Berching celebrates: Hans-Lukas Willax honored as handball champion!

Berching celebrates: Hans-Lukas Willax honored as handball champion!

Handball has gained a lot of momentum in the last few months, not only in the big leagues, but also at regional level. The city of Berching is particularly proud to congratulate its native son Hans-Lukas Willax as captain of HC Erlangen as the German handball champion. Mayor Ludwig Eisenreich didn't miss the opportunity to congratulate the talented athlete on his impressive success, which is important for the entire city. The celebrations for the title are in full swing, because Willax and his team have had a season that is second to none - HC Erlangen remained unbeaten for a total of 22 games, as Mittelbayerische reports.

Willax himself can look back on a successful career. The athlete, who started playing football and handball at TSV Berching, has developed into an important player in the team over the years. His sporting journey took him from the C-youth team of HC Sulzbach-Rosenberg to the A-youth Bundesliga, where he quickly became a regular player. Thanks to the intensive support of his trainers, Xenia Knüfer (now Stephan) and Hans Müller, he was able to fully develop his talent. His return after a bad injury that slowed him down for weeks shows his fighting spirit and determination. “We all had to believe in ourselves and reduce the pressure,” explained Willax, who always motivated his teammates. The mayor's congratulations were a nice end to this remarkable season, and he wished Willax all the best for the future.

A season full of highlights

The A-Youth Bundesliga recently completed its season successfully and the title decision phase was very exciting. After Easter, the best teams fought for a place in the quarter-finals of the German championship. HC Erlangen showed a strong performance and was able to prevail against HSV Hamburg in the quarter-finals. In the semifinals it was against Bayer Dormagen, where HC Erlangen triumphed with an overall score of 80:71. Finally, the final against JANO Filder was on the agenda, which ended with 38:35 in the first leg and 42:36 in the second leg for HC Erlangen. A remarkable success, because the club, which was only founded in 2001, is celebrating the greatest success in its history, as Handball World reports!

These successes reflect the high popularity of handball, which is the second most popular sport in Germany after football, as an analysis by Statista shows. With a membership of over 765,000 in the German Handball Association and an annual audience of around 1.5 million in the Bundesliga, handball is a crowd puller and attracts many fans at championships such as the Bundesliga and the DHB Cup.

A look into the future

Hans-Lukas Willax continues his studies in Erlangen after graduating from high school. The plan is to study, probably in the field of sports, parallel to playing handball in the second team of the third league. His mother, Ina Willax, who works as a communications trainer, will continue to support him on his journey. So it remains exciting to see what heights the young athlete will reach. For his fans and the many supporters from his hometown it's time to cheer and keep your fingers crossed!