1.”The Danish Way” – the Talent development of Danish Handball Association (on the men’s side)

Many parties are regularly involved in the development of talents in Danish handball and therefore each have their share in the current wide range of talents. Danish Handball Association (DHF), Handball Association of Jutland (JHF) and its districts, the talent centre of Handball Association of Funen (FHF), the Handball Region East (HRØ) regions, training environments, coaches, volunteer leaders and parents all contribute with input that shape the talents. Communication and cooperation between the parties involved in the talent development is therefore of great importance, if the output, in this case meaning as many talents as possible, is to be optimized within the allocated budget framework. The first version of The Danish Way was published in 2008, and in the dynamic world of handball, where new tendencies, new knowledge and new problems continuously emerge, it has now become necessary with a revision and extension of the compendium. It is still the wish of DHFs that The Danish Way will accommodate two needs (at least). First of all it is our hope that increased openness will stimulate the mutual cooperation between all parties involved in the talent development, since the availability will make it much easier to create a "mutual language" within talent development. Secondly, we hope that rendering the talent work of DHF visible will rub off on the approach of the coaches in districts, talent centres and regions to the daily training of the talents. This goes for both our clearly expressed views regarding the purpose and direction of talent development in the relevant age groups, but also through the specific handball exercises that we find effective as regards developing the individual competences and skills of the talents. Since the release of the 1st version of The Danish Way Danish Handball Association has published a new compendium regarding age-related training (called AT). The material which is supported by the Danish Elitesport Organization has a quality and a content that qualifies it to be the starting point for the work of any talent developer. In this new version The Danish Way will therefore adopt a supplementary role within the area of age-related training, as the focus of The Danish Way is the talent development of Danish Handball Association. It has therefore in-depth descriptions in areas that are not relevant in agerelated but are key in the DHF objective of creating A-national team players. AT describes the approach to working with the 14-18 year-old players, and can be ordered by contacting the Education Department of Danish Handball Association

The Danish Way is primarily designed to present the specific part of the talent development, where DHF plays a direct part, that is to say, when recruited talents are summoned to participate in training organized by the DHF. The first version was almost exclusively about the official Talent Training, but this edition will also draw lines to the training in districts, talent centres and regions as well as briefly describe the content of the work with the M18/19 and M20/21 national team. Furthermore, in the following pages several problems related to talent development will be described, so that coaches, club officials and parents can take them into consideration.

Diagram 1: From talent to national team player.

Men’s A national team

M20/21 national team

Development team / B national team

M18/19 national team

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Talent Training

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Districts, talent centres and regions

Clubs

1.1 Training in districts, talent centres and regions The players’ first encounter with the DHF talent system happens in locally, in either one of HRØ’s four regions, or in the Funen talent centre or in one of the eight districts in Jutland. Within this framework, the respective coaches work with the players for two seasons before some of the players are selected for the DHF talent training at an observations tournament, which is held in both East- and West Denmark. Each area appoints its own coaches and decides on the number of training sessions, but it is usually one a month. The training in these thirteen areas is the players’ first encounter with the DHF and the DHF talent development. Therefore, cooperation between the coaches in the 13 areas and the DHF talent coaches is of great importance. The DHF talent coaches supervise the training in the districts, talent centre and regions twice a year, where they, in agreement with the area's talent leaders and coaches, can organize (parts of) the training, participate

