Serbian expert Djordje Cirkovic started preparations for the new season in certainly changed circumstances, as did everyone else with HC Dobroge SUD Constanca. The trophy expert comments on the proposal of the Romanian Federation League as a Life model, talks about the ambitions for next season and tells us about the new project „Handball Vortex“ which will enable coaches to use the offered ideas, alternatives and opportunities in solving their problems.
When did you start the preparation period with your team and how satisfied are you with the work so far, given the aggravating circumstances?
- At the beginning of June, I suggested that we start the preparations for June 22, ie 9 weeks before the first official match. The idea was to expand the conceptual framework of the team’s sports preparation through 2 introductory weeks due to the epidemiological situation of COVID 19. Despite the large number of known factors that are intertwined and affect the planning, programming and implementation of sports preparation was not enough, the entire coaching community received another unexpected factor – a 100-day break for the entire team. In addition to all the above, an additional challenge was the fact that at the end of the season we were left without Marko Isaković, who kept a short roster in enviable physical condition. The specific situation often requires specific solutions, and this has given rise to at least a completely innovative way of cooperation with Nenad Njaradi (FC Alaves). After detailed briefing and inputs required (player potential, hornbooks, biological and educational age, skills and habits in the game, training and competition experience, number of players in training, game system, club goals, specification of props we have, previous protocols warm-up and recovery, the most important goals in the structure of my training units, etc.) a program was created that is especially dedicated to the „new factor“, especially in the first 4 weeks of work, after more than a long break. I am very satisfied with the work so far, especially because we have realized almost everything that was planned, and for the past 45 days of work, no player has missed training due to injury. What deserves to be pointed out is the fact that the club took the situation extremely seriously and provided top security protocols (a PSR test is done every Monday and so far we have not had any positive players). However, it will take a lot of skill and knowledge (which does not exist in theory for now) to build a system of integral preparation of athletes in such circumstances. Of course, it must be taken into account that any starting advantage should not and does not mean an advantage until the end of the year, without further serious approach to the situation which for the first time has more factors to include on the road to success, compared to all previous seasons. It is too early for assessments, let alone assessments, but I am sure that in addition to the competence of the head coach in these circumstances, the great importance of the coach for physical preparation, as well as the psychologist, is included. If anxiety means being worried about the future, then this is the moment when this factor should be considered as one of the most important and when the approach to it should not be neglected, or thought that it can be solved with a „glass of conversation“. He trains in conditions of unpleasant tension, so that due to one positive case, the whole team can stop for a few weeks. These are all questions to which an adequate and timely answer must be found, and for which we should not avoid including the previously mentioned structures, as new future significant factors of the sports team. This makes the challenge bigger, in order to bravely enter a season that will take everything from us in a psycho-physical sense, but also get a lot.
How do you comment on the proposal of the Romanian Federation to start the league as a Model Life?
- First of all, I have a positive attitude towards the daily efforts of the FRH to find an adequate model of competition. The proposed model may be interesting, but by no means in the form of 15 games in 45 days. Bucharest has the infrastructure that enables the realization of this project, but…. The idea is that after testing and specific quarantine, all teams will be accommodated in the same hotel and play one round every three days. In these circumstances, this seems like an introduction to a catastrophe, considering that after the longest break, the players should undergo the most demanding competitive rhythm so far. In that case, an on-duty clinic with good surgeons is necessary. Again, we come to the question of physical preparation, recovery, the impossibility of quality training, the width of the roster and the functioning of the team in long quarantine conditions. So, these factors will have a strong influence on the sports result. The issue of harmonization of the calendar with the EHF is also open. Modern sport has crossed the path from Coubertin to victory at any cost, and my personal position is that this year we should significantly reduce the number of games, invest in player development and welcome the next season with a significantly higher quality sports product.
What are your ambitions for the upcoming season, you will fight for domestic trophies, but you will also play in the EHF European League?
- Ambitions are related to further stabilization and progress of the team. At first, there are some abstract goals, but I say that because many forgot that at the beginning of October last year, the club was in 12th place, and the atmosphere I found was in the style: „is there life before death“. Also, the fact is that Dinamo is entering even stronger this season, after a season in which they did not lose in the Champions League. In 14 days, we will have the opportunity to „feel“ each other’s pulse in the eventual final of the 2019-20 Cup, after which we will have the first estimates of the current balance of power. Entering the group stage of the EHF European League is certainly our primary goal, and our first rival on that path is Viktor (Russia). The first match is in Constanta on August 29, while the return match is in Rostov on September 6.
You are working on a very interesting project that would mean a lot to your colleagues in development and training. What it is?
- The name of the project is Handball Vortex and it is in a serious development phase. For now, I can say that this is a new digital conceptual space in which ideas, alternatives and possibilities will be offered that can be used by coaches in solving their problems. The infrastructure of the project is developed, but since we are entering a huge digital space, which is a space of easy ignoring, it is necessary to integrate knowledge from several areas. That’s why we’re currently developing processes that will allow us to be noticed in the digital world and say, „Wow, this is interesting to me.“ And when that chosen engagement starts with us, no one will „easily ignore us“, concluded Cirkovic
