New coach, same ambitions for Baia Mare

A disappointing season ended with a high-magnitude earthquake in Baia Mare. The painful quarter-final defeat by Dinamo-Sinara meant that HCM failed to secure their maiden MVM EHF FINAL4 berth.

But it was not until the team lost the Romanian championship on their home court against CSM Bucuresti that the team’s executives realised that the need of change was imperative.

The first victim was Tone Tiselj. The highly touted coach was seen as a savior after replacing Costica Buceschi and leading the team to top eight of continent despite starting basically from a scratch in the main round. Tiselj ended his contract with the Romanian runners-up after Baia Mare secured only one objective last season: the Romanian Cup.

Several names were considered as Tiselj's replacement, but Baia Mare decided to go local and hired Aurelian Rosca. While the name may seem unknown, Rosca’s past boasts several exciting performances. As an assistant coach at Oltchim, he helped the team reach the Women's EHF Champions League Final in 2010, which they eventually lost to a Danish powerhouse Viborg HK.

But his top performance was recorded in 2014, as the 47-year-old coach led Romania to a maiden win at the Under 18 World Championships in FYR Macedonia. It was this achievement which helped Baia Mare to sign Rosca, who led their league rivals SCM Craiova last year.

“It is a great challenge for me, because I am coming back to the high class handball. Baia Mare is the capital of the Romanian handball and I hope to play the best handball we can possibly show," said Rosca.

His official presentation was postponed until August, as he will also lead Romania at the Women's 19 EHF EURO, which will take place in Spain between 23 July and 1 August. However, Rosca has already led several training sessions in Baia Mare.

The new coach will have his work cut out in the first weeks at Baia Mare, as he will struggle to create a new team. Rosca’s first important challenge will be guiding Baia Mare to its third consecutive group stage in the European top flight.

On 12-13 September the Romanian side will host the Qualification Tournament 2 of the Women's EHF Champions League and the hosts will take on BNTU-BelAZ Minsk Region, while the second semi-final will be played between Esbjerg and Ankara Yenimahalle BSK.

”The audience is great and is making the players more focused and helps us a lot. I and the team will make sure we can get there,” added Rosca.

Camilla Herrem, Barbara Arenhart, Ksenia Makeeva and Ekateryna Davydenko left Baia Mare to pursue other contracts, but four foreign players will be kept in the team, Gabriella Szücs, Alexandra do Nascimento, Lois Abbingh and Elena Gjorgjievska, while more reinforcements can still be announced during this summer.