DHF national teams

YAC national teams

DHF Talent Development

Senior national teams

in information meetings and meetings with parents, as well as spar with the coaches in matters regarding training content and selection of players. Every August, DHF’s talent responsible sends out a letter with guidelines for the upcoming season, to ensure that there is a mutual direction in the work with the talents throughout the country. The aim of the recommendations is that the players become as well equipped to participate in the DHF talent training as possible, and therefore the two years of training in the thirteen areas have an invaluable role in the talent development. 1.2 The purpose of the talent training When a player is selected for the DH talent training, it is primarily with a longer perspective in mind. The purpose of talent training as such, is to recruit and develop young talents so that they might become A-national team players in the future. It is therefore the long term potential of the talents that are the focal point in both the recruiting and the training of competences and skills. This obviously requires that the DHF-coaches in charge of recruiting the players for the talent training are experienced when it comes to individual development over a longer period, and that they also have the necessary handball academic qualifications to predict the needs and challenges that the handball talents will face in the future. This means that a close dialogue with the coaches from clubs, districts, talent centre and regions as well as visibility at club training and club matches is required. Throughout history it has been proven a risk to try and predict the future. This also applies to DHFs talent training system. But it is a success in itself for the system that all present and future A-national team players will have participated in the talent training as young players. A fine-meshed talent recruitment system and a targeted cooperation with all other parties within talent development ought to ensure that this ambition can be fulfilled, and in this connection, it is of utmost importance that everyone knows the recruitment guidelines. 1.3 The strategy and thoughts behind the recruiting Both among national team coaches and talent coaches the development of handball is continuously and the coaches try to look into the crystal ball in order to guess which types of players it will be important to recruit and develop in the future, if Denmark is to remain in the top of world handball. Recruitment is therefore a key aspect of the talent development a basic strategy is of paramount importance. It is very important that the width of the youth elite is as large as possible, meaning that clubs and federation in cooperation are able to motivate as many players as possible for as long as possible. All experience indicates that it is incredibly difficult to predict who will be the best players in the long run, and these are the players Danish Handball Association is interested in. Read more about the subject here: http://www.dhf.dk/Landshold/herre-u19landsholdet/landstraenerens-blog/hvor_blev_u14-mestrene_af and http://www.dhf.dk/Landshold/herre-u19-landsholdet/landstraenerens-blog/da_oldrengene_spillede_u14 The selection process on the men’s side is built around four Ps: premise, performance, potential and personality.

Premise: Is a prerequisite in understanding why the selection process happens, as it does. The clear premise of Danish Handball Association is to develop A-national team players, and none of the decisions made along the way should be contrary to this objective. No matter how you look at it, the A-national team is the locomotive of men's handball. A successful A-national team is the catalyst for a positive chain reaction that ultimately fills the arenas with new handball players, so that we can keep our position as national sport. This means that our three superior principles, when selecting players, are: - Individual skills - Two-way players - Physique It is our belief that players who can compete at both ends of court are preferable, and that physique is an essential parameter if you want to succeed in modern handball, and that it is ultimately individual skills of the players that determine the high level matches in international handball. The consequence of this long-term strategy is that although Denmark wants to win titles at YAC championships, this must not be done by sacrificing the premise. Because of this, the Danish M18/19 team never substitutes players between defence and attack, and that is because we want to develop two-way players, and we want to signal to the players that these are not just words, but something to be taken seriously. Performance: The selecting of players is based on the players' current level, as this will always be the starting point of the screening of the individual player. You can read more about this aspect here: http://www.dhf.dk/Landshold/talenttraening/talentscreening Representatives from Danish Handball Federation try to observe the players at three different levels – which means attending matches, attending training and managing training session. Traditionally, attending matches has been preferred, as it is often what is practically possible for the talent coaches, and the idea of seeing the players in action, competing in the safe environment of their club team, is good and also a good supplement to seeing them at e.g. the talent training assemblies, where many other factors may have influence on their performance. The danger of only assessing a player based on a match situation might be that you cannot see if player does not do the necessary work in his daily training, but performs well in the match due to his good skills. Therefore, dialogue with the club coaches is of the utmost importance, as it would be a very bad signal to send to other players etc., if a player who cuts corners in training situations, were to be selected for the talent training. It would undermine the credibility of the selection, and it would also not help the player change his behaviour. Therefore, the national team coaches or the talent coaches who are not connected to club teams, try to attend/manage training sessions in the clubs as much as possible. Here they can see for themselves who trains well, and who can carry out the instructions they get from the coaches along the way. At the same time, the coaches get to see a lot more players that they would have in a match. It is not uncommon that a player is selected because of a promising performance at a club training session, although he usually does

