10 hours ago
“I desperately need a break”
Change at Bergisches HC: Head coach needs time off
The second division handball team Bergischer HC has made a mid-season change at the head coach position, a decision the club announced Tuesday.
IMAGO/Lobeca
Kerstin Reckenthäler will not continue as coach of the second division handball team Bergischer HC next year. “A few weeks ago we agreed that I would not extend my contract in the summer. After 27 years in competitive handball, I urgently need a break,” the former national player explained in a club statement.
“The double burden of the last 14 years with a job and handball has left its mark on me,” says Reckenthäler, who also works as a teacher. “This shouldn’t be a farewell to handball and I would have liked to have stayed until the end of the season and brought it to a proper conclusion, but now I need time to recharge my batteries.”
BHC managing director Assina Müller will now lead the team’s training on an interim basis. Müller, a former Bundesliga player, is familiar with a similar situation from the 2024 promotion season. In December 2023, the coaching team around Lars Faßbender, Samantha Sklorz and Harald Milde announced their immediate resignation following Reckenthäler’s appointment.
“January with the games in Rödertal, against Leipzig and in Nürtingen represents a special challenge. The further development of the team remains the top priority,” said Müller.
Kerstin Reckenthäler played in the women’s handball Bundesliga for DJK/MJC Trier and won the German championship with the Miezen in 2003. She earned bronze medals at the U17 European Championships in 1999 and the U20 World Cup in 2001. The former right winger was forced to end her career in 2005 at the age of 23, having already played 18 senior international matches for Germany.
After her playing career, she began coaching at the DHB base in Trier and at the Rhineland-Palatinate regional association. In 2011, she became a youth coach at Bayer Leverkusen, leading the A-youth team to three German championships (2013, 2014, 2018) and two runner-up titles (2016, 2017).
In October 2018, she took over the third division team HSV Solingen-Gräfrath, achieving promotion to the 2nd HBF (2019) and the 1st HBF (2023). Following the announcement of her move to local rivals BHC, the contract was terminated in January 2024.
