All the great success of his club witnesses
Handball record player announces career ends
07/28/2025 – 4:02 p.m.Reading time: 1 min.
Patrick Groetzki is an institution at the Rhein-Neckar Löwen. His time as an active professional is now towards the end.
The coming season will be his last: Patrick Groetzki has announced that it will end his active career as a handball professional in the summer of 2026. After that, the 36-year-old will take on a new role in the management of the Rhein-Neckar Löwen-the club, which he has remained true to since the beginning of his professional career.
With 549 Bundesliga missions and 1,628 goals so far, Groetzki is a record player of the Mannheimer. He was also used 173 times for the German national team.
The right wing now emphasized that the Rhein-Neckar Löwen “not only became home to home” in the 19 years, but also had friendships for life-he felt “completely at home” here. At the same time, he is looking forward to his future task in the club, which is a new challenge for him. “As always in the field, I will always give everything in a new function for the Rhein-Neckar Löwen,” said Groetzki.
Which position he will take over is still open. However, Managing Director Holger Bachert said: “For me it is clear that we will work very well together, also in a network with the sporting area in which we are already excellently positioned with Maik Machulla and Uwe Gensheimer.”
Groetzki was involved in all the great successes of the lions: the winning of the EHF Cup 2013, the German Championships 2016 and 2017 as well as the 2018 and 2023 cup victory. In the past season, too, the captain convinced: With 73 goals in 29 games, he was again one of the top performers.