"The last Bastion" of Kohász

In the third part of our series introducing our new players, we meet Alexa Wéninger, who was able to play in the Champions League at the age of seventeen, and at the beginning of our interview she guides us through the most important stages of her career so far.

"When I was in primary school, in the third grade, we started to get acquainted with the sport with my classmates with the assistance of Ferenc Gellér, and we stayed together until our seventh grade, but unfortunately we weren't enough in numbers to continue playing at school. That's how I got to Győri Audi ETO KC where first Lajos Hornyák, then Lászlóné Tóth trained me. I was able to joint the team of Gábor Danyi and László Gyulay as a junior. During this time of my career I was lucky enough to work with Katrine Lunde, Éva Kiss, Orsolya Herr, Kari Aalvik Grimsbö and Jelena Grubisic, which was very inspiring for me as not everyone is given the opportunity to work together with such excellent players. I had the opportunity to play in Hungarian League matches as well as in the Champions League. I may not have realized at the time, what an honor is in a player's life that she can play in front of nearly five thousand people. I am very grateful that Ambros Martin made this possible for me, while I would like to thank Gábor Danyi for helping me to participate in the adult trainings, where the professional staff and teammates also helped me a lot with the integration. After that I went to Mosonmagyaróvár with several of my teammates, I spent a year here and I made my debut in the Hungarian junior national team as well. Then I signed for Budaörs, where I spent two years. I played beside several experienced handball players, from whom I also learned a lot and tried to improve as much as possible. And last year I came to Orosháza. unfortunately my season did not turn out the way I planned, but now I am very positive and I am excited to start preparing in Dunaújváros as soon as possible. "

The young goalkeeper also reported why her previous season did not turn out favorably.

"Unfortunately, I suffered a ligament rupture in the very first match. I was lucky that Dr. György Béres, a chief physician, was able to operate at the 'Kastélypark' clinic of Tata a few days after my injury. It was followed by a very serious rehabilitation in Orosháza. I managed to get back to the training sessions, and if the tournament is not paused and closed due to the coronavirus epidemic, I could have even played in matches. I am disappointed that it did not come true, but I am preparing with honor at home, and I try to keep the shape that I already acquired in the training sessions.The injury itself hit me hard, but my teammates, relatives and friends also stood by me all the way, so I think I learned a lot from this and can return to the goal mentally strengthened, and will work to be even better."

Alexa has already worked with our new head coach, Attila Vágó, so she is aware of what kind of team we can expect in the new season.

"Last year already I worked with Attila Vágó, which also played a role in my signing to Orosháza, because it was a club with serious goals and a very good background, where the professional staff and players were prepared for the tasks ahead. I consider Attila Vágó to be a young and ambitious coach, who has already achieved good results. The most important thing for Orosháza was to put together a stable and effective defense, and to get as many goals as possible with possible counter attacks. While the squad here isn’t complete yet, I think young people can learn a lot from the experienced players who have hundreds of NB I matches and national call-ups behind them. Kohász will be a fighting team, I hope that we will end up in the best place possible and serve the fans and achieve the goals set for us. "

According to our young net keeper, one of the most important characteristics of a good goalkeeper is reliability, and although she is aware that she still has a lot to improve, she works hard in every training and every match to become an even better goalkeeper.

"The goalkeeper position is extremely special, whether we look at his movements or how we prepare for a match, you know a little separate from the team, yet still an integral part of it. I would describe ourselves as a last bastion, because we can solve even decisive situations alone, but it is important, what kind of defense we have in front of us. In addition, we can make the lives of others easier if we are in the right form, lets say if we achieve forty percent efficiency. A good goalkeeper is determined by many things, but reliability is what I would emphasize the most, because it is very important that there is such a trust on the part between the field players and the goalkeeper that they know the other can solve her task. This stable relationship, and its permanence, means a lot. As for me, I think I still have a lot to improve, and although I have two or three years of first league experience behind me, I always have to develop and innovate as a goalkeeper, as players play faster, more and more technical at womens' level too. Shooting styles are also emerging that we have only seen in men so far. Luckily, I have been able to work with fantastic goalie coaches so far, so I already posess several styles. I try to keep them up to date, and I try to improve in every training and every match. "

The goalkeeper of the adult team of our Academy is very much looking forward to the new season, and of course she is confident that she will be able to take on as much of the success of the team as possible.

"I am already very much looking forward and excited about the new season, I am curious about the new teammates, and I can't wait to start working together. I wonder what results we will be able to achieve in the 2020/2021 season. I hope that we will be as successful as possible, and of course my aim is to be as involved as possible in getting the team to achieve its goals. "