Handball professional Uwe Gensheimer is quitting in the summer and is moving to the management of his hometown club Rhein-Neckar Löwen. Before that, the currently injured 37-year-old wants to play again.
The long-time national team captain Uwe Gensheimer will end his handball career after this season and become sports director at the Rhein-Neckar Löwen. The 37-year-old announced this on Friday at a press conference in his hometown of Mannheim. «It’s an emotionally sad day and a difficult moment for me. But at the same time I’m looking forward to the new task,” said Gensheimer, who is currently still under contract with the Bundesliga club as a player and is recovering from a meniscus and cruciate ligament injury.
Gensheimer’s clear goal is to return to the field again this season. “I am confident that this will work,” he said. The decision to end his career was a process that took months; he could no longer play professional handball with the intensity and rhythm he did a few years ago, explained Gensheimer. And he “didn’t want to miss” the chance to take on a role at his hometown club.
As a teenager he went to the Rhein-Neckar Löwen
Gensheimer came to the Lions as a teenager in 2003 and matured into one of the world’s best left wingers. With the exception of a three-year interlude at Paris Saint-Germain (2016-2019), he remained loyal to the club. With the North Baden team, Germany’s four-time handball player of the year (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014) won the EHF Cup (2013), the championship (2016) and the DHB Cup (2023). In Paris he won three championships (2017, 2018, 2019).
Gensheimer scored 921 goals in 204 international matches for the German national team and won Olympic bronze with the team in 2016. He resigned from the national team after the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
