Fun and fast Sweden ready for long-awaited return

“I’m very excited. I was a player eight years ago when we last played an EHF Beach Handball EURO, and now I’m a coach. A new role, but it’s really exciting and a lot of fun,” says Johansson. She has led the team for almost three years now, after having to end her playing career due to injury.

Sweden is a proud handball country. However, the federation had to “rebuild everything to start from the ground. We wanted to create a good organisation to get more interest in beach handball in Sweden,” explains Johansson. Key to developing the sport was to focus on young players.

One of them is 18-year-old Ida Göllas.

“I started playing beach handball four years ago in 2021. The federation organised a regional training camp in my hometown. That’s when I first came in contact with beach handball,” Göllas explains.

Since then, the sport has “definitely gotten bigger and more popular” in Sweden with a “lot of great players coming from younger age teams,” Göllas adds.

Göllas was part of Sweden’s under-17 team that collected the bronze medal at the European Championship in 2023. In 2024, she made her debut at a major tournament at senior level, collecting a bronze medal once more at the EHF Beach Handball Championship. During the tournament, Göllas was her team’s best scorer and ranked sixth among all players with 97 points.

Alongside Göllas, four more players from the 2023 under-17 squad participated in Varna and have now taken their place in the national team. The experience gained should be vital for this year’s return to the Beach Handball EURO.

“We got to play against very good teams. And we got to know how well we could play when we play our best and believe in ourselves,” remembers Göllas.

“It was the first big tournament for the young players on our team. To be together for one week with full focus, to play two matches in a day, and with all the heat and the sun, to handle it the right way with hydration. That is a big experience for us,” adds Johansson.

Johansson wants to take full advantage of her team’s young age, saying: “I want them to play fast beach handball. To go for fast breaks and play quickly from the goalkeeper to the attack. I want the team to always work hard and have quick arms in defence.”

Göllas agrees with her coach’s approach.

“I like to play with a lot of speed. I try to just really go for it. That’s kind of my mentality. If I see an opportunity to score, I will take it and just try and score. It’s an ‘all or nothing’ mentality. I go all in when I play,” she adds.

Young players want to prove to everyone that they belong on the big stage, and Johansson sees her team as prepared for the nerves to kick in or mistakes to happen because of the pressure.

“It could be a challenge in this tournament, but it was a good experience last year in Varna to have the chance to play these important games for the medals. That’s important for our players not to become too nervous and not to pressure themselves to do everything right every time.

“Young players want to be the best all the time, but no one can be that way. You have to make mistakes. We are talking a lot about the fact that it is okay to make mistakes. It is the next action that counts,” Johansson explains.

A key to achieving a state of looseness is the good spirit within the team. “It is really fun to work with the girls. They are open to learning and testing new things, to find out how we would like to play. We are communicating a lot to achieve that and find a playing style that fits us best.”

Her way of coaching resonates with her team.

“She knows a lot. Has a lot of competence. She is very direct, which I appreciate. She explains things very clearly, and she has this clear idea of how we are supposed to play, and that has helped a lot for us to know what is expected of us,” says Göllas.

Drawn into group C with established beach handball nations as the Netherlands, Croatia, and Greece, Sweden are eager to put up a fight and set ambitious goals.

“We think that the top six would be really great to have the chance of participating in the World Championship. It’s an ambitious goal, but we are aiming for that,” says Johansson. To achieve that, at least one win in this tough group is needed.

“I think one win in the group could be enough to move on, and then I think we will become better and better the longer the tournament goes. If we could start good and then become better, that would be the ideal world.”

Ida Göllas is also hopeful of progressing deep into the tournament.

“When we play our best and everything clicks, I think we can at least challenge the top teams in this tournament. We have shown in the last summer and the youth competitions, where a lot of players in the squad have participated in, that we can challenge the top teams when we play our best and believe in ourselves.”

She adds that the familiarity within the squad could become vital in this tournament, especially in close matches.

“Half of the team have played with each other for four summers in a row now, and I think that really helps. We know each other as persons, but also as players on the beach. I think that’s an advantage, since we know how to play with each other and what everyone’s best traits are. We know how to make each other play their very best,” Göllas concludes.

Photos © MSV Photographers; Kolektiff Images