Péter Gulyás about Veszprém's youth system

We talked with Péter Gulyás who upon retiring only concentrates on Telekom Veszprém's youth system.

 

We wanted to get better organizationally and in the everyday work. We had to build that up in the year behind us. We wanted to achieve this in a year but in already in December I saw that we are on a good way to solving the everyday problems. One of the most important progress of the last year was to found an academy system in Sümeg which runs under our name. We have a similar one in Tapolca. I think they are willing to work under Veszprém's name further more they are good structurally. They have a court and school there. Everything is given to children to start playing handball on a high level. Regarding Veszprém, we tried to strengthen István Báthory Primary School's sport faculty with our players and to restore Báthory's fame of having the best handball team in Veszprém. We wanted to tie the professional work with DEVM Foundation. These are what has been done in the past year. Besides we are happy that our U20 and U16 teams are on the good way but I think our best team last year was our U23 team in the second division. We can be the proudest of them.

 

 

Yes, but as our three young players who debuted in the national team said, you cannot take away Xavi Sabaté's and Josep Espar's work. They worked a lot with those guys outside the academy system. We have to mention the schools a bit because they are flexible about this. The kids can train in the morning and go to school after that by having less classes. Huge thanks goes out to the teachers and head masters to Vetési, Padányi and Gáspár Noszlopy high schools. Besides them another we would like to thank Csaba Tombor and Ivo Diaz dealt with them nonstop. A year ago we acquired the experienced Tamás Rapatyi who worked with our U23 team his work was outstanding. Another thing to be highlighted is that these kids would not have reached their potential in handball if it was not for the work of László Elek conditioning coach. With his work these players improved physically so much that without that work we would not be able to give players to the NB1. His work is just as important as ours.

 

We managed to lure back some of the club's icons back to our presence. István Gulyás will work with the U20 team with the help of Csaba Tombor. This will be the same coaching staff at the youth team. Their help will be Carlos Perez who will deal with the individual development. Ivo Diaz and Tamás Rapatyi will work with the adolescent team with the help of Gergő Iváncsik in the same role as „Charlie”. With the U12 and U14 team Ernst Attila and my coach from way back Tünde Lantos will be working and I will be helping here too. Viktor Károlyfi will be a coach here as well. Besides these we will have an U10 team that will run under our name and it will be a little primary school best of team from Báthory, Dózsa and Simonyi primary schools. Balázs Makkai will work with them. We will also have an U7 and U8 team. Our U9 team will be supported by the foundation and Katalin Bedőcs will be the coach there who has been a coach in Veszprém for a long time now. The most important thing is that the teams from U7 and U12 that is located in either Sümeg, Tapolca or Veszprém will be monitored by Mihály Velki who has even been my coach when I was young. We went to Szeged for a short period of time but he has spent 10-12 year in Veszprém's youth system. I think that his personality will give us a boost and there will be a bigger union in the coaching staff and we will be able to deal with everyday problems for effectively. To top it all thanks to the help of DEVM Foundation we could start not one but three groups in Zirc. I have been to Ajka in a tournament and had the opportunity to see how well kids from Zirc work. Fortunately we can work with a lot of children now. Our aim in the youth system is still to deliver talents and no to win titles.

 

 

Yes, that would be our first priority to fill the first team with Hungarian youngsters. This is the goal. But we have to see that it is not a doable thing yet from an U20 or U18 team. Talents like Aron Palmarsson, who played in Kiel when he was only 18, are very rare. A lot of things have to go right for that to happen. I am very happy that we could give or loan players like Zoltán Szita, Erik Szeitl, Attila Tóth, Dániel Füzi or Máté Dávid to Balatonfüred, Csurgó, Eger or Cegléd. Another important thing is that we do not stick to talents very much. We do not want to keep them here for so long because in my opinion they have a better chance at improving at the adult level than in youth level. In the adult level they have to deal with pressure and learn how to handle it as a sportsman. They have to learn it. Naturally if they improve in the right tempo they can be re-acquired by Veszprém. If not, then we gave a player to the Hungarian Handball or even to the Hungarian National Team and by them they will be stronger. It can be an example to all.

 

 

Right after the end of school year we held a summer camp which was a success. Our young players are in a tournament in Belgrade where they are performing well. Here I am not only talking about Hungarians, we have a Bosnian, a Serbian and a Macedonian guy as well. We do not want to sign them because we would like to work with the Hungarians. They were here so that in the future we can see how they develop and to know about them and for them to know about us. If they improve in their country maybe the first team can sign them. They were with us for scouting reasons only, we do not want to sign anyone. They know that we exist and we know that they exist. We have to be open for the cultures abroad. We have to see they work up north. We will try to get to tournaments with the kids where we can see how they develop compared to other countries and handball cultures. To see if they are ahead or behind us. We can measure how we work this way. I think that the most important thing is to always be monitored how we do our work so that we can correct it in the everyday work we do. Not to mention that talent is everywhere and this way we can be firsts to know about it. We have to keep in contact with them and maybe we can grab the new Aron Palmarsson at 18 years of age. Why should not it be us to sign with such a talent? In the meantime we have to make sure that our first team stays at the same fame as they are in right now. You can live with this name and this city and the handball in this city can be attractive to a young player.

 

 

Photos: Ágnes Boros and Béla Baumann