It was a weekend of ups and downs, but it ended with great celebrations when the BVB handball ladies won the bronze medal in the Final Four of the European League. In the third-place play-off against Thüringer HC, goalkeeper Yara ten Holte stood out with a brilliant performance. We caught up with her at the airport, and she had some emotional words for us.

 

You played an outstanding game, making an incredible 24 saves, and won the bronze medal. How was the experience for you?
“First of all, I am very pleased with my performance, but even more so with the performance of the team. After the semi-final, when you miss out so narrowly and unluckily, you have to recharge yourself mentally. Despite that, it didn’t take long for everyone to realise that we wanted to get third place. And that’s why I’m very proud of the whole team for putting in a performance like that.”

And the medal will be yours forever…
“That’s right. I am also proud to have achieved such a great success to round off the season in Europe with BVB – our first European medal since 2003.”

It started with two qualifying games in the Helmut-Körnig-Halle in early-December and ended with the Final Four in Graz. How do you look back on the European League season? “It was a beautiful journey. In the beginning, we were all just happy to be there and to play in the European League. But if someone had said at the beginning of the season that we would be in Graz in mid-May, not many people would have believed it. And at the end of the day, we made it there. And it has been catching the attention of more and more people – the game in front of more than 11,000 fans in the Westfalenhalle was a real highlight. Or the incredible comeback against Nantes to make it into the Final Four. That was outstanding and showed what we can do as a team. And the fact that so many fans have come to Graz shows just what we have done for handball in Dortmund.”

Do you think this season will also have an impact on the next few years?
“I hope so. Handball in Dortmund deserves more and we give everything we can by training hard every day so that we can put in performances like that both in the Bundesliga and in Europe. And we can’t do it alone – we need the fans. I hope that this third place has shown what we can do and that now everyone will think: “Great, we’ll support the handball ladies”. Of course alongside the football, because ultimately this is a club and we are all part of BVB. We also want people to see it that way.”

You have exactly three more games for Borussia Dortmund. They will go by quickly…
“Yeah, it’s all happening really quickly now. And I am also very aware that there are only three games left. But they are three games that we want to win. I absolutely want to secure third place in the Bundesliga so BVB can play in Europe again next year. So there’s so much I’m fighting for with my team, and we’re going to do it!”