not get so much time on court during matches. An important aspect in the selection process is an understanding of the difference between qualifications and competences. "Having qualifications means to be really good, while having competences means to be good at the right things," Henrik Holt Larsen writes in the book "Talent Management" from 2012, and although the book is directed towards business, the definition highly relevant if you are to understand the way DHF selects talents. Both in connection with the selection of players at the observation tournaments, or the continuous selection during the season, or when national teams are selected, some selections cause surprise. Usually this happens when big profiles on club teams or top scorers at the Danish championship tournaments do not get selected. No doubt that these players have great qualifications, but they may not possess the competences that match the strategy of Danish Handball Association. One should bear in mind that the court has the exact same measurements in all age groups from the time you start playing 7 against 7 at the M12 level, but the players go through a tremendous physical development from pre-puberty to senior age. In men's handball particularly, the free spaces on the court become smaller due to this development, and the crucial consequence is that the qualifications that brings you success in children's handball, do not necessarily provide you with any medals at a Men's A World Championship. This detail leads us naturally to the next essential parameter in the selection process, which is potential. Potential: In dictionaries, potential is described as possibility to develop or hidden force. In men’s handball, where physique is very important, and where many players establish themselves at a higher age than earlier and continue to play longer than before – at least on national team level - a correct assessment and identification of the individual player's potential is extremely important. However, this is a difficult task with many “ifs” and “buts”, and both talent- and national team coaches should keep in mind that sometimes mistakes happen. Per Sabroe, who is responsible for the East group of the DHF talent training and also assistant coach of the M19 and M21 national teams, has aptly expressed the schism: "It is okay that we sometimes select wrong players, as long as we also get the right ones". When using the term potential on the men’s side, at least three elements are considered history, physique and the ability to carry out training instructions. History means that it is important to examine the player’s background, before you select him, or if you have to choose between two talents in the selection. For example, if two 15year-old left backs appear to be equally skilled, you would look at the players’ backgrounds for being at this level. If, on the one hand, you have a player who has played handball for many years and who comes from a reputable talent developing environment with skilled coaches and the right training content, and on the other hand, you have a player who has begun playing handball quite late, and in a club where the facilities are not at the same level as in the previously mentioned player’s club, then you will usually select the latter.

The choice is based on the idea that there must be more untapped potential in the latter, as he has not received the same stimuli as the former, but has still managed to achieve the same level. We must, however, stress the fact that you are not disqualified due to being raised in a strong talent developing environment, but we are more likely to develop two talented handball players, if we select the latter, since the former will still receive the proper training, even though he is not selected first time around. But this procedure must obviously be communicated to both parties, as it is a stated fact that being selected motivates while not being chosen may result in the opposite, although it would be desirable, if instead, the not selected players chose to accept the challenge and prove us wrong. Sadly, this has usually not been the case in recent years. Physical potential means that we have to be extremely aware of the well-known development phenomenon that when you are dealing with a group of 14-15 year-old boys, which is the age level of the DHF talent training, they are in fact children, but some may barely have come into puberty, while others may be fully grown. Unlike many other countries, such as Germany for example, Danish Handball Federation do not use scientific measurements in the selection process, but we are very careful not to fall into age trap, as the abovementioned problem is generally called. And with good reason, for according to the studies carried out in youth handball, there is a great imbalance in age spread of the players' over the calendar year. Something that might indicate that you are not necessarily dealing with a talent, but more likely with a physically early developed player. A district tournament for boys born in 1994 took place January 23rd-24th 2009 in Odder, and 112 hopeful boys from the eight districts in Jutland were assembled. The birthdays of 91 of the players were registered, and below you can see the result. District Month January February March April May June July August September October November December In total (district)

