“Hardly a better co-coaching experience than with this squad. Hopefully next summer back on the field and not as an assistant B or social media person.”

This was a social media post on 26 June 2024 from Germany’s Lena Klingler after her side won the 2024 IHF Women’s Beach Handball World Championship in Pingtan, China last year.

The global title added to their The World Games (2022) and European Championship (2023) titles to ensure that the Germans held three major women’s beach handball titles at once. 

But for Klingler, part of those 2022 and 2023 gold medal-winning teams, 2024 saw her in a completely different role – that as assistant to head coach Alexander Novakovic.

‘Life turns upside down’

Her different job on the Pingtan sand came about six months earlier, in January 2024. After her second indoor training with her second division club side in Germany after the winter break, she suffered a devastating injury.

“We were just getting started and I had a one-on-one contact situation and my knee just went in and out. I tore my ACL, my MCL, my internal and external meniscus, on my right knee,” said Klingler at The World Games Athletes’ Village in Chengdu.

“I knew right away, instantly, because I had an ACL and meniscus injury in my left knee six years ago. My body went into shock mode. I was told afterwards by my teammates that I just sat there for two minutes and not did not say a word – the pain came the day after and I had surgery a week later.”

Klingler’s injury could have ended her career but with that previous rehab experience, strong medical and emotional support, plus a full-focus on returning, the path to playing both versions of the sport she loved was set.

“I had really great support for my club (VFL Waiblingen Handball e.V.), and the rehab centre I was at which was in the same city, Stuttgart, as my club. I was there four times a week; physiotherapy and then strength training,” explained the 24-year-old.

“With this injury you never have the 100% possibility of coming back. That's always something you have to keep in mind during the rehab process, that you don't have the guarantee that it's going to be fully okay afterwards, but I knew the process – it helped, because I knew what was coming.

“Mentally, it's always tough, because when you're halfway through the indoor season – really full mind and body into it – and then suddenly it stops, your life turns upside-down. But I have really great indoor and beach teammates who supported me throughout the whole process. 

“And the atmosphere at the rehab centre, with are a lot of athletes in different sports there, meant there were a lot of people that you could talk with; they checked in with you, asking ‘how are you doing?’”

A valued member of the squad in a variety of roles

Despite the injury ruling her out of playing at the world championships in 2024, Klingler ended up going to China with the team, initially to help with the media side of things, but that would change into something a lot different after just a few days.

“It was an idea, just out of the moment,” explains Klingler about ending up in China 12 months ago with her team on the media side. “In that April, I went to the training camp of the national team, visiting the girls and there were some officials there, like Jens (Pfander – German Beach Handball team manager).

“There were also some media people from the German Handball Federation there doing some photos and videos with the girls and someone brought up the topic that there was a space in the media team for China, as the social media reporter.

“A few of the players said to me ‘why don’t you do it’? I didn’t really raise my hand, but after talking with Jens and Alex (Novakovic, coach) there were totally happy with it and happy to give me the chance. I'm really glad [they did], but I had to go really fast the next day to get my passport renewed because it would have expired in the August and it would not be enough – I did not think that I was going to China, so I did not get a new one.”

Whilst in China, assistant coach Hendrik Sander had to return to Germany for personal reasons and Klingler’s initial role changed – she was asked by coach Novakovic to be his assistant – or coach ‘B’ as it is officially titled.

“I did the first two days in China as social media and was really, really happy that I got the chance to be with the team, but then Hendrik had to leave on the morning of the third day,” she explained.

“We have a flat hierarchy in our team between Alex, Hendrik and now Ruben (Vosshans), our new assistant coach. We are always talking on the same level about a lot of things where we could put our opinion [as players] and try to find a solution together.

“Alex and I had known each other for seven, eight years and I have known most of the girls for seven, eight years too, since we played in the youth team together, so that is a long time. There is a lot of trust between us, a lot of history and we know each other really well. So, the foundation was there for the player to become a coach to work.

“In China, it was honestly just a process that evolved throughout the whole time there. In the beginning, we had to set some boundaries about what I can do, what I can't do, what I needed from him and what he needed from me. Of course, when it comes to the end point, the coaches are the ones to make decisions, but it worked so well because we, as players, are putting a lot of opinions also in the mix.”

