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Olivier Krumbholz in search of his missing players

2020-06-18T15:52:48.369Z


The coach of the French women's handball team confided to "Figaro" on the difficulty of his task in the midst of a health crisis.


Should a coach who knows how to coach also know how to coach without his or her players? This question, all the persons in charge of collective sports had, and must still be posed it whereas the sport is just beginning to regain its rights after the terrible health crisis linked to the Covid-19 pandemic. Like Olivier Krumbholz, who heads the French women's handball team and who yearns to be able to lead his troops again. "It's been forever," he says to Le Figaro. I haven't seen my players since the failed World Cup last December and I won't see them until the end of September. So it will be ten months without seeing them. I have never experienced this. When you don't already see each other for four months, you always tell yourself that it is difficult to resume. We have to go back to many fundamentals but there, such a long period, it's abysmal. "

"I am extremely frustrated not to have been able to do it immediately and to take advantage of this desire"

Olivier Krumbholz

Suddenly, the coach was forced to work his brakes after elimination in the 1st round of the World Cup in Japan, even when the Blue were title holders. Not easy when the desire to erase what remains a real disillusionment is so strong. “From my experience, I know my players love to bounce back from a failure. It's in their mentality. Suddenly, I am extremely frustrated that I could not do it immediately and take advantage of this desire. Especially since I had planned avenues of work after this failure, but it has so far been impossible to apply them concretely. So all my work today is to make sure that this spring of energy still exists ten months later. "

To continue blowing on the embers of the bruised pride of his champions, Krumbholz did like everyone else: he used the internet and the telephone. “I did three videoconferences with my players and I call them, probably not enough. I also wrote to them recently. It is essential to keep this communication so as not to be in a fatalistic state of mind. Because if you become one, you start to suffer, while if you try to start again, you always find solutions. Similarly, I believe that even far from each other, we can work together, reflect on the game, exchange images, debrief ... There are always things to implement, and upon arrival, this that will make the difference, it will be the love of the jersey. If the girls like it, when we meet, we will feed on the frustration that we had at not being able to work together and that will give us even more energy. "

"We will see the difference between those who were motivated and ambitious, and those who were not really"

Olivier Krumbholz

A spring that the coach does not take for granted, however. “I don't know how each player lived this period and this confinement, he wonders. On the collective level, I am not afraid of rupture but on the individual level, there is a real concern. I imagine that, perhaps, some will wonder if it is worth continuing. The life of a top athlete is very hard, with a lot of training, daily constraints in terms of food, lifestyle. And sometimes stopping training altogether for several weeks can act as an electric shock. Some may say that ultimately, this life without training, without physical pain is not so bad. This period can be dangerous in the motivation of both, and we will see the difference between those who were motivated and ambitious, and those who were not really. "

The right frame of mind

For his part, Krumbholz does not consider having many levers to avoid this dropout, to make a parallel with the world of education. "The only remedy I have, and the term is a bit improper, is love. The players must feel that we are with them and that we, the staff, have the love of this collective adventure. I must communicate my ambition and my passion to them. Except that sometimes, it can also happen to me to be tired and it is also good when the girls transmit to me strength and enthusiasm. We decided to set up participatory coaching, the players wanted to feel fully invested. It is up to them to complete their process during this complicated period. "

A necessity to defend their European title during the Euro which will take place from December 3 to 20 in Denmark and Norway. With an affordable first round against the Danes and the players from Montenegro and Slovenia. Provided, according to him, to have the right frame of mind, which had not been the case in Japan last December. “The problem with the World Cup that we couldn't manage was that the girls had already projected themselves, unconsciously, into the Olympic Games. If we reproduce the same error during the Euro, we will suffer another disappointment, that is certain. And a failure, it passes, but two consecutive, in general, it explodes a group. "And Krumbholz concludes, philosopher:" This period brought me a lot of humility. This moment gave us a lesson in life and it focused us on what must be essential for us. Maybe tomorrow, one or two players will stop their careers because through this crisis, they tell themselves that there are more essential things than playing handball. And then there are others, the vast majority, who have only one desire, for it to resume. To start with him.

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Source: lefigaro

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