Hit at the start

Now the president is also doing the coaching job

Leader Hollabrunn awaits Leoben at the start of spring!(Bild: GEPA)

Due to the World Cup, men's handball is still on hold in this country. The team from second division team Leoben has been preparing for the start of the second round since January 7. A tough challenge awaits coach Rene Kramer's team, who want to make it into the promotion play-off.  

After the winter break, Leoben's handball players face a tough opponent: On February 8, the team of Rene Kramer, whose contract with the second division club was extended ahead of schedule, will face league leaders Hollabrunn. The Lower Austrians are the measure of all things in the HLA Challenge this season: twelve games, twelve wins!

"There's no way around them for promotion," Leoben president Alfred Leithold is convinced. The promotion play-off is the declared goal of the Upper Styrians, who are currently in fifth place. Leithold: "It will be a challenge."

Leoben president Alfred Leithold is now also a coach again.(Bild: GEPA)

However, the club management is not dreaming of promotion to the HLA. "If the opportunity arises, we would have to think about it. But the difference in class between the two leagues is pretty big," emphasizes Leithold, who practically held every position in the club before becoming president of Leoben.

"Among other things, I was already a youth coach, co-coach of the fighting team, club photographer and scout." Now he's stepping in again: a long-time youth coach has left the club, so the "Präse" is now coaching the girls' teams from U14 to U18.