For every athlete, the time comes to think about the end of their career as a player. Some retire from playing altogether, some retire from the demands of both a national team and club career, while some retire from one format of the sport to concentrate on another – the process can be immediate or over time.

IHF.info catches up with four beach handball legends from four continents who have retired from their national teams over the past 12 months to hear about their careers, when they knew it was time to retire and a lot more. 

For part three we speak to Denmark’s Line Gyldenløve Henriksen. Born in Randers, the 38-year-old retired last year from the Denmark’s women’s national team, representing her country for the last time at the 2024 IHF Women’s Beach Handball World Championship in China.

 

Playing career

The first time I heard about beach handball was when I joined Danish indoor club Bjerringbro FH. They also played beach handball and were going to the Danish championship. It was in the summer of 2008, so I got the chance to take part and really try playing the sport for the first time.

I really thought it was fun the first time I played it, and I was very grateful to be allowed to play beach handball with my then new club. So of course, I hoped it would be something we would play every summer. And luckily, it turned out that beach handball was something they did a lot of in Bjerringbro FH.

My career in beach saw me primarily play as a wing on both sides which is different when compared to indoors, where I play as a backcourt player.

I debuted for the Danish national team in 2009 at the European Championship in Larvik, Norway, and have been part of every major championship with the team up to the 2024 IHF Women’s Beach Handball World Championship in China. The highlights of my national team beach career were definitely the years when we reached the stage of playing for medals.

On the club side, after Bjerringbro FH I went on to play for the ‘Danish beachhandball Dream’ team from when it was established in 2018 and I would say that our 2022 European Beach Handball Tour (ebt) Finals win in 2022 was my best experience with them.

In general, it is very special to play matches at a championship, but there is no doubt that the years when we made it to the semi-finals and finals were something quite extraordinary. I would also like to highlight 2013, when the European Championship was held in Denmark and in the city where I live. It was a very special championship because of the great support we received.

I would like to praise my club Bjerringbro for introducing me to this sport and I want to say a big thank you to my coach, Morten Holmen, for believing in me and shaping me into the beach player I eventually became. I’m very grateful for that.

Since I started playing beach the biggest development is that all countries around the world have really caught on to the fact that you can gain a lot through tactics in this sport. Additionally, the pace has increased, and overall the players have just become much better at all the details like spins, flips, saves, and defence in general.

More promotion and ‘hype’ around the game still needs to be done though, so we can get even more focus on it with efforts already underway to try to get it included in the full Olympic Games sporting programme.

I would also like to see much less focus on rules that have nothing to do with the actual game, for example, the size of the clothing or whether someone is wearing the correct colour sports top. I believe these things should not be the focus.

 

Retirement

It should be mentioned that I’ve actually only stopped playing for the national team. I still compete in the Danish Championship and am also happy to take part in ebt tournaments if I have the opportunity and time and if it fits into my schedule and family life.

I still really love the sport and don’t want to stop playing completely. However, it’s true that I made the decision to step away from the national team. This happened in February 2025, when the national team coach Morten was about to call up players for the first training camp of the year. (Editor’s note: The Danish Handball Federation announced Line’s national team retirement in February 2025).

Since 2009, I had spent all my holidays and free time in the summer on beach handball, and I’ve loved every minute of it – all the experiences and the amazing people I’ve met along the way. But the time had come for me to spend my holidays differently and with my family.

It was an incredibly difficult decision to make, but of course, I talked a lot about it with my then boyfriend, now husband (Editor’s note: Line got married in August 2025). I also had a good conversation with the national coaches, who fully understood my decision.

Even though I didn’t know it at the time, I played my last national teams game at the 2024 IHF Beach Handball World Championship in China.

I didn’t have a plan for retiring from the national team, I just started to feel that I missed spending my holidays with my family and friends and found it a bit hard being away so much during the summer. 

And since I was also getting married last summer (2025), I began to wonder if it was time to stop. It was still a decision I struggled with a little, especially when the team were away for the European Championship and The World Games that same summer.

 

Advice

I find it difficult to give advice to others about when to retire, but it’s important to listen to yourself and, above all, to have other things to fill your time with. Personally, I’m very happy that I now have so many things to spend my time on that I didn’t have time for before.

But, honestly, I pretty much miss everything about beach handball, and being part of the Danish national team is a huge honour—not something to take for granted. All the experiences and all the wonderful people you meet, and of course the sport itself. I love playing and being part of a championship.

For anyone thinking of setting out on a beach handball career I would be honest and just say that it requires a lot of training and repetition to get good, but that you should never give up, even when it’s tough in the beginning. If you become good enough, many great experiences await, and the environment is absolutely fantastic to be part of.

Personal memories and future goals

Off of the sand, my highlights have definitely been all the friendships I have made, but also, all of the experiences. Friendships that you don’t let go of, not even after you stop playing.

Of course, I also want to say a huge thank you to my husband, who gave me the freedom to spend my holidays playing beach handball. Without his support, it wouldn’t have been possible to continue for so many years, plus, knock on wood, I never had any injuries that kept me out of beach matches.

If I had to mention one thing that I’m glad to be without since finishing with the national team, it’s the travel days. The lowest point I experienced was when the Danish Handball Federation shut down the beach handball national teams for a couple of years, and we were not allowed to go to the championships in 2015 and 2016.

I have kept all my medals and awards and so on. I’m happy and proud of each and every one of them. Unfortunately, I don’t have a shelf where I can display them all, but there are a few that are out and that I look at every day. Unfortunately, I don’t have many shirts in my collection, just a couple.

Currently, I play indoor handball at the highest level in Denmark with Bjerringbro FH and I also work as a sales coordinator at a company called DermaPharm. As I said, I still play beach tournaments here at home in Denmark and I also hope to be able to participate in an ebt tournament abroad from time-to-time, if it fits into my schedule with work and handball.

I’ve been asked many times whether coaching could be something for me, and I’m not 100% sure it’s something I would be good at.

Maybe I can find another way to be involved in beach handball when I no longer play handball myself? Only time will tell.

Follow Line on Instagram.

Line Gyldenløve Henriksen – Beach Handball career

National Team
2009-2024: Denmark – 131 games/1335 points

Club teams
2008-2018: Bjerringbro FH
2018-Present: The Danish beachhandball Dream

Awards/titles
2010: Silver – IHF Women’s Beach Handball World Championship
2011: Silver – EHF Women’s Beach Handball European Championship
2012: Silver – IHF Women’s Beach Handball World Championship
2013: Silver – EHF Women’s Beach Handball European Championship
2019: Gold – ANOC World Beach Games
2019: Gold – EHF Women’s Beach Handball European Championship
2021: Silver – EHF Women’s Beach Handball European Championship
2021: MVP, All-star Team – EHF Women’s Beach Handball European Championship
2023: Gold – European Olympic Games
2023: Top-scorer, All-star Team – European Olympic Games
+ various club team awards and titles

Photos: Line Gyldenløve Henriksen, IHF, EHF