1 1 4 1 1 1 3 1 1

2

3 2 1

4

4 2 1

2 3 1

3 1 1

2

2

5

6

7

8

1 2 2 1 3 2 1 1 1

1 4 2 1

1 1 1 1 1 2 1

3 4 2 1 1 2

2 1

1 14

1 3

1 1 12

14

14

13

10

14

In total (month) 9 20 10 6 7 11 9 7 4 5 2 1 91

In the selection process you therefore have to consider the birthdays of the players as well as their physical development. Due to the lack of scientific approach, this sometimes

requires a bit of detective work, but it ought to be a part of the routines within the work of the talent developers on all levels. The younger the players are, the more important not to drop them due to lacking physique. On YAC national team level we work with two birth cohorts that follow each other all the way, and therefore the challenge is even greater, since there is a big difference between being born in January 1996 and in December 1997, which will be the span of the M18 national team, which we will start working with in 2013. This is an on-going discussion both within Danish Handball Federation and also externally with all the interested parties who follow the selections with great interest, when the potential and current level of the players is evaluated. The consequence is not that players with moustaches end up last in line, but rather that the youngest players who have developed later physically get some rope. On a practical level, we try to encounter the disproportion with these measures: registering the dates of birth of the players at the observation tournaments, having large squads at M18/M19 level and arranging specific training and matches for age group, if financially possible. But that does not change the fact that the squads are still age wise unequal, and as you can see from these statistics from the M18 ECh 2012 in Austria, the challenge is not only Danish but European. Thus, over 47% of the 448 registered players from the sixteen countries 28 player squads were born in the first half of 1994, but just over 23% were born in 1995. As the difference is biggest in the younger age groups, but equalizes towards senior age, it ought to be a theme in the clubs’ development efforts in the M10, M12 and M14 age groups in the years to come. In this context, it might be worth it to rewrite Professor Jørn Lund's statement that "In the real world, most ugly ducklings usually become ugly ducks", but talented developers have to believe that they all have it in them to become swans! The last aspect is the ability to translate input from the coaches. The importance of the talent coaches and national team coaches supervising training sessions when visiting districts, talent centre, region or the players’ clubs has been mentioned elsewhere. Only in the interaction and communication with the players during training exercises you can get a sense of whether the talents evolve from their current level to the level required of top handball players. You will thereby see whether the talents are able to change and develop their skills. You sometimes learn that bad habits learned at an early age can be very difficult to lose, and that might limit the player’s development possibilities. Fortunately, the situation is more often that the player is soaking up the new input like a sponge, and with few corrections is adding new elements to his game. It is clear to all talent developers that players who are adaptable will eventually have better conditions when it comes to achieving a high level of competence, than players who are not able to add layers to their skills despite a better starting point. This aspect of uncovering the talents’ potential is especially a focus point in the talent training. As it has been clearly indicated in the above, the assessment of the players’ potential is a

central element, but when all is said and done, even the greatest potential requires a motivated talent in order to evolve. Therefore, personality plays a vital role. Personality: ”I have spent too much time on talents who did not want it bad enough”, Ulrik Wilbek, the DHF Head of Sports and National Team Coach, once said. This is not the place for a lengthy psychological explanation, but it is appropriate to comment on some of the most important mental resources a handball talent should have in order to be able to unfold his potential. It is therefore relevant to start with the abovementioned quote from Ulrik Wilbek. You can read more here: http://www.dhf.dk/Landshold/herre-u19-landsholdet/landstraenerens-blog/talent-er-ikkenok Through recent years the experience has been too many players who had the skills to go far, have stopped playing in the middle of the process, and for various reasons. And there is almost nothing worse than seeing an emerging great career ending before it has really begun. But apparently the phrase noblesse oblige does not count anymore?! Talents, who want to know, if their skills can take them all the way to the A-national team, must be able to deal with adversity. When you're a teenager, is the coach of a teenager, or are the parents of a teenager, it is important to be aware of that development often moves in steps or jumps. Development is not a linear movement, which continuously moves up to a higher level. There will be times, where you might feel like you are stuck and that other players are overtaking you. The various phases are a combination of many factors. Among other things, they depend on the child's motor coordination and mental development, and are thus not only reflecting whether the daily training is properly composed. Unfortunately, at this age, many players see such a crisis as an indication that they might not have it in them after all. Instead, the talents ought to see it as a test of how passionate they are about getting better and improving their skills. For there will be other bumps on the road. You might be injured or you might dropped by club or federation. Unfortunately, Danish Handball Federation often sees that a disappointment related to a selection makes the player in question throttle down in handball. There are many reasons for such an unfortunate reaction. First all, being a part of a youth- or junior national team should not be such an overpowering goal that not being selected takes away your passion for training. It is okay that all young handball players dream of it, but the probability of making it is so small that you are setting yourself up to fail, if this is your primary reason for playing. The joy of the game and a curiosity to learn new details should be the catalyst for a healthy handball development. Furthermore, it is always dangerous to set goals where the realization is depending on others. Secondly, there are plenty of examples of players who, though they were dropped from the talent development system at some point, were selected at a later state. You can easily be selected for the talent training or a YAC national team, even if did not participate

