LAST WEEK IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: As we approach the middle of July, we catch up with players who are making the most of their final days on holiday, or have already made the leap into serious training
Camps, holidays and the early days of pre-season training
It will not be long before all of Europe's top clubs are hard at work preparing for the new 2017/18 season, but for now some players are making the most of their final days of rest and relaxation in the sun, some are teaching the next generation at handball camps, while some early birds have already begun training. Below are some of the highlights of what Europe's biggest names were sharing over the past week on social media.
Goalkeepers lead the way at camp
VELUX EHF Champions League standout keepers Filip Ivic (Kielce), Borko Ristovski (Barcelona) and Roland Mikler (Veszprem) made their way to Omis in Croatia for the International Handball Goalkeepers Camp, to help pass on their tips and tricks to 150 aspiring shotstoppers.
Besides the traditional forms of training, the camp used various technologies to help participants with a wide-range of techniques and everyone clearly seemed to enjoy themselves.
Cléopatre Darleux will return to the Women's EHF Champions League this season with newcomers Brest Bretagne and she is beginning her season with a camp of her own.
The popular goalkeeper mixed things up a bit on Tuesday, bringing her campers outdoors for some beach handball in northwestern France.
Drenched shirts and working holidays
Some Veszprém players are obviously keen to make an early impression on their new coach Ljubomir Vranjes.
Andreas Nillson showed us what a session of thai boxing did to his poor shirt, while Gasper Marguc was not shy in replying to the "challenge" laid down by his teammate...
Meanwhile, Bella Gulldén has been pounding the pavements and wrote on Instagram on Tuesday "When the running is so hard that you start to wonder why you are playing handball." Fast forward one day and the CSM Bucuresti star is in much better spirits as she discovers the delights of bluetooth earphones while running.
A few players are still galivanting around Asia and enjoying their summer, such as Filip Jicha in Japan and Alex Dujshebaev in Vietnam. It is great to see both men appearing embrace the local culture in one way or another.
Lastly, let us spare a thought for Matej Gabor. The Szeged line player is on honeymoon in the Maldives with his wife, but is still managing to get the early morning reps in. Now that is commitment.
TEXT:
EHF / cor