The Hesse Johannes Golla formulates bold goals for the upcoming home European Championships. At the same time, he looks back on his beginnings: being eliminated from the Hessen team, his luck at MT Melsungen and preparing for his final exams on the team bus.
On January 10th, the European Handball Championships in Germany begin with the record game in front of over 50,000 spectators in Düsseldorf with the Germans playing against Switzerland. Captain Johannes Golla from Hesse spoke about the team’s goals at the training camp in Brunsbüttel.
“At a European Championship, the semi-finals are always the big thing. That’s in one person’s head or another. We hope that we won’t see the family again until the end of January,” Golla told the SID. Coach Alfred Gislason didn’t want to be coerced into setting a goal, but the German team is not one of the favorites for the title.
Started handball at the age of five
The French, one of the top teams, are already waiting as opponents in the preliminary round. The Danes are also considered candidates for the crown. The Spanish, who are also strong, could wait for the Germans in a possible main round in Cologne. The preliminary round for Golla & Co. takes place in Düsseldorf and Berlin.
The captain now also provided insights into his career in Hesse. In the recently published book “Bock auf Handball” Golla writes: “In my hometown of Eltville, football dominated. And so I made my first attempts with the ball on my foot instead of in my hand. Nevertheless, I ended up at the JSG at the age of five Eltville, my very first handball club.”
Golla actually wanted to become a police officer
In his youth, however, he had to cope with a bitter disappointment when he was eliminated from the Hessen selection as a B-youth. “If I’m honest, it was really on my mind.” It wasn’t until February 2015, at the age of 17, that the course was set for professional handball, says Golla, who actually wanted to become a police officer. Through a friend of his father, he contacted Michael Roth, the then coach of MT Melsungen, and was allowed to go to trial training.
“The first trial training was definitely a favor to some extent, I had connections and the necessary luck,” said Golla. But he knew how to convince and became the MT’s mainstay. On away trips back from Flensburg, for example, his teammates celebrated the victory while Golla was studying for his high school diploma. However, he missed the prom due to the 2016 European Junior Championships.
Surprised by the national coach
From there things went uphill: Golla became captain and leading player in Flensburg as well as in the national team. When he was appointed captain, he said he was surprised by coach Gislason during a team meeting in November 2022. “What? Did he really say my name? I couldn’t believe it. What an honor. What a challenge!”
The Hesse team will now face this when he leads the German team onto the field as captain for the home European Championships. If possible by the end of January.
