Goalkeepers leave an indelible mark. In just a few years, Lucas Kroeger, conquered the US handball scene by storm, claiming the last played 2019 US Nationals and multiple personal recognitions. In the midst of an unconventional season, we take the time to reflect on his early handball days, his experience at SF Calheat and what’s yet to come.
Lucas, we missed you! As a starter, tell us briefly about your position and role in the team…
I missed you too! Well, I play the position of goalkeeper, which is a crucial role in handball as you know. I cover the back of the defense and remain the last man defending the goal.
Tell us more about your Handball career prior to San Francisco Calheat…
Handball is a big part of my life. Before I started the San Francisco Calheat chapter, I played for two clubs, VfL Horneburg and TuS Fürstenfeldbruck. I spent my handball youth time at VfL Horneburg, in the outskirts of Hamburg, where I learnt the basics of our sport for about 3-4 years. I played with my childhood friends my whole youth career and even later as an adult player… in the 7th German League. I love reminding myself of that time because it is now quite unusual to be playing for years with your best friends at a good level. It is especially funny, and telling, because our respective fathers told us those same stories just 30 years earlier. It seems we were set to follow the same path…
When I turned 19, I moved to Munich and joined its suburban club Fürstenfeldbruck. With the “Panthers” (actual nickname of the team) I got promoted to the 3rd German League in my freshman year. The 3rd German League, for those who may not know, is when things start to get serious – it represents the first step towards professional handball in Germany. The team was then formed by an outstanding group of young guys and, year by year, we continuously reached good placements in the league. While I was out in the US, they made it to the 2nd German Bundesliga. Among the many unforgettable moments in the club’s history is the famous ‘non-goal’ scored in the last seconds, where after the last decisive shot by the opponent, the ball got stuck between the post and cross-bar. The footage went viral around the globe.
…One day you got a call from our coach, Danilo Rojevic, to ask you to join the team. How did you feel competing with the team the first time?
Funnily enough, the first contact reached me at 5:00 am German time on a train to Berlin while visiting my grandparents. Danilo’s call was actually the second in the list, but we quickly cleared all the formalities… I then met the team at my first tournament in Chicago. I was overwhelmed by the fact of living in Miami, flying to Chicago to play for a handball team based in San Francisco. However, the team was functioning well and quite ambitious after ending up the past season as the US Vice-Champion. Some members of the team, such as Slave Jovanovski (team captain) and Soeren Mueller, another German, made it easier to adapt. I also got the chance to see a familiar face with Florian Schoebinger, who was an opponent in the 3rd German League and happened to have moved to the Bay Area around the same time.
I remember the dynamic on the court was a bit unusual because every country/region has a different playstyle, but without much doubt, I found my way and we won our first trophy in Chicago while the rest is well known.
This first season was quite impeccable. You won it all, including the US National Championship. How would you describe it?
You named it, impeccable. I was surprised, after the success stories at my former clubs, it was still possible to level up my handball accomplishments. Starting with a win in Chicago and building up on the team’s performance in the last season, I was immediately convinced that we were capable of winning the National title. What then unfolded – wins in Texas, at CalCup, in Phoenix and ultimately at US Nationals in Myrtle Beach – can be well described by a number of athletes who say that once a good team reaches a run, it is nearly unstoppable. Obviously, the tip of the iceberg was the win at US Nationals, but I don’t want to take the credit for this success and prefer naming the good balance within the team, staff, and club as the main driver. Everyone on- and off-the-court contributed in some way to this success.
According to many, you played your best game at SF Calheat during the last CalCup final (vs. Alberta). What elements make an outstanding goalkeeper?
Thank you for the recognition, but I do not like to point out specific games. As a goalkeeper, I rely on the defensive performance of the team and the team does need me as well. Some games make a goalkeeper’s performance more visible than others but the success of the team comes first. If there is something to learn from this Alberta game, it’s that even in challenging situations where some of our key players were missing for injury or suspensions, we had a second row of players capable to lift the team up. And they did just great!