in an observation tournament. One of the players in current M21 national team has never been selected for the talent training, and other players in the squad were cut from the talent training after only a short time, but they rose to the challenge and worked hard in their clubs every day, and by doing this they have now overtaken many of their peers. When experiencing a bad spell, the players need to set realistic and specific goals for their physical, mental and handball technical development, and let those goals be the guidelines for their training, this will create the best conditions for taking the next leap in their development. Another pitfall that the talents fall into is when there is no connection between what the talents say and what they actually do. We often deal with young people who "talk the talk”, but do not “walk the walk”, meaning that their ambitions are greater than their willingness to do the necessary hard work. In such cases the communication between club coaches and national team-/talent coaches is vital. If, you are to make the player realize that there is a mismatch between ambition and effort, then it is really important that the club coach comes clean on behalf of the player, and the sooner the better for the player's sake. The earlier the district- or talent coaches know about the challenge, the more time there is to rectify the imbalance and thus a greater chance getting the player back on the right track. Danish Handball Association does not want to select players who do not attend to their physical training in their clubs, as this would send the wrong signal to the other players on the team, but we would like to talk to the player, so that he, if he changes his everyday conduct, might be selected later on. The point is not that all Danish youth players have to do physical training four times a week; it is about aligning expectations, so that the joy of playing handball is preserved, no matter how much time you want to invest in it. Otherwise you are wasting each other's time. The goal is that the players have a realistic self-image. Another mental key is the ability to practice on what you need, not just what you want. This does not mean that you should never have fun on your way to a handball career, but it is pulling the wool over the players’ eyes if you give them the impression that there are not many “must” training hours on the way to their goals. The talents need to be aware of this fact, and coaches at all levels must help opening their eyes to the importance of these training hours and inspire them put just as much effort into the training session without handball - as it is usually those you think of in this context. Handball is a game where hard work goes a long way, and it would be naive to think that by practicing wing shots every time you run, or by training your biceps every time you do leg training, you will automatically reach your goals. It is important not to write off the players who are not able to train exemplarily on the physical parameters when they are 15-17 years old. They can still become top level players as adults, if they become more interested in physical training and/or running later in their careers. The above mentioned points are all concerning inner motivation. Today, a career in top handball means lots and lots of training, some deprivation and teenage life, unlike most others’. But it will also offer the possibility of having unique experiences. Inner is of course in italics, because ultimately, it is only the fire inside the talent that can burn so bright that he would want to give whatever it takes. Neither youth national championships titles,

