Tabea Schmid has immense potential and has underlined this so far at the European Women's Handball Championship. Now she just wants to enjoy the main round.
05.12.2024, 05:00
05.12.2024, 07:01
SDA
It's the 35th minute. Croatia has come from 7:16 down to 13:16 in the decisive last preliminary round match and the Swiss are awarded a penalty. Tabea Schmid grabs the ball, even though she missed two such penalties at important moments in the first two European Championship matches in Basel.
"I actually thought about it," she admits. "But I needed the penalty because I wasn't doing well at that stage." Schmid scores and gets "a huge boost". She scored three more goals before the end, bringing her total to six and 21 for the tournament as a whole - the fourth-best score. Switzerland wins 26:22 and reaches the main round for the first time at a European Championship.
Already experienced a lot
This scene says a lot about Tabea Schmid. The player from eastern Switzerland is only 21 years old, but she has already experienced a lot. At the age of 18, straight after graduating from high school, she went to France to play for second division club Achenheim Truchtersheim. It was not an easy time for her, and not just because it was her first time away from home and she struggled with the language. Older players in the team were not only well-disposed towards her. This taught her to "get along with people who don't always want the best for you". Her time in France made the move to Denmark "much easier", says Schmid.
Denmark is her current home. She has played for Copenhagen since 2023; after the year in France, she returned to Brühl St. Gallen for a season. "It was the perfect path for me," says the 1.77 m tall Schmid. "The level is now much higher than in Switzerland, you have to give your all in every game." There is also a big difference in terms of the number of strength training sessions. She also worked with a mental coach in between, which she found exciting and also helped her.
Her start in Copenhagen went better than expected, partly because the integration went smoothly. "They are used to welcoming players from abroad," says Schmid. She then experienced a more difficult phase around Christmas, but managed to get out of this negative spiral. In the current championship, she ranks third in the scoring charts with 60 goals in nine games. In terms of effectiveness, she is even number 2 in the league.
Handball gene
The fact that Schmid plays handball is no coincidence: her father was once a goalkeeper for St. Otmar St. Gallen. Her two older brothers also play the sport. "When you grow up with two older brothers, you always have to prove yourself and fight." That's why the position of circle runner, where things are rough and tumble, suits her perfectly and she fully identifies with it.
In addition to handball, Schmid is studying education at the International Distance Learning University and can imagine working as a language teacher later on. But that is a long way off. Her contract with Copenhagen runs until summer 2027, but she plans to stay abroad beyond that.
This is also due to the positive development of women's handball in Switzerland. "You can now see prospects, otherwise it would be more difficult to keep motivation high, after all you have to give up a lot when you play abroad. However, this is the only way to move forward."
Schmid hopes to play in many more finals, as the Swiss have never been to a World Cup. First of all, however, she is incredibly excited about the main round in Vienna with opponents Germany (Thursday), Slovenia (Saturday), the Netherlands (Monday) and the Olympic champions from Norway (Wednesday).
"We have absolutely nothing to lose." Although the preliminary round definitely took a lot of energy, it was worth putting everything into it. "That will certainly give us a boost." And when it counts, Schmid will take responsibility again.
