Bistrita’s Reichert: “Playing for a European top club is a bit surreal”

“It was an emotional farewell. I grew up at THC, I have fallen in love with the city of Erfurt, made lots of friends and built a great social circle,” Reichert says. “But the time had come to take the next step. I wanted to continue my path to see what lays ahead.”

Born in Korneuburg, just north of capital Vienna, Reichert joined Vienna-based club WAT Atzgersdorf at the age of 17. Two years later, the move to Germany followed.

Reichert had already worked with coaches Herbert and Helfried Müller for a long time in various Austrian (youth) national teams, when THC, also coached by the Müller brothers, signed the yet unpolished diamond.

At THC, Reichert became the standout performer, particularly over the past two seasons. She was the EHF European League top scorer in 2024/25 and 2025/26, top scorer and MVP of the German Bundesliga in 2024/25. In 2025, the Austrian led Thüringer HC to the EHF European League title when she scored a stunning 29 goals over two matches at the EHF Finals Women and was named MVP of the season-ending event in Graz.

“I could never have imagined that things would go so well,” says Reichert, now 24. “Playing here in Bistrita, for a European top club, is a bit surreal. As a 19-year-old leaving Austria, I could never have imagined anything like this.”

Thüringer HC realised they couldn’t keep Reichert longer. Herbert Müller, her Romanian-born coach, supported her in her move to his motherland: “He’s a good advisor, knows people in Bistrita and is always on hand to translate over the phone,” Reichert says. “But I haven’t needed him yet since I moved.”

Reichert spent four weeks of the off-season in her Austrian hometown before her new adventure began with the move to Bistrita. Many of her Gloria teammates live in the same neighbourhood, and German international Nina Engel — her successor as Bundesliga top scorer — has also moved to Bistritra, from HSG Bensheim/Auerbach.

“It’s good to have someone you can relate to who speaks the same language,” Reichert says.

The fact that English is the official language in the Bistrita squad suits her, but she still wants to learn Romanian quickly — and Spanish, as coach Carlos Viver and five of her teammates are from Spain. “I’ve got two years to learn both languages. I thought it would help that I’d studied Latin at school, but that’s no use to me at all,” she says.

But it’s not just the language that’s different in this Transylvanian town of around 80,000 inhabitants. “It’s absolutely amazing what we’ve got here all in one place: A playing hall, a training hall, a gym, medical support, recovery facilities — all within the same complex. And because it’s owned by the club, we can always get in, unlike in Germany, where we shared the hall with a school. We have three physiotherapists; the whole set-up is absolutely professional.”

The fact that her new club went on to win the Romanian league and cup titles for the first time last season is the icing on the cake.

“There’s total euphoria here, but of course the pressure and expectations are rising now, too,” Reichert says. “Yet, everyone is highly motivated. I like pressure and I’m looking forward to getting started.”

The challenge, however, will be different to that at THC, where the game was completely tailored to Reichert. In Bistrita, she shares the left back position with Spanish players Danila So Delgado and Lara Gonzalez.

“I won’t be playing the full 60 minutes anymore, and I won’t have the same individual pressure as I had in Germany. In Bistrita, the responsibility is spread across many more players. On the court, it’s easier for me, although the pressure to perform and the targets are naturally higher.”

Scoring like a goal machine in recent years with THC, Reichert hasn’t set herself a target for her goal tally in her first season with Bistrita: “I want to play much more in defence to become an all-round player. My aim for now is to develop as an individual and to grow with the team.”

Her first goal of the season is winning Romanian Super Cup — a four-team tournament on 22/23 August with CSM Bucuresti, CSM Corona Brasov and SCM Ramnicu Valcea.

Bistrita's international campaign starts on Sunday 6 September, when her first ever EHF Champions League match brings her back to Germany, as Bistrita are visiting Bundesliga champions and top-flight debutants HSG Blomberg-Lippe.

Last season, Gloria reached the quarter-finals of the EHF Champions League for the first time and lost to Brest Bretagne Handball. And as Reichert has done twice, Bistrita reached the final of the EHF European League once — in 2024, when they lost to Storhamar Handbåll Elite, also one of the upcoming opponents in group B of the EHF Champions League.

Reichert played the EHF European League final in 2025, beating Ikast Håndbold, and in 2026, losing to JDA Bourgogne Dijon.

But that’s all in the past; the future lies in Transylvania.

Main and feature photos © Agentia WolfArt / Bianca Sălăgean