being mentioned in the local newspaper or on websites, getting money from parents for scoring goals or being selected for the YAC national teams will carry the load all the way. Talent is not enough! No empty shelves on the men's side: The goal of the described recruitment strategy is clear, the Men’s A national team coach must always have a varied and wide range of players on each position, so that Denmark can achieve top results in the future, regardless of the development of the game. This is best described by a picture of a shelf system with seven horizontal shelves, one for each position and a certain number of shelves vertically for each different type of player on the position in question. Taking the left wing as an example, Denmark has a tradition of developing a lot of technically skilled players on this position, players who are great in the fast-break and master countless different ways of shooting when they get the ball coming from the corner of the court. Figuratively speaking, this means that the shelf with that type of left-wingers is quite full of applications for tomorrow's A-team. But it is important that the shelves for left wingers who can conquer the ball, defend from the back position or as a forward, as well as those who are skilled in man to man, are not empty, for it may very well be that men’s handball requires such players in five or ten years, or the type A coach wants such players on his team in order to have more tactical choices during a championship. For that reason, Danish Handball Federation’s talent development system is very conscious of finding the types of players who can fill in the gaps on the shelves. We are working specifically with types of players that the clubs might not be as adept at developing as the archetypes of the different positions, such as the technical/tactical gifted centre back. If the game develops in a different direction than the national team coaches predict, we would not run out of technical wings or tactically gifted centre backs. We are therefore working strategically on developing wings with more physique, who are able defend from back positions, and centre backs who can defend in the middle zone, in both offensive and defensive formations, because we are lacking those types, and they are types we expect will be important in the future. It's not just about qualifications, but rather about competences. 1.4 The specific recruitment of players for the talent training DHF’s talent training system works with talents in the age group corresponding to 2nd year M16 players and 1st year M18 players. Nationally, we work with approx. 70 players in this age group, divided in the two geographic groups (West and East). The total number of players in the talent training can vary, as talent development is dynamic. However, it should never be less than 70 players. A few years ago we went from three to two geographical centres, and this has resulted in a reduction of players nationwide from about 90 to 70. Making it has thereby become more difficult, and as one of the principal ideas in DHF’s talent development is that at this age it is difficult to determine, who will succeed in the long run, there must be 35 players in each group every time. The group managers thus have a reserve list from which they

can invite other players to the talent training assemblies, if some of the regulars are not able to participate. The aim is to keep the groups almost similar as for the number of players, and that the total number of players nationwide is fairly constant. The continuous adjustment of the number of players in the two groups happens in a close cooperation between the two group managers and the M18/19 national team coach. As seen in Diagram 1, the players are selected for the talent training through two channels. They are either selected at one of the observation tournaments, arranged by the districts, or, if the player happens to be injured at the time of those tournaments, or by virtue of his performance in the training in his district/talent centre/region. As mentioned earlier, the second recruitment channel is via observations of a DHF coach at club trainings or club matches. These observations can be easily initiated by a request from a club coach who wants to recommend one of his own players or a player, he has met/seen elsewhere. This cooperation is of great importance, if the net of the recruitment system is to be as efficient and fine-meshed as possible, therefore, all requests are taken seriously. 1.4.1. The specific recruitment through districts/talent centre/regions The training in districts, talent centre and regions is for 2nd year M14 and 1st year M16 players. So within this framework the coaches are working with talents just a step younger than the minimum age required in DHF’s talent training system. This makes the district, centre and regional training a natural precursor of the talent training for the biggest talents, and it is an invaluable partner in the overall talent development. Decentralized, the districts, talent centre and regions carry out the recruitment and training of their talents in the respective age groups themselves. Their work with the M16 age group ends with two observation tournaments, one in the east and one in the west of Denmark, where the district/talent centre/region teams play some matches against each other. The DHF talent coaches watch the matches, and subsequently use the tournament to select the most interesting players for the DHF talent training. The dialogue between the coaches before, during and after the tournaments is of great importance for how players experience the district, talent centre and regional training. On the one hand, it is important that players show that they can perform under the pressure of an observation tournament, but on the other hand, it is important to stress that the matches are not disqualifying on either the short or long term. All parties must therefore be skilled in communicating that there are many winding roads to reach one's potential and many ways through the Danish Handball Federation talent development system. As previously mentioned, the current M19 and M21 squads include examples of players who were not selected at the observation tournament, or not even selected to participate in it. The teams also contain players who were quickly sorted out from the talent training, but who later came back. This story cannot be told too often, and it is also underlined in order to emphasize that the talent system is not a pipe where one enters at one end and comes out the other, but rather a sieve where you can come in and fall out several times during the process.

