For most players at the 2026 IHF Women's Youth World Championship, Romania is simply the host nation, a country they're visiting for the first time, trying to perform at their best and build their handball future.

However, for one player in Spain’s roster, it is something else entirely. Romania is the country of her parents, a place she can always call home, and a place she always loves to revisit.

Born in Onda, Spain, a town in eastern Spain, in the province of Castelló, part of the autonomous community of Valencia, the 17-year-old right wing carries Romanian blood in her veins. Her parents hail from Târgoviște and Buzău, and it's a connection she wears with visible pride, being also able to speak Romanian.

It is the story of many Romanians who left for a better life over the last 30 years, with the Romanian community in Spain totaling over 600,000 persons. With children born in Spain, the integration is complete.

"I really like that this world championship was held here," she said after a hard-fought victory against Germany in the preliminary round, 27:24, "because I know the language and I can talk to everyone."

 

Indeed, Vladu was taking pictures with volunteers after all matches played by Spain in Mioveni, and talking to them. She has been one of Spain’s best scorers in the competition, putting 14 goals in three matches past the opposing goalkeepers and boasting a 72% shooting efficiency.

Against Uzbekistan, in Spain’s 44:26 win, she was also named the Player of the Match, having scored eight goals.

But how did she start handball? 

"When I was five, I started with friends, and I never stopped," she recalled, a simple origin story that has since carried all the way to the international stage.

That journey has been anything but slow. After coming through the ranks at Handbol Mislata, Erika joined Club Balonmano Elche, where she's now entering her third season.

This season, she'll compete in Spain's first division, a big milestone in the career of a teenager who is just trying to break through. 

"I'm very happy because I can live with this and we'll see what happens in the future," says Vladu.

Until the future, her progress in Spain’s youth pipeline has been nothing short of fantastic. She was named to the All-Star Team as the best right wing of the competition at the 2024 Mediterranean Women's U-16 Championship, where Spain clinched the gold medal. 

The following year, she featured prominently for Spain at the 2025 European Women's U17 Championship in Montenegro, where she scored six goals in the semi-final against Croatia, lost by Spain, 28:31.

In total, she had 22 goals at the W17 EHF EURO 2025, being Spain’s second best scorer and a reliable hand at times, when the team needed her the most.

But what about the future?

 

Of course, the right wing’s dream is to become a starter in Spain’s senior national team at one point. But the focus now is solely on the performances at the 2026 IHF Women’s Youth World Championship.

Spain have started with three wins in three matches – 27:12 against Guinea, 46:22 against Uzbekistan and 27:24 against Germany. That means they will start the main round on two points and will be favoured to secure a place in the quarter-finals.

The big dream is, of course, retaining the world title, with a single team winning back-to-back titles at the IHF Women’s Youth World Championship, Russia, in 2016 and 2018.

Yet Vladu has never forgotten about Romania.

“My dad and I always watch handball on TV and I watch the Romanian teams. I really like how teams like CSM București or Gloria Bistrița play. It’s like a dream to watch and now to be here,” says the right wing.

With a plethora of Spanish players – over 15 – playing in the Romanian national league in the season which will start this August, the question is only normal.

Is Vladu eyeing to play in Romania?

When asked if she'd ever consider playing in Romania one day, she didn't hesitate: "I would like to, in the future."