Husband and wife to lead Vardar's European odyssey

Vardar Skopje will have both a men’s and women’s team in this season’s EHF Champions League competitions. Both teams secured the Macedonian championships after ending the three-year dominance of local rivals HC Metalurg.

The two head coaches are spouses, Zoran and Indira Kastratović. In handball history there have been cases where a coach and player were a couple, but this is a unique situation.

The couple have had a working relationhip in the past. Back in 2002, while Indira Kastratovic was playing for Kometal Gjorche Petrov, husband Zoran was the assistant coach to Alexander Panov at the club for half a season, a season where they became EHF Champions League winners.

Indira is going into her second year as coach of the women’s team, while Zoran Kastratović was recently named as the replacement for Veselin Vujovic on the men’s side.

"Never in my life have I thought that we'll be coaches at the same club,” said Indira Kastratović.

Big expectations

This season sees Vardar begin an ambitious project to improve results for both teams in Europe. The club has signed a number of famous internationals for the women’s team and the men are now following suit.

"A big challenge for both of us is to lead teams in the EHF Champions League. We think we are ready for the ambitious project in both teams,” believes Indira Kastratović.

Large investments in the team, building a new hall and creating a handball brand that has yet to shine in Europe shows just how enthusiastic sponsor Sergei Samsonenko is and everyone involved is looking for justification for this input.

"Success for the women’s team would be reaching the Group Matches and then considering the possible opponents in the group, maybe to be among the eight best teams in Europe.

“Hopefully we will go step by step, until we reach the desired results. For domestic competition, our target is the double, League and Cup,” said Indira.

"As for the men's side, next season will be a success if we progress from the Group Phase of the Champions League and retain our domestic title. In the regional SEHA League, we hope to reach the final tournament,” said Zoran Kastratovic.

He will lead this team with high ambitions for the first time this season. Competing in the VELUX EHF Champions League with success will depend on many factors, even with several reinforcements and retaining most of last season’s squad.

"Although each team has to have top quality players and logistics, I still think “chemistry” between players is important for a top result,” says Zoran.

Despite the pair spending the majority of their time on professional obligations, they make plenty of time for family matters, raising their daughter Sara and giving each other advice on how to best deal with situations on the court.

Zoran bringing national team experience to Skopje

46-year-old Zoran Kastratović enjoyed major success with the Montenegrin national team. Last year the team reached their first World Championship, eliminating Sweden en route to the 2013 finals in Spain.

In EHF EURO 2014 qualicifaction, they took second place in their group behind the Czech Republic and ahead of Germany and Israel, to book their ticket to Denmark in January.

Zoran was also coach of FYR Macedonia’s women’s national team at the EHF EURO 2000 in Romania (8th place) and 2001 World Championship in Italy (21st place).

At club level, Zoran helped Berane win the league in Montenegro and was in charge of Sutjeska, who played in the first season of the SEHA League.

First big challenge for Indira

Indira Kastratović is going into her second season as coach of the club. She achieved her greatest success with Kometal Gjorce Petrov, where she reached the final of the EHF Champions League in 2000 and 2002.

She was the top scorer at the 1997 World Championship in Germany with 71 goals representing FYR Macedonia.

In 2006 Indira ended her playing career in order to dedicate herself to working with youth categories and established the "Kastratović" academy alongside her husband.

International reinforcement

Vardar's men have bolstered their squad in preparation for their European assualt, with list of confirmed signings for the men’s side for next season being: Mikhail Chipurin - line player, Alexey Rastvortsev - left back, Timur Dibirov - left wing, all from Russian champion Chehovski Medvedi, Serbian Alen Toskic - line player (Celje Pivovarna), Stefan Terzic - right back (HSV Hamburg) and Sloveninan Matijaz Brumen - right wing (Cimos Koper).

This leaves the team in a strong position, as they have kept the majority of their squad intact, with the exception of Vukasin Rajkovic, Vuk Lazovic and Nikola Markovski.

HC Vardar PRO are in Group C of the VELUX EHF Champions League, alongside the likes of FC Barcelona Intersport (ESP) and PSG Handball (FRA).

The women’s side have been even more active in the transfer market. So far Amandine Leyaud, Allison Pineau, Siraba Dembele, Andreja Lekic, Jovanka Radicevic, Maja Zebic, Tatyana Khmyrova, Ana Djokic and Julija Nikolic have signed for the upcoming season and French back court Claudine Mendy will miss this season due to pregnancy.

The plethora of new players will join up with current talented squad members such as former Russian star Inna Suslina, Spanish line player Fernandez Molinos Begonia, Montenegrin back court Andrea Klikovac, and Macedonian national team players Biljana Crvenkovska, Dragana Pecevska, Marija Steriova and Ivana Sazdovski.

WHC Vardar SCBT must qualify for the competition proper, by winning qualification group 4, where Rostov-Don (RUS), Jomi Salerno (ITA) and Fleury Loiret (FRA) are the opponents.

Photo credit: Petr Stojanovski