The job of goalkeeper is in my opinion as difficult as the other positions. It consists of mostly hard work with little inputs of talent and luck. That says that most of our job is trainable – the techniques, reactions, and positioning. These, combined with a good communication with the defense makes good goalkeepers. To be outstanding, a certain extra must exist which comes from the little inputs of talent and luck. The better you get a feeling for your body, the closer you get to being outstanding. Examples of these little extras can be totally random. I know of an outstanding goalkeeper who is a statistics professor. He uses his skills to focus on logic in the movements of the shooter to which he trained his reactions. I, on the contrary, would rather trust my instincts and follow my gut to deceive a shooter.
Unfortunately, COVID-19 put a pause on our projects (2020 US Nationals & NACHC Super Globe Qualifier). How did you see our chances in those two events?
Well, these two events were marked in capital letters in our calendar. The NACHC Super Globe Qualifier was the ultimate reward for the successful year that we had. It is probably one of the biggest historical achievements for San Francisco Calheat and it could have had a tremendous impact on the development of the sport in the Bay Area. Looking at how the event unfolded in the year prior with New York City qualifying for the final event, I would have given us good chances in this qualifier, especially considering everyone’s extra motivation. Whatsoever, the pandemic put a hold on our dreams and we are now left with respecting the health and safety guidelines until everyone is considered safe. Then we can look forward to the next season and US Nationals where we will defend the title by the motto “Winning it once can be a fluke; winning it twice proves you are the best“.
You’ve now moved back to Europe. Tell us more about your journey…
Yes, that is correct. My journey brought me to Bordeaux in France, where I am learning French for my future career plans. Luckily, I found another club named Girondins Bordeaux, where I can combine these personal and professional plans while playing handball on a high level (3rd French League). Apart from that, I remain actively engaged with the San Francisco Calheat community remotely and hope to be part of many more success stories in the future.
How would you describe Calheat to your European handball colleagues? What do you miss the most from your time in the Bay Area?
A lot of my European (handball) colleagues watched the championship game of the 2019 US Nationals. They made their opinions based on the few games they managed to watch through the stream. For the others who couldn’t watch it, they mostly ask about the level of US handball, which I’d rank somewhere around the 4th German League. Due to the distances separating clubs and irregular training and competition, it makes it difficult to compare. However, most players come from Europe and represent the core of the membership. Americans, mostly influenced by one of their big sports, find their way somehow into one of the established teams. Things are slowly shifting, but European expats still hold the keys of this predominantly European sport.
I still miss my time from the Bay Area where I got the chance to develop and advance my hobby in a sports-fascinating country with outstanding personalities. I miss all members of the Calheat-family, which makes San Francisco such a special place for me. I spent probably the wildest two years of my life with this group of people. I can just retain good memories of all my experiences and hope to build many more. San Francisco and California are now amongst my favorite places in the world and, who knows, I might come-back some day.
The goalkeeper is the most important player on the field. What advice would you provide to encourage young US players to become goalkeepers?
As you say, the goalkeeper is an important player on the field, but so is every member of the squad. What is unique about goalkeeping, more than any other position, is the fact that when you do your job well, it has a disproportionately higher impact on all players. The ideal preparation for the goalkeeping position given by the German Handball Federation is to start playing as a field player. Being familiar with the game, techniques and tactics, is fundamental. In the last junior year coaches are even encouraged to put their best players in the goal. I like that approach because it forces the most skilled player to hold the important position of goalkeeper. Furthermore, the player trains his eye to better understand shooting mechanisms. Lastly, there’s no clear instruction, neither a skillset nor does it mention about a specific style on how to do the job successfully. Goalkeeping means learning as you go, improvise and find your own way. Learning by doing so to say.
For the more ambitious, I would encourage to learn hardly about improvising in specific situations and scenarios. Contextualize your experience, identify areas of improvements and train them consistently. This type of training method advances your skillset and prepares you for the best. I usually recognize that there’s a healthy portion of serenity within the best of our profession. It helps to keep having fun at what we do!