Thomsen, a trailblazer, a pioneer, a coach: "If my work inspires others, that is more than enough for me"

On 8 March 1911, the International Women's Day was celebrated for the first time. More than a century later, the world still gathers to acknowledge, advocate and act, because while the progress made in those 115 years is undeniable, the work is far from finished. In sport, as in life, the pursuit of gender equality is crucial, a movement that requires champions on and off the court.

Handball has always been a sport where women have competed with the same determination as their male counterparts. That is one of the reasons why moments like the 2025 IHF Women's World Championship carry weight far beyond the scoreboard. In this event, five women stood on the sidelines as head coaches at a World Championship: Helle Thomsen (Denmark), Suzana Lazovic (Montenegro), Monique Tijsterman (Austria), Marizza Faria (Paraguay) and Ana Cristina Teixeira Seabra (Islamic Republic of Iran). Five women who provided a small statement that the game is changing and opportunities arise.

Among them, Helle Thomsen is one of the most decorated and widely travelled coaches the sport has ever produced. Born in Frederikshavn, Denmark, Thomsen first made her mark as a player, earning silver and bronze medals in the Danish championship, before transitioning into coaching and building one of the most remarkable résumés in women's handball. 

 

She guided FC Midtjylland to two Danish championships, three Danish Cups and the EHF Cup Winners' Cup, while simultaneously steering Sweden to a bronze medal at the Women’s EHF EURO 2014. She then took the Netherlands to a silver medal at EHF EURO 2016 and bronze medals at the 2017 IHF Women's World Championship and EHF EURO 2018. Her subsequent stops included Molde Elite, Kastamonu Belediyesi and Les Neptunes de Nantes before returning to CSM București for her second stint, where she was working until she was named Denmark's head coach in April 2025.

In doing so, Thomsen became only the second woman ever to coach the Denmark women's national team, the first since Else Birkmose, who held the role between 1963 and 1965. Sixty years on, a woman is back at the helm of one of the world's greatest handball nations. 

But Thomsen says she feels no pressure.

“I think it's important that you have a job you love. Then it doesn't matter if it's handball or another sport or another job. I think you are best when you love your job. I think when you have the passion for it, then it's easier to work hard. Because as a coach and as a player, you work a lot of hours,” says Thomsen.

“I never thought I have to prove myself. I think I have been lucky in that regard. I do not feel that I need to do more than a male coach would. I try to do my best every day, that is all I can do. I have never felt external pressure specifically because I am a woman. Maybe I do not look for it, or maybe I do not notice it, but I have genuinely never felt it.”

 

Thomsen started her playing career in her hometown of Frederikshavn, then moved to Norway, where she spent two years, and then came back to Frederikshavn and for three years, between 2001 and 2004 played and coached for Sindal.

Then, after metting an end to her playing career, she was an assistant for more than two years at Team Tvis Holstebro, before moving to FC Midtjylland, first as an assistant and then as a head coach for four years.

“For me, being a coach has always been part of my life. I started when I was really young, in my hometown club. There was an adult coach, and I think I was 12 or 13 years old when I started, but only as a helper. I would collect the shirts, help when the coach said: "Can you help with this?" So I have been involved in coaching my whole life. Handball - as a player and as a coach - is my hobby. It is the place where I have always been happy. And I am really happy that it is now my job. When I started, many, many years ago, it was purely for fun. Now it is fun and it is my job. I think I am very lucky,” says Thomsen.

“But I still love handball deeply. Even today, I love to go and watch kids play and see how much they enjoy it. I think handball - this small ball - can do a lot. It can make people happy. You can be young, you can be old, you can be professional, you can be amateur. It brings people together.”

Ask any player who has been coached by Thomsen and they will reply that Thomsen has helped them develop as players, but mostly as humans. Stories about the Danish coach going out of her way to make the players feel as a true family have been doing the rounds since Thomsen was named the Denmark women’s national team coach.

 

National TV station DR has reported that Thomsen has been even trying the new shoes used by the players who were the same size as the coach in order for them not to get blisters. The title of the article says everything: “Do you need your dog looked after, your shoes tested or you want to win gold medals? Call Helle.”

