Timo Kastening is considered one of the top performers at the home European Championships for German handball players. In the interview he talks about the upcoming record game, Dieter Hecking’s report and his drunk driving.
In the In the first part of the big interview with Timo Kastening, he talks about the season with MT Melsungenthis is about the national team and his personal low points.
hessenschau.de: Timo Kastening, we have brought you a voice message from football coach and official Dieter Hecking about the upcoming home European Championships. (Kastening listens) Hecking at the end: “You know, the crown is always the title.”
Kastening: Well, if Dieter says that, then so be it. But if I said so, it would be presumptuous. We have a tough group and want to get into the main round, which wouldn’t be possible without it. Dieter should first move up with Nuremberg, then we’ll talk again.
hessenschau.de: Hecking is said to have pulled your ears out once as a child.
Kastening: The Hecking family and we were neighbors in our village in Riepen. I am still very good friends with his sons Aaron and Jonas to this day. We were between eight and twelve years old at the time, I don’t remember exactly. In any case, the four of us played football with my brother in the back on a meadow, and the loser was supposed to buy a pack of cigarettes and light one, as a test of courage. So we sat down behind the hedge when suddenly Dieter stood there…
hessenschau.de: If Hecking furrows his eyebrows, one look from him can be enough.
Kastening: Exactly. As a little boy, that’s scary. We all got up without saying a word because we knew what the hour had come. Shortly afterwards there was a report at home.
hessenschau.de: Apart from Hecking, who else do you regularly exchange ideas with these days?
Kastening: Mostly with family and friends, of course, but of course also with Dieter and his sons, one of whom will also be coming to the opening game of the European Championship. I also get on well with Hans Detsch and Joel Keussen from the Kassel Huskies, and with the former Hannover 96 player Hendrik Weydandt.
hessenschau.de: You talked about the opening game, in front of over 50,000 in Düsseldorf. Are you already dreaming about it?
Kastening: Not yet, but we’re trying to visualize it. There is already anticipation. If someone had told me as a child that I would be able to play for Germany at a home European Championship in front of such a crowd, I wouldn’t have believed it. But we should approach it with anticipation and not feel it as pressure, because the game remains the same, regardless of whether it is in front of 10 or 50,000 spectators.
hessenschau.de: There has been a change in the national team. How would you characterize the team?
Kastening: When I joined the team, we still had a lot of experienced, world-class people with Uwe Gensheimer, Hendrik Pekeler, Patrick Wiencek, Jogi Bitter and Steffen Weinhold. We’ve been talking about the change for years, but we’ve now completed it. Now there are a lot of young people who are really keen, greedy and can shape the tribe for years to come. In every course we train like crazy, the competition is very tough, healthy and honest. That’s how it has to be.
hessenschau.de: Before training, young people usually compete against old people in football. Are you already with the old ones at 28?
Kastening: Yes, I played with the seniors for the first time at the penultimate and final course. That’s nice because I can then compete with my entire round of cards and shine against the young vegetables.
hessenschau.de: But doesn’t the national team lack the experience of the old ones?
Kastening: That’s the beauty of journalism: you can then evaluate it as you need it. Experience is good and important for a calm head in crunch time. On the other hand, when you’re young, you don’t think about it that much. It will be exciting to see how we react in such tight situations and what decisions we make.
hessenschau.de: Coach Alfred Gislason is an old warrior. During a break at the World Cup last year, he said: “Do what you want!” Has he changed?
Kastening: That was a nice hook for such an assumption. But this game was decided, I think. I’d like to see him when we’re close to the end (smiles). In general he has become more relaxed, that’s true. Alfred is a great guy, a great personality. Someone who still finds a good mix through his authority. I’m a fan of the boss being authoritarian. Flat hierarchies are all well and good, but someone has to take responsibility at the end.
Maybe we can create a similar hype as the basketball players. Timo Kastening
hessenschau.de: What can sports fans look forward to at this European Championship?
Kastening: We will present handball with everything that defines it. It’s going to be a big party, no violence, no police, the team will be tearing themselves apart. It will be a great get-together. Maybe we can create a similar hype as the basketball players.
hessenschau.de: You talk about “no violence,” but you have a huge cut on your forehead. Enlighten the readers again!
Kastening: During the penultimate away game in Eisenach, Peter Walz accidentally hit me in the face with his elbow. It bled really badly, but luckily the cheekbone or eye socket were not affected. It looked wilder than it was. In the end all that’s left is a small Potter scar.
hessenschau.de: Your injury was much worse in April 2022. You tore a cruciate ligament. Now you are a top performer again in the club and in the national team. How did it happen so quickly?
Kastening: I am happy about this development. Before the injury I had the worst stats in my career, and then I was out for ten months due to the injury. I noticed how quickly your career can be over and you are no longer in the spotlight. This sharpened my senses to return to my previous level of performance. I found a good mix of relaxation and hard work.
hessenschau.de: In addition to the injury, you recently spoke about another low point in the magazine “Bock auf Handball”. In January 2022 you were stopped by the police with a blood alcohol level of 1.6. What happened that evening?
Kastening: We had just returned from the European Championships in Budapest, I spent two weeks in the hotel due to Corona. It was just that at that time I set my own rules to a certain extent. I decided for myself what was right and what was wrong – in dealing with close confidants and without having the law in mind. That’s how it was that evening too. Only when the police came did I know: Now it’s your turn! That night I called my mother and confessed everything to her. The next day she said to me: “Everyone is allowed to make mistakes, but if you make the same mistake more often, then you might be a little stupid.” I’m really not proud of this mistake and I’m a thousand percent sure that it was mine will no longer happen.
hessenschau.de: Who else did you tell about the trip?
Kastening: My closest friends, the club, the DHB. Many people were surprised because I was considered a popular figure and a little joymaker. The tenor was: We didn’t expect that! Anyone who knows me knows that I like to party and sometimes have a party. You just have to know when and how and what the consequences are. Even and especially behind the wheel.
hessenschau.de: Why didn’t you care about the rules?
Kastening: In retrospect it was a mix. I wasn’t happy with myself in terms of sport, I wasn’t up to speed personally, there was a lot going on in my private life, two or three other reasons. I later worked through this with a psychologist. Everyone goes through a hard time at some point, but of course it doesn’t justify my behavior. The injury and the drunk driving sharpened my senses, those were “turning points”. I now know what I want. I know my career is finite. There is a difference between saying that and experiencing it. Before I had never been without handball, then I experienced what it was like to be without my passion. Now I value what I have more and give 100 percent every day.
hessenschau.de: What goals do you have for the new year?
Kastening: Having fun with joy. I’m extremely lucky to be able to do what I love. That’s why the motto: Give everything every day, give it your all, stay healthy, have fun and see what happens.
The conversation led Ron Ulrich.
