Fourth season

Untersberg and medicine ball know handball well

Injured in the first game: UHC player Sebastian Aufhauser (left).

(Bild: Tröster Andreas/ANDREAS TROESTER)

UHC Salzburg starts its fourth season in the HLA Challenge. The focus in preparation was on athletics and fitness. The team has lost some of its quality.

Union Handballclub Salzburg went into the summer break in fifth place with a 27:27 win against Wels in April. Five months later, the new HLA Challenge season starts with the same clash. Nominally, however, a lot has changed. While the team from Wels underwent a major upheaval, Salzburg also lost a number of key players. With Patrick Fuchs (transfer to the Netherlands), Stefan Pac (to the second team) and Patrick Scherbel (back to Germany), three key players have been lost. "We will certainly have lost something in terms of play. We have to make up for that with speed and commitment," says coach Herbert Wagner.

That's why the focus in summer preparation was on athleticism and fitness. "We hiked up the Untersberg. Otherwise, we trained indoors, a lot with medicine balls." The players also appreciate this. Top scorer Sebastian Aufhauser says: "You can tell that we've made huge progress. Everyone is eager for the first games, we want to score points straight away." However, the son of former professional footballer Rene will have to miss the first game through injury. In the last test match against Wacker Burghausen, he suffered a concussion and a broken nose.

In the fourth season in the HLA Challenge, the aim is to reach the upper play-offs. However, this will not be easy in the nine-team league (Traun is returning after a one-year break). Three new signings should help: Michael Hauch and Wenzel Köster are two promising newcomers. In the background, Heidi Röse, a new managing director, is working on the club's finances.