“It’s just surreal that we haven’t lost in over a year.”
Source: Kim Naidzinavicius, player BBM Bietigheim
For coach Markus Gaugisch, the “record is a nice by-product”. He is particularly happy about the attention and advertising for women’s handball after this special performance. His achievements are also recognized at the federal level. Since April 2022, Gaugisch has been in Bietigheim in addition to his coaching work National coach of the German national handball team. No wonder with this success.
A season for the history books
The handover of the championship trophy and the German record crown an extraordinary season. “It’s going exactly as we dreamed it would,” sums up Markus Gaugisch before the game in an interview with SWR Sport.
Last year the team had to admit defeat in the championship fight, but this season they convinced in every game and won the title with 52 to 0 points to the Enz. The highlights of the season were among other things two clear victories against the previous year’s champion from Dortmund, the 40:20 triumph against Sachsen Zwickau and the successes in the neighborhood duels against Neckarsulm.
The women from Bietigheim were also extremely successful in the European Cup. The European Handball Federation described it as “one of the greatest seasons that a team has ever shown in the European League”. Triumph of the SG BBM Bietigheim in the Final Four. With the 50th success in a row, the team won the historic title in the final. It was the first international title for a German women’s handball team in 30 years.
For the SG BBM there is even the chance of another trophy in the DHB Cup. With a win, the team around coach Markus Gaugisch would be the triple winner. And: The women from Bietigheim can win the cup and compete as defending champions. The ambition is still very high. “We want this trophy. The title is something very special for us, the city and our fans,” says Kim Naidzinavicius.
Team spirit as a success factor
Bietigheim’s key to success sounds simple. The team acts as a team. “It only works together,” emphasizes Kim Naidzinavicius, who has been playing at the Enz since 2016, the coach’s philosophy. He emphasizes: “Of course we have an extraordinary individual quality” and adds “but there are enough examples in sport where the best individual athletes don’t show the best team performance”. The main reason why the team works so well is that everyone gives back to everyone else. No affectation, no demands, no special requests – also because Gaugisch had made it clear from the beginning of the season: The success of the team is above everything else.
And it is precisely this success that proves the team and coach right. 51 wins in a row – there is no end in sight.
Source: SWR