A road back

A few months after their gold medal in Pingtan – Klingler posing with her medal in her coaching shirt alongside her teammates in their playing shirts – and nine months after suffering her injury, Klingler, incredibly, was back training with her indoor club.

“I was at practice getting some throws in, one-against-one movements, but all without contact, of course,” said a reminiscing Klingler. “Doing these things again really helped me to feel like a handball player again, not like an athlete who does strength training every day.”

And then, in November, she started normal contact training and small bits of team training before another stint as assistant coach to Novakovic, at the 2024 IHF Beach Handball Global Tour: Finals in Doha, Qatar, which saw her make her first steps back on sand.

“We had one or two practice sessions in Doha and I had the okay from my doctor and physio that I could test it (knee) on sand,” said a smiling Klingler. “I'm very glad that it worked out and that I am now back as a player, back doing the thing I love the most; to play and not being a coach or doing social media, but I also know that I'm very lucky to come back from an injury like that; it's not normal. I'm really glad that I'm fit and healthy.”

Returning to the sand with the standard and competition higher than ever

Lena then participated in a winter training camp with the national beach handball team and just last month won bronze in a hard-fought European Championship campaign in Turkiye – back playing, not coaching.

“In the beginning it was strange to be in this position,” said Klingler about returning as player and having Novakovic as her coach once more.

“If you've been in the coaching position, it doesn't matter in which team, you always look a bit different on the match than someone who purely is focused on their play overall, there are some thoughts you can't turn off, but now I have to focus again on my player role.”

With gold secured at Birmingham 2022 last time out thanks to seven straight wins and an opening day 2-0 Chengdu 2025 win against European Championship winners Spain, Germany are in a strong position to medal again, but Klingler admits that the sport has never been tougher.

“In the last years, the top level of the game has risen and a lot of teams are at the same really high level,” she said. “It's really equal now, and that was why we were very happy with that bronze EURO medal, because it's not guaranteed. It was something like our seventh medal at a big championship in a row and that's not normal.”

The World Games once again

Throughout the interview, a thoughtful, focused Klinger allows moments of happiness and smiles, none bigger than when asked about her first The World Games experience – at Birmingham 2022 – and what The World Games themselves means to her.

“First of all, Birmingham it was a totally new experience for us, because it was our first multi-sport event, and we were just ‘flashed’ at the beginning from the whole dimension of it all,” explained Klinger about being in the state of Alabama in the USA for the 2022 edition.

“And, also, in the US, dimensions are even bigger – a bit like here in China. The dimensions of the cities are totally crazy. The first days in Birmingham, it was a bit like here; we were just getting used to the climate first, which was really hot and humid too.

“We started quite good in the tournament and we had a bit of a different role in the playing system, because we had an injury there to Belen (Gettwart) so we had to switch things around a bit. That was quite tough, but it worked out in the end. 

“The atmosphere within The World Games Athlete’s Village is different from a European or World Championships, because most of the teams, most of the sports are in one spot and you see each other all the time around,” she added.

“You just start to talk and get to know new people [and make] connections between other German teams. Some people we met in Birmingham, are also here again. Just the whole atmosphere in living with all of athletes together in one spot, that's really cool.”

And with the conclusion of the interview, Klingler has a message for any athlete going through a similar rehab process.

“I would say to them to just make the best out of the situation and accept that it's not going to be an easy road,” she said. “You have to happy about the small things and then you value at the end even more the ability to play.”

Lena is truly “back on the field” now and relishing the opportunity to win with her teammates once more.

Head coach Alexander Novakovic on Lena Klingler:
“First of all, after her injury on the knee, it was perfect that she came back in really good shape, in really good quality because that’s not certain; that a player after a long injury comes back like that.

“Secondly, in the European Championship last month she had a role on the left wing with some pivots, but now, at Chengdu 2025 we have no players learning to be specialists or a professional specialist with us so she is going back two years ago back into her role as a specialist.

It's not easy for her, and the whole team knows that, but she's doing incredible. Against Spain in our opening game she was really important as a left winger and also as a specialist. In a squad with 10 players, if you have a ‘Swiss knife’ player like her, it's really, really important.

“From the coaching side, last year, I recognised in China that we have totally, or nearly 99%, the same view of things. There's a big trust from coach-to-coach and from coach-to-player [in general], and even before the coaching role she had, we had a big trust. In the future, she will be a really, really good coach.”