, a former player of SG Flensburg-Handewitt and with experience at HC Empor Rostock and Stralsunder HV, joins the team. Johann Volquardsen, Managing Director of Flensburg Akademie GmbH, emphasizes that the aim of these personnel decisions is to strengthen the basis and create space for development steps for both players and coaches. The academy's strategy focuses heavily on its own talents in order to promote identification and regional anchoring.

Magnus Frisk Jensen: A rising star with vision

Magnus Frisk Jensen, who has been working as a talent coordinator since mid-2022, has embarked on a steep career path. At 28 years old, he has already had a few positions in handball. He originally comes from Rapstedt and has always dreamed of one day being the coach of the first team at SG Flensburg-Handewitt, be it as an assistant coach or in a managerial position. Unfortunately, he had to end his active career early due to an Achilles tendon injury. Nevertheless, the ambitious Jensen sees himself well prepared: “I feel strongly about training talent,” he says, referring to his master’s thesis on talent development, which he wrote at the University of Southern Denmark.

In his new role, Jensen has numerous tasks: In addition to his work as a talent coordinator, he is also an athletic trainer and is responsible for training for the U19, U23, U15 and U17. He also works closely with the cooperation clubs DHK Flensborg and TSV Nord Harrislee. His return to the border region after buying a house in Tingleff underlines his commitment to strengthening Danish-German cooperation. One particular insight he made is the different approach to talent promotion in Germany and Denmark. In Germany it is important to convey values ​​such as discipline and high training intensity, while SG Flensburg-Handewitt is more closely aligned with Danish guidelines.

Further training for trainers: The focus is on young talent

But coaching quality isn't just being worked on at club and academy level. Since Whit Monday, DHB certificate training for young coaches in competitive sports has been taking place in Potsdam, which is tailored to the requirements of HBL and HBF youth coordinators, A-youth national league coaches and state selection coaches. This training, which has been offered since 2016, is intended to ensure that trainers are optimally prepared for the challenges of working with young talent. Topics such as talent identification and development, individual technical training and healthy athlete development are covered.

The head of the training is Jochen Beppler, the head youth national coach, and he is supported by a number of experts who contribute their expertise. There are currently 22 young coaches taking part in this one-week attendance phase. This impressively shows that youth work in handball is at the top of the agenda and should be continuously improved.

With all of these changes in the Flensburg Academy and the commitment of coaches like Magnus Frisk Jensen, SG Flensburg-Handewitt can be sure that the talents of tomorrow are in the best hands and handball in the region is well positioned.