Seven months ago, Branko Tamse stepped into Nexe’s coaching shoes with Hrvoje Horvat receiving the offer to become head coach of the Croatian national team. Tamse grew up in Velenje which is where his handball journey began. After a splendid pre-season and before the big clash against Telekom Veszprem, Branko Tamse joined us in another SEHA 7M interview.

After seven months in Slavonia, can you compare Nasice and Velenje?

There are a lot of similarities. Good clubs with high ambitions surrounded by people who love handball. Two cities in which handball is without doubt sport No.1. Velenje is of course a bit bigger than Nasice which means they obviously have a larger base for home players. I would be happy if we had more home players here in Nexe as well. Our primary base is the city of Nasice but in reality, the entire Slavonia region is our base.

You are known for giving the right opportunity and developing young, talented players like Blaz Janc and Miha Zarabec. Nexe has a lot of younger players as well. Do you see the same potential in them?

Those two are probably the most famous ones but I think I gave a chance to over 50 younger players during my time in Gorenje, Celje PL and PPD Zagreb. There is no better feeling for me than when I give younger player a chance to prove himself and he seizes the opportunity. I feel like there is a lot of potential here in Nexe for the biggest European clubs. My wish is to help them develop and grow here and prove everyone what they’re capable of.

Season starts on Monday for you with the first quarter-final match against Telekom Veszprem. Can you rate your first few months in Nasice?

I believe we’ve proved everyone we can play really nice handball in certain matches displaying great performances against one of the best European teams like Rhein Neckar Löwen and versus some SEHA teams as well. I feel like we were on top in the moment when we played against Löwen – after that we slowed down due to lockdown and it is never easy to build form multiple times throughout the season. In the end PPD Zagreb were better.

What are your expectations of the upcoming season in which Nexe will compete in European league, SEHA Gazprom league as well as Croatian national Championship and Cup. Season starts against Veszprem.

Those two matches against Veszprem will be a great chance for us to see where we are at the moment. We will fight on four battlefields this season with a good, long roster and I feel like we’re ready for all the challenges. I just hope there will be no pauses this season and that fans will be allowed to come a support us.

Your nickname in Slovenia is ‘Branc Osvajalec’ (‘Branc the Conqueror’) because of multiple titles you’ve managed to win with Gorenje and Celje. Can we expect trophies in Nasice as well?

Trophies are always the main goal but my goal is also to develop players, make them better. Good, quality work is the most important thing. When you have such approach, when you’re humble, ‘the One’ above rewards you. I can’t say we’ll surely win trophies but we’ll surely do our best.

Prior to the preparations you said the goal is to create an orchestra with you, of course, being the one conducting it. That’s interesting because you are also a musician. Do you have time to play the piano or drums? What kind of music do you like?

I really want everything to function like a well-runed orchestra. I like music but for me ball is life. My whole family is into music – brother is a professor and my daughter goes to the music school. I don’t really play quite often. Last time I played the drums in public was when we won the title in Celje. I don’t have a favorite type of music or a favorite musician. I like different types of music and I have to say I like Croatian music as well.