German Ambassador Vito Cecere was impressed and thrilled, remarking, “You do not experience something like this very often.” The high-ranking diplomat attended the official opening of the 33rd International Schmelz Youth Tournament, hosted by WAT Fünfhaus, as one of the guests of honor on Friday evening. A diplomatic trio was present, as representatives from the Croatian and Slovak embassies also arrived. Rainer Kienböck, a district councilor for Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus, expressed his joy regarding the many young handball talents in the 15th district, saying, “We have been receiving visitors here for over 30 years.”
This year, Austria’s largest youth handball tournament features 55 girls’ and boys’ teams. After a long opening day of preliminary rounds held in sweltering heat on Friday, many of the participants arrived at the university sports center on Schmelz with curiosity and high spirits for the opening ceremony, held under the humid August sky.
Tournament Director Christoph Zeiml opened the ceremony from a low podium, addressing more than 600 young handball players alongside Gerda Saiko, who conducted the proceedings in English for the 20 international teams. Bernhard Huber, who has served as the chairman of WAT Fünfhaus since June, described the event as an “important building block for youth handball.” He added, “What I see here simply makes me proud of WAT Fünfhaus and the entire club.”
Ambassador Cecere did not just offer special encouragement to the seven German teams. In addition, there are well over a dozen referees from Bavaria and Leipzig, led by “veteran” Lars Lehmann. Ambassador Cecere even had to provide autographs following the official opening. He was just as enthusiastic as the envoy of the Croatian Embassy, Josip Spoljaric, who said with a smile, “I feel young again.” The representative of the Slovak Embassy, Juraj Jesko, emphasized the scale of the event, stating, “This is a little Europe in handball format.”
Presenter Larissa Lang had previously introduced every team participating this year individually. The teams from HSG Schwarzbach, Germany, cheered loudly, and the girls from Hazena Kynzvart in the Czech Republic were determined not to be outdone in volume. During their spirited introduction, the boys from MRK Metalac proudly waved a sign featuring the Croatian flag.
At the conclusion of the opening, tournament director Christoph Zeiml invited Ernst Stangl, who founded the tournament in 1993, to the front, noting, “Without him, this tournament would not exist at all.” The young handball talents, coaching teams, and guests of honor responded with thunderous applause.
Then, the small podium at the opening ceremony was occupied by numerous young singers during the team karaoke. For two hours, the musical performances ranged from Udo Jürgens’ “Griechischer Wein” (who would have guessed?) to the foot-stomping “Cotton Eye Joe” and more recent hits like “Since U Been Gone.” It was just as captivating for the karaoke fans as it was for the audience.
Full throttle ahead! Following the party atmosphere, this motto now applies to the second day of this year’s Schmelz tournament on Saturday, starting at 9:00 a.m., and the two final matches for the girls and boys born in 2014, which begin in the afternoon at 4:30 p.m.