Cheering German handball women after a big final - that was last in the 1990s.

Since then, the ball throwers in the club and national team had disappeared in the shadow of attention: Hardly any success, no TV time - women's handball degenerated into a regional, even local phenomenon.

Which was also due to home difficulties, such as getting by with the league (HBF) and association (DHB).

It was always about the fact that the German clubs lacked professionalism - and as a result also the DHB selection.

"It is unfavorable when the players have to take care of their professional careers in addition to handball," said the new national coach Markus Gaugisch when he took office.

Notable triumph

The women's handball division has been drawing hope again since the weekend - there were cheering players from Bietigheim to see.

SG BBM beat the hosts 31:20 in the final of the European League in Viborg.

Although the European League is only the second most important European round, the Bietigheimer triumph was also remarkable because the women from Leipzig had recently won the previous competition - that was in the 1991/1992 season.

There were many messages of greeting to Bietigheim.

DHB President Andreas Michelmann was also enthusiastic and believes in an impulse for German women's handball.

He pushed women's handball up the association's agenda and yet had to experience many disappointments.

Most recently, Henk Groener did not continue as national coach;

Ultimately, this promising liaison ended soberingly.

The fact that Markus Gaugisch should now lead the German women to the Olympic Games in 2024 and to the semi-finals of the home World Cup a year later is logical after three foreign coaches;

it also stands for the close alliance between the league and the association: As the coach of the Bietigheimers, Gaugisch was in charge of a perfectly put together team.

Five German selection players, three strong Dutch players, a little Eastern Bloc plus Scandinavia - the SG has won 50 times in a row, including all twelve games in the European League.

The double can become a triple because the German cup competition is still pending at the end of May.

It was a weekend on which women's handball made people sit up and take notice in terms of sport and structure.

From the 2024/25 season, the Bundesliga will be further professionalized;

twelve instead of 14 clubs, playoffs and a minimum budget of 500,000 euros should contribute to this.

"Great development opportunities," sees President Michelmann through the paper, which is valid until 2027.

The League sounded more skeptical;

an "agreement that has to be filled with as much life as possible", judged HBF boss Andreas Thiel.

Michelmann hopes that others will follow Bietigheim's example and that the national team will become stronger as a result.

In Bietigheim, the sponsorship money from a shirt manufacturer is used to work in a highly professional manner.

With all the joy about the result of the weekend and the hoped-for effect: Everyone else can only dream of the financial resources of the SG BBM.