In keeping with tradition, the NEKA boy’s youth team will participate in on Kanyó Memorial Handball Tournament this year. According to head coach Zsolt Kopornyik, this is a good step in the preparation, because every year we can measure our knowledge against high-level opponents.
“We are always looking forward to this well-organized, high-quality tournament. We are happy to be in a heavier group because it gives a realistic picture of the championship. It would be difficult to say anything about the chances, because by the nature of academic education, the picture changes from year to year, and we always start with a new team. I only had six players left from the last year’s team that won gold and silver medals, some of the 13 new players got promoted from the 2nd NEKA team. I don’t want to highlight pullers, because we always think in a team, everybody needs the same thing, and we’ve only been training together for three weeks and there are many open questions.
It is also a question of what we will be able to do. We have started a job and although we are not specifically preparing for this tournament, we want to practice our own game and of course we want to play well.
Zsolt Kopornyik has been a coach at the National Handball Academy since 2016. He achieved many successes with his teams, winning last year’s men’s youth II division unbeaten, while the NEKA 1st team became a silver medalist in Division I. As the federal coach of the Hungarian boy’s national team, he finished 5th at the European Open in Gothenburg this summer. He has been coaching since the age of 21 and has coached several clubs, came to NEKA from Balmazújváros, and worked in Kecskemét, Csurgó and Orosháza.
About the chances: In the history of the Kanyó Memorial, NEKA could stand on the top of the podium, ending all their battle with medals, without exception. They come with a huge motivation to take home the cup again after losing last year.
