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Name: Lilla Réty

 

Place of birth: Budapest

Time of birth: 31.03.1990.

Teams: Malév Sc, Fehérvár KC, Vasas

Collaboration:  december 2007-2010 Fehérvár KC NBI. junior team

LILLA’S RELATIONSHIP WITH HANDBALL

In the last year of kindergarten my parents decided to send me to a sport specialized primary school, as I have never had an  “average shape” the admission letter from school made me and my parents really happy. That is how the Primary school on Kassai street bacame the base of my unbreakble love for sport.  I started to play in 2nd grade in 1998 and from here Malév SC took me in 8th grade.

The story of how I became a goalkeeper is not 100% clear even for me, once I realised that I could save balls during the classes and I enjoyed that I could out think my teammates. I was taught by great coaches. I learnt all the basics from István Vladár and Attila Mihály. From Márti Varga I got a new chance in 2011 as a Vasas player. I also think I’ve been lucky in connecting with goalkeeper coaches: Zoltán Nagy and András Novák were my coaches during their active career with great enthusiasm and creativity. As I only worked with male coaches, whom shaped my style in the goal, after a club change in 2007 in Székesfehérvár I did not know what to expect on the first session for goalkeepers when I learnt that Tímea Sugár would be the coach. But that was not the first time I had met with Susu in person. In September 2001 as a school kid we won a tournament, but we won something bigger next the gold medal. We could walk in with the national team for a match start.  Susu was already an active member of the national team. I asked for an autograph from her, with my starry eyes and saved the memory of the first meet with the greats   

If I should have to summarize our work, I would say: CHALLENGE and ADVENTURE! CHALLENGE, because with her very unique own goalkeeping style I had to battle on every training, it was very hard to adopt, because I learnt it differently. I remember, that inside I was arguing with her sometimes, but I would have never done it out loud out of respect, but I needed a few months to understand that also a tall goalkeeper has to use the equivalent leg save for a ball that goes to the corner of the goal. Nowadays I just laugh about my obstinacy. Challenge was every training session, because we adopted her maximalism and her will to win. She is a great motivator, and she always uses this during teaching.  

She gave the basics prominence. Every session had a direction. ADVENTURE was, because she was taking care of us not only on the court but off it to. Life was an adventure with her. It is very important to her, that when we step off the handball court we were not only existing, but exploring - because if we see more, we will become more and our perspective became wider and wider.

I have been through uncounted experiences during the trips she had organized, it could have been a medical check together or watching a game in Vienna or even a weekend with goalies at an ice cave. She made me realize day by day, how good it is to be a goalkeeper. However handball in Székesfehérvár and daily university in Gödöllö did not seem to be the best match in the long term, my body became tired, my injuries could not recover, and thus I had to decide.

In 2010 after 12 years, I woke up feeling that I would not go to the training that afternoon. I decided I would go to university and in 2011 I received my degree as a Business Communicator in the Szent István Egyetem. During that time I had another chance with Susu in Vasas, with the leading of Márti Varga, after all without any success I tried to get back the old swing and shape, unfortunately this never happened. In October 2011 I had a possibility of work and again I had to decide. I decided there were more opportunities away from handball and so I stopped playing.  I did not forget anything that I have learnt from my coaches. I am thankful for them making me the person I am, a person who can love and fight, who is able to work in a team and pick myself up after a failure.

At the present time I also play sports, the love of the sport did not go away, but I still have not been to a handball game since I stopped playing. I have preserved the feeling of those 13 years in my memory, when handball was not only a determining part of my life, but it was the only thing to determine my life.

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