But the attitude also came with trophies and medals, as Thomsen made a mark for herself at both club and national team level, with a silver medal at EHF EURO 2016 and bronze medals at the 2017 IHF Women's World Championship and EHF EURO 2018 for the Netherlands and a bronze medal at the Women’s EHF EURO 2014 with Sweden,

“I think it is a combination of many things. Since I started as a professional coach, I have been lucky to have really good teams with good players, players who helped me, showed me the way and believed in me. I try to be honest and to do my best every single day. From the moment I get out of bed, I try to give everything. But I also think the team around you is crucial - the coaches you work alongside, the players. It is so important to have a good connection. I believe I have been fortunate to be part of teams where that connection existed and where we all worked hard together,” says Thomsen.

But in an environment usually populated by men, Thomsen has been a true trailblazer for women in coaching positions. Her handball know-how, her atittude towards the players and the results helped to position her as one of the top coaches in the world.

“My opinion is that it should not be made easier simply because you are a woman. I think women must work just as hard as men. I do not think you should be given a step ahead. You must earn it. But of course, if there is more focus on women's handball globally, I am happy about that, because it is good for the sport,” adds the Denmark coach.

Yet is Thomsen aware that in her daily work she is a female in a space still largely dominated by men?

 

“From the very beginning, a lot of people have asked me about this, and honestly, I have never really thought about it. For me, it is about being a good coach, it should not matter whether you are a man or a woman. I hope that every place I have been, they hired me because I was the right coach for the job, not because of my gender. I do not think about it. I think it is positive that there are more female coaches, but ultimately, clubs and national teams should always take the best coach available, regardless of gender,” says Thomsen.

“That said, I do believe that a mix between women and men is always a good combination, in sport and beyond. In our own staff at the Denmark women’s national team, we have men as well. I have Bojana as my assistant coach, but we also have physios, a goalkeeper coach, a trainer who are men. I think that balance works really well”.

For any coach, leading the national team of their country is a highlight. Thomsen worked all her life towards this and saw her dream came true last spring, when she was named in this position, replacing Jesper Jensen.

At the 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship, though, Denmark failed to win a medal for the first time since 2021 in a major international competition, being eliminated in the quarter-finals by France, who, by Thomsen’s assesment, were “the better team”.

“It was fantastic to be with the Danish national team at the championship. In the end, we played against France in the quarter-final and they were better than us on that day. That is fair, we did not advance to the semi-final because our opponents deserved it more. But what I take with me is that we had a fantastic squad. They worked hard, the whole team around the team worked really hard, everyone gave 100 per cent every single day, in training, in tactics, in the games. We met a team that was better than us and there was nothing more we could have done. Since then, we have spoken honestly about it and we all agree: we did a good job, but we faced a better team. Now we look ahead. We have some players returning, we are building step by step,” says the Denmark women’s national team coach.

 

That only highlights how far women’s handball has gone, with the development yielding more and more good teams which are providing a stronger competition, as proven at the 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship, where Germany made the finals for the first time since 1993 and other sides challenged for a quarter-finals spot.

“if you look at the international picture now, I think there are many strong countries in women's handball. A few years ago, you would speak mainly about France, Norway and Denmark. Now you can add Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, Hungary, Romania. When we go to the next European Championship in December, there will be at least ten genuinely strong teams. That depth of quality is really healthy for women's handball,” adds Thomsen.

However, between all those strong sides, Denmark are the only team with two women as coaches – Thomsen as the head coach and Bojana Popovic as the assistant, bringing a huge experience between them at the highest of levels. Popovic herself was the head coach at Buducnost Podgorica and at the Montenegro women’s national team, while now leading CSM București at club level, Thomsen’s former side.

“It works because we are honest with each other. We are not afraid to say difficult things to one another, and we believe in each other. And it is not a situation where the assistant coach has a limited role: Bojana can also take the tactics, she can stand up and coach the team during a match. For me, it is better to have two strong people than only one. I am really happy that she is part of my team,” adds Thomsen.

And yet, for all the trophies and the teams transformed, what drives Helle Thomsen is the pure love for the game, for her players, for the daily work that most would find exhausting but that she finds energising.

"I hope if a young Danish girl has a dream of being a top-level handball coach and she looks at me and thinks: 'If she can do it, then I can do it too',  then I am happy. I do not need anything more than that. If my work inspires others to try what I have tried, then that is more than enough for me," she says.