Beach handball club White boys is having their first year anniversary so we bring you an exclusive interview with leading people of the club. So in behalf of BHC Zagreb we wish them a happy first birthday and hope that you will keep on being tough court rivals for many more years!
Hello and thank you for doing this interview! Hello to you and to readers. It’s a pleasure to talk to you.
-Could you tell us at the beginning when was the first time you were introduced with beach handball or when was the first time you’ve seen anyone playing beach handball? In year 2003 our friend Željko Čagalj called us so we did a couple of trainings and then we went on a tournament in Medena (Trogir). Since then we have participated every year beach handball tournaments.
-What happened then, was it love at first sight or did it take same time to grow it into you considering the fact you’ve been playing indoor handball for many years? We have to admit that we liked it from the first second and already after the first tournament it got under our skin. We would play even water handball if it existed!
How did the ‘White boys’ gather up? Was it spontaneous gathering or the classic Dalmatian ‘pooling the sleeve’- come and play? Now we have to tell you a little bit about our history. As we already mentioned, the gathering was in the year 2003 on a tournament in Medena where we played under the name ‘Baš me briga’ (I don’t care). Next year we were called ‘Cubassa O’Zora’ (cartoon character) and participated tournaments in Medena and Pag. The year 2005 we took the name Whit boys which lasts ‘till today. We went through all kind of things during our existence, slept on the beaches and under the stands, looked for players on the beach, asked for a ride home etc. Two Portuguese played for us, members of judge organizations, female players.. Around 30 male and female players passed through our club. We are ‘stabile’ in the last year, also went on an international tournament (Zalaegerszeg, Hungary) and made our first line up of the team.
-You are well known as White boys on beach handball tournaments. Where did you get the idea to institutionalize yourselves, or should we say register as a sport club?
Modelled on other clubs (AKRP Zagreb, Dugi Rat, Golden Balls) we decided to make a sports association and make it all a little bit more serious. We are officially registered since March 10 2008 and applied the same year, on community of sports associations of the city Kaštel, since our head quarters are in Kaštel Gomilica.
–We assume that the main thing why you all gathered, like in most beach handball clubs, is love for handball do all your members come from and what are links among you (just friends, colleague from college, sport friends…)? We absolutely agree with friends is the number one reason why we do this. Base of White boys are guys that are handball players in a handball club Solin and our club secretary who is a handball judge. We are all also friends outside the court. Many of our friends help us and play for us and they come from all over Croatia-Metković….We shouldn’t forget our on and off, member Irena who plays for ŽRK Trogir.
–Always cheerful and ready and ready for a good time, but on the court you are pretty serious and fight to the end. That was always a quality of White boys. Is it ok to say that, anything you would change in that sentence? Thanks for the compliment, you are 100% right! Sometimes we all get into the game a little bit too much and then have our disagreements but we smooth things out in no time and make jokes as if nothing happened. There aren’t enough words to describe our fun times. If you know us you know what we are talking about.
-The biggest problem for many beach handball teams is finances; how are you coping with that? Our secretary said that our club is in recession for years : ) So far we’ve paid for all of our expenses, journeys, tournaments etc. Unfortunately, no sponsorship so far.
– What are your plans for this year? Do you have any serious ambitions for this season or do you play by that Olympics slogan: it’s important to participate? We are never quite satisfied with the participation itself (no matter how weird that sounds), even though unfortunately we cannot commend ourselves with a great success so far. We hope to change that this year.
– What are your relations with other teams in Croatia like? We know there is one side of the story on the court and a completely different one outside the court. We have fair relations with all teams. However, we would like to point out that we are more than just friends with teams KRNP Dugi Rat and BHC Golden Balls and also BHC Detono Zagreb (we mean the whole collective) with whom, besides great friendship, we are bonded on the courts while playing together.
– Another inevitable question for you: do you prefer indoor or the beach handball version considering the fact that you are active indoor handball players of the 1. Croatian handball league? You cannot do one without the other. After an exhausting indoor season, beach handball is somewhat more ideal for hot summer months. If we would have to choose between them-we would go for beach handball.
– Do you have anything to say to our readers and admirers of beach handball?
We would like to say it in the words of our great singer Mate Mišo Kovač: ˝..in the happy days,..in the rough days,..i cannot do anything else but to love..˝ beach handball of course.
– How do you combine your work obligations with beach handball and tournaments?
Our members who work take the days off or do their shifts in agreement with their co-workers so most of them are able to play for our beloved club. Rarely were they forced to work on those exact days.
– We thank you for your pleasant company, it was a pleasure just to hang out with you and hope for many more meetings!
Thank you for having us on the most read internet pages of beach handball! We wish you all the best and hope to see you on the finals during the season! With regards, kisses (for female members of AKRP Detono Zagreb).