Handballer Kay Smits: ‘We only dream of what the women have achieved’

The absence of Dutch handball players at major tournaments was often a topic of conversation at the kitchen table in Geleen, where Kay Smits (25) grew up in a handball family. Mother Cecile played more than a hundred international matches, father Gino about twenty and brother Jorn (30) and sister Inger (28) have been part of the national selections for years. “As children we had dreams, we wanted to be at the European Championships and World Cups,” says Kay. “As a Dutch team we also had that as a goal, we are proud that we achieved it.”

After their debut at the European Championship two years ago and tenth place at the 2022 European Championship, the Dutch handball players will start the world championship this Friday against Argentina. For the first time since 1961, the only time that the Netherlands played at the men’s World Cup. The participation is thanks to a wild card that the international handball federation IHF allocated last summer, after the handball players missed out on direct placement in the play-offs against Portugal in April.

“I can talk about it a little easier now, but that was such a downer,” says Smits. “We knew it was fifty-fifty, the Portuguese were the worst possible draw. But it was a surprise that things went so wrong in the home game and we missed the World Cup on goal difference.”

Smits knew about the existence of the wild card, but had no hope of participating in the World Cup. “It wasn’t an issue within the team at all,” he says. “I was even very skeptical about it, such a decision is something political. A wildcard often goes to larger countries, where TV rights can be sold well. The Netherlands is not large or influential in handball. When we got the message, it felt like a gift to me.”

At the age of 12, Kay Smits chose handball over athletics, a sport that he also enjoyed. But he wanted to become a professional handball player. He left home in 2012, when the first handball academy for boys was opened in Sittard. There he trained twice a day from Monday to Friday.

“Sittard was a more or less familiar environment for me. When I was nineteen I went to Germany, which was very difficult at first. But that was part of it, I thought. It was necessary to become the top player I wanted to be.”

German Bundesliga

Smits played for Wilhelmshaven, a club in the second German level. After two seasons he signed a contract with the Danish Holstebro, because he could further develop there as a right-hand builder. Smits now plays in the Bundesliga for SC Magdeburg, with which he became German champion and won the Club World Cup. Next summer, however, he will move to another German superpower, SG Flensburg-Handewitt. “I am not satisfied with my role, I want more playing time.”

At Magdeburg, Smits is in the pecking order behind Icelander Omar Ingi Magnusson, the top scorer of the 2022 European Championship. At that tournament, Smits made a name for himself by setting a European record with 32 goals in three group matches. Although he missed the last two matches in the main round due to a corona infection, he finished fourth in the top scorer rankings with 45 goals. “I still consider myself a small handball player compared to the world top players. But that doesn’t change the fact that I am proud of what I have already achieved.”

Fast and creative

Smits is not only a decisive player in the national team with his goals, but as a right-hand builder he is also one of the driving forces behind the handball with which the Netherlands has made a name for itself in recent years. “We play the game that suits us: fast and creative,” says Smits. “We don’t do that because it is beautiful or fun to look at, but because we are at our strongest this way. It is true that handball has become a lot less static in the last ten or fifteen years. In the past you had two-metre builders and you had to jump up and shoot. But with my height, I am 1 meter 86, I am still a relatively small player.”

At the World Cup, which takes place in Poland and Sweden, the goal is to qualify for the main round, says Smits. To achieve this, the Netherlands must finish in the top three in the group, which, in addition to the Argentines, also includes North Macedonia and Norway. Smits will most likely not become world champion, like his sister Inger in 2019. “Among men, the world top, and also the sub-top, is much broader than among women,” he says. “I have often talked about that with my sister at the table. But I now know: that is a useless discussion. The women deserve all the praise they get. We only dream of what they have achieved. They are also just an inspiration to us.”

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