1.4.2. The specific recruitment through club matches or club training No matter how much effort all parties put into identifying the top talents in the recruitment process, there is always a risk that some talents are missed first time around. This is primarily due to the fact that talent development is not necessarily a continuous ongoing process, and therefore some talents are not discovered by the district and regional training system. Such talents should subsequently be discovered and recruited by DHFtrainers attending club matches or club training. The initiative for this can come from different sources. Typically, however, a club or district coach will contact a DHF coach and point out a potential topic for the talent training. The relevant talent group manager is informed and decides which talent coach should take a closer look at the player, and how the practical presence is to take place. In special cases, the group manager can decide to let a not yet seen player participate in the talent training for a limited time.

1.5 Structure DHF’s talent training system is divided geographically into two groups: East and West, east covers the local federations HRØ and FHF, west covers the JHF. Each group has an area manager, three talent coaches, a goalkeeper coach and a physiotherapist. As the focal point of the talent training is the players' individual development, both groups also has substitute talent coach, who in fill in for the other coaches, if they are not able to attend, in order to ensure that there are enough eyes present to make the corrections that can take the players to the next level. All the mentioned positions are filled by use of an advertisement. The recruitment is based on a DHF contract with a typical duration of two years. Diagram 2: The coaches and officials of the talent groups

1 area manager 3 talent coaches 1 goalkeeper coach 1 physio therapist ------------------------------1 substitute talent coach

1.5.1 Responsibilities The men’s A national team coach is in charge of the DHF talent training (on the men’s side). The talent responsible (at present M18/19 national team coach Claus Hansen) is responsible for the daily management. The actual planning of the content of the training sessions is handled by the area managers, based on the themes and exercises in The Danish Way while the recruitment of talent is the responsibility of all the DHF coaches. The groups' area managers, and ultimately the talent responsible, coordinate the recruiting of talent for the talent training. The national team coordinator from the DHF head office in Brøndby supports the area managers in the practical work of planning and carrying out the talent training assemblies.

1.6 The connection to the political system of DHF DHF’s talent training system is politically rooted in DHF’s Elite Committee. The Elite Committee and the talent responsible coordinate that the talent training system is managed within the established policy framework. The DHF Board adopts this framework as proposed by the responsible A national team coach.

1.7 Talent Duration of the training course The talent training has a fixed course throughout the year. Each year, the two groups have four weekend assemblies, where the talents have five training sessions, starting Friday afternoon and ending Sunday afternoon. In addition to these assemblies, we have an annual 5 days summer camp, which takes place in the end of June or the beginning of July, and at this intensive training camp approx. 60 of the players on the national level and all the talent coaches, plus the M18/19- and M20/21 national team coaches are assembled. The weekend assemblies of the two groups take place simultaneously, and the area manager of each group plans and sends out the training schedule of the weekend to both the other area manager and the two YAC national team coaches. This communication intends to ensure the overall coordination between centres regarding which elements should be the focus of the training. At the same time, the on-going communication between area managers and the two national team coaches ensures a more solid basis for deciding what should be prioritized when planning the annual summer camp. The last assembly before the summer camp is arranged as a mutual assembly for the two groups. This provides a fairer basis for deciding which players should be selected for the summer camp. It also furthers a closer cooperation between the areas and gives the coaches an opportunity to spar, as well as a great opportunity to plan the content of the summer camp. Therefore, the summer camp is often the starting point for a discussion of whether the individual talent is to continue in DHF’s talent training the following year or if he will no longer be a part of it after the summer camp. The summer camp usually also gives the M18/19national team coach the opportunity to compare the M18/19 team with the talents just outside the squad. As mentioned earlier,

