IHF: You are just 16 years old and this is of course your first World Championship. What are your impressions?

Emily Bölk: This tournament means a lot of fun for me and my teammates. We have a lot of fans here in Macedonia. This and the fact that we play for Germany gives us a lot of motivation. We will obtain a very good result. We just got better from match to match and now we are in a flow.

 

IHF: You are one of the top-scorers of this Women´s Youth (U18) World Championship. You scored 11 times against Korea and 22 times against Portugal. This is nearly unbelievable.

Bölk: We have a lot of shooters in our team. And scoring many goals is always a result of the whole team. We do everything together. Even those players, who are sitting on the bench, jump up and applaud when we score. No one tries to be more important than anyone else.

 

IHF: You grew up in a handball-family.

Bölk: Yes, I grew up with handball. My parents were my idols. My father played in the GER Bundesliga and my mother won the World Championship 1993 in Norway. They support me as much as they can. They have also been here in Macedonia to see some matches. And maybe they come back for the final weekend.

 

IHF: How much time do you spend with handball?

Bölk: Quite a lot. During the preparation for this World Championship we had two training sessions every day. And during the normal season there are four or five sessions a week and one or two matches. And with the beginning of the new season I am part of the squad of Buxtehuder SV in the German League.

 

IHF: How do you coordinate this with school?

Bölk: This is quite difficult, because I do not get a special support. As all the others I have to do my 36 hours at school. And when I get home I have to finish my homework, and after that I play handball. And it will not get less because I start to get my graduation from highschool – in Germany we call it Abitur.

 

IHF: So you do not have plenty of time for your friends or even a boyfriend.

Bölk: It is not easy, because my boyfriend lives in Hannover, which is nearly 200 kilometres away. We do not see each other very often.

 

IHF: So you work really hard on your career. What are the things you want to reach as a handball player?

Bölk: First of all I want to be a player in the German League. My club gives me the chance to play in the new season. But of course as everyone else I want to make it to the Olympics as a part of the national team.