Adults at work again!

The summer break for the adult team of our academy is over: the members of the band started their preparations for the 2021/2022 league season today, so under the direction of head coach Attila Vágó, a total of twenty players started the work together in the Dunaújváros Sports Hall. The team members welcomed each other with pleasure at the first training session.

– Last season was a very long one, but the six weeks that we left behind were enough for us to relax and recharge our players. The first three or four weeks were clearly about rest, but for the last two weeks the girls already had some homework to do, and then we met each other in the gym this morning to officially start the preparation. The players were very happy, the old ones hugged each other, while the new ones were received with great love by everyone. A total of twenty players showed up today, there are some young people who will return to the youth team in a while, of course we could welcome our new signings here, only Johanna Farkas was missing, but her absence is certified, because she spends her well-deserved res after yesterday's victory in the finals of the U19 European Championship. She will join us in a week.

Ten training matches await the team

Of course, we were curious about Attila Vágó, what kind of work awaits the team until the start of the championship in September.

– I believe in mixed preparation, the ball was already in use this afternoon. Obviously, the focus is primarily on physical ability development, there are gym and running workouts, and in the afternoon, complex exercises come to the fore. Of course, we will also have training matches over time, we will play a total of ten preparation meetings, four of which will be standalone training matches, while the remaining six will be played in different tournaments in Békéscsaba, Kisvárda and Siófok.

Our manager has revealed that the most important task now will be to help the new players to fit in, and like last year, this year he wants to form a well-defending team.

– It is very important that the pullers of last year's team, the core stayed together, I am thinking here of Viktória Nick, Anita Bulath, Babett Szalai, Anita Kazai, the goalkeepers, the wingers, so we don't have to get to know each other much anymore. At the same time, it will be very important to incorporate new players into the team, into the system in which we work, as soon as possible. Here it causes some difficulty that Viktória Nick's injury has not yet been completely healed, so we need to find the right player, players, to replace her. Last year, it  was visible that our defense was our strength, and it came out there spectacularly when Viki was injured, so the effectiveness of our defense decreased in the matches left for the season. So a lot of work awaits us, but again this year I want a team that will be able to quickly counterattacks from a stable defense.

According to our head coach, the formation of the player frame has been successful, we want to be a strong team, a strong community, but at the same time it is not yet time to set specific goals, it can wait for the end of the preparation.

– We were able to contract players who fit professionally into the team, and because of this I am very grateful towards the club's management. In addition, it was important for us that the players fit personally to the team because we want to continue to build a very strong community, one that holds together and helps each other both on and off the field. As for our goals, building the team is the first priority, we want to get better day by day. We have not yet set specific goals for the season, so I would wait until the end of the preparation to see our own strength and the strength of our opponents in the upcoming season. I don’t want to chase big dreams yet, but we want to end up ahead of last year’s eighth place finish.

Anita Bulath in a dual role

Last season’s most successful DKKA player was Anita Bulath, who finished fourth in the league’s scorer list with 152 goals scored. The routine shooter will assist the team this year as well, but not only on the field, but also as a professional director outside of it, and as she told us, she we didn’t need to be strongly persuaded to accept this responsibility.

– Before we went on holiday, Csaba Vertig, executive director, contacted me and offered me the opportunity to become the professional director of DKKA. I will tell you honestly, I did not hesitate much, I immediately said yes to your request, and although this task is still very new to me, I love challenges, this is also one of them, I’m really looking forward to the job, although it’s also true that I can’t do it with full force yet because I also have tasks await me on the field. This dual role won’t be easy, which is why I expect a lot of help from everyone, but I’m sure I’ll learn from it over time, and I hope the transition will be really smooth, as this is really going to be my last season as a player. At the same time, this year can be a good opportunity for me to build myself gradually, to be able to develop as a professional leader step by step, and next year I can only and exclusively focus on helping the academy. The story is so fresh that we haven’t defined the exact scope, we’re past the first day of the new season, everyone is opening to the new experiences, but we’re discussing our responsibilities every day, and I’m sure we’ll be able to work together very well.

(Source of cover photo: Zoltán Végh - DO)