the M18/19 national team coach participates in the talent training assemblies, and he also visits the clubs of the current M18/19 national team players. But the summer camp gives the M18/19-landstræneren five more days of intensive insight into the current status of the greatest talents of the year group of the national team. During the first two days of the summer camp, a course is held for the district-/talent centre-/regional coaches. The content of this course is primarily of handball academic nature and is predominantly a review and discussion of the specific competences and skills that DHF coaches are focusing on at the summer camp. Furthermore, it is the intention of the course that the district-, talent centre- and regional coaches get to evaluate the cooperation with the DHF coaches throughout the past year, and that a rough sketch for the cooperation in coming year is made. The training at the summer camp does not differ substantially from that of the weekend assemblies. The focal point in both cases is the development of the individual competences and skills of the talents, mainly based on the exercises described in this compendium. But the longer duration of the summer camp allows us to supplement the handball training with theoretical elements to a much greater extent. For instance, knowledge about diet and nutrition, physical training, planning of education etc. are topics that will help the players establish the elitist life, which is necessary if the talent is to be developed into a potential A national player in the long run.

1.7. Cutting players from the talent training Participation in DHF’s talent training ends with the summer camp at the end of the season where the talent has appeared as 1st year M18 player in his club. There may, however, be several reasons for the participation to end earlier: • the DHF coaches find that talent’s individual potential and/or passion is not sufficient to continue as part of the talent training. • the M18/19 coach estimates that the talent participates in club training at such a high level and to such an extent that he is sufficiently stimulated in his club • the M18/19 coach estimates that year group of the national team as a whole no longer needs to be in the talent training. This creates room in the talent training for more talents from the younger age groups • the talent no longer wants to be a part of the DHF talent training. Except for the latter reason, where the talent chooses to back out, the relevant area manager has a concluding conversation with the leaving player. In this conversation the player's progress in the talent training is evaluated. At each assembly, the talent players should have a conversation with the area manager and/or the coaches, either alone or in groups, where a handball academic subject is discussed, and the players must bring some keywords from this discussion home to their clubs, so that they know what they need to work on until the next assembly. It has to be emphasized that the dialogue with the clubs will be better, more focused and thus more beneficial to the player, if his club coach attends the talent training. 1.8. The link to the M18/19 national team

As shown in Diagram 1, the recruitment of talents for the M18/19 national team is through their participation in the talent training. It is not possible to be a M18 national team player and not be a part of the talent training. If a talent is selected directly for the M18 national team through club matches or training, the player will automatically be included in the talent training from then on. 1.9. Working with the M18/19- and M20/21 national teams As previously mentioned in Section 1, the work we do with our M18/19- and M20/21 national teams will not be addressed further in The Danish Way - besides from the emphasizing of DHF’s talent training system being the central recruitment channel for the M18 national team. However, we must also mention that a large number of the handball exercises that furthers the individual skills and competences of the players in the talent training are also used, when working with the M18/19- and M20/21 national teams. 1.10. The handball academic content of the talent training In DHF’s talent training system the focus is to develop players' individual competences and skills. The complex collective play where 6 play against 6 is not practiced in the talent training. That sort of training is a matter for the YAC national teams and especially for the M20/21 national team. Instead, as is shown in this compendium; the talent training is based on practicing in smaller groups of players, where skills are improved through many repetitions of the exercises, with corresponding corrections from the DHF coaches. The talent training thus intends to "educate" the talents in specific individual competences and skills in defense, fast-breaks and offense. The basic purpose of the handball academic content of the talent training is therefore to give the talents a general education of the skills needed in those phases of the game, and the exercises described in the following pages are the chosen method. The primary goal of the talent training is thus not to meet the direct needs of the YAC national teams in the short term, regarding specific technical or tactical skills, but should instead be seen as a kind of long-term education that all talents in the talent training need to go through. The implementation of the education of talents in practice through a series of exercises divided into topics – is described in the following chapters. The selection of the topics can also be seen as an expression of our opinion regarding which the key elements, the talent development of young players should include.