November 19, 2023.
FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria vs MKS Zaglebie Lubin.
Andrea Lekić reaches 1000 goals scored in the EHF Champions League. The fourth player to achieve this.
February 11, 2024.
Andrea´s Insta.
A series of photos in a gym. Hard work. Recovery from the metacarpal fracture surgery seems to be going well. At the bottom, a quote from Gandhi: “The future depends on what we do in the present.”
March 10, 2024.
FTC vs Győr, Magyar Kupa.
FTC wins the Hungarian Cup. Andrea kisses the cup. The scar on her right hand is visible.
Life is also about that, about “ups and downs,” about smiles and scars. And much more, of course. Andrea is an outstanding athlete; she is an idol and possesses something very special for us: the desire and drive to inspire the generations that are following closely behind us. There’s a reason she is our ambassador. She works with the youngest ones in her academy and genuinely strives to be a good example for them. Talent requires effort, confidence requires work, and on the court, both on and off, empathy is crucial.
2013
A year to remember.
She soon begins to share her knowledge and values. At 26, it’s possibly one of the best years of her career. She wins silver while captaining the Serbian national team in the World Championship, clinches the F4 with Győr, is named the world’s best player, and her country awards her the “Majska” (the highest Serbian sports award). The doors of her handball academy in Vrnjačka Banja also open.
“I didn’t know how it was going to work; I just wanted to feel the experience first, and then I was completely delighted. I was even crying with the kids after this camp, and I was really sorry that it was only seven days in the beginning. It was really hard. It was a huge responsibility. I was at that moment 26, so the level of awareness was not the highest possible, but I felt a huge responsibility working with them.”
“The level of energy that I got from them, the level of love and fulfillment was something that cannot be measured indeed. So, that was the key moment when I realized that this is the thing that I really love. I do love to share my experience, my emotions, my knowledge and the tools which I use to function as a professional athlete with them.”
In the coming years…
ZRK Vardar, CSM București, ŽRK Budućnost, RK Krim, FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria.
Andrea’s sports career continues to soar. She is increasing her list of achievements, honing her skills, gaining experience, and continues to share it in her academy. The academy has also grown alongside her. Satisfaction and smiles abound when Andrea tells us that even now she finds herself on the court with some of her pupils. This is the case with Jovana Jovović, who was in 2013 a promising child and is now one of the players on the Serbian national team.
It’s clear the influence that a good environment and a place with the right people can achieve; but have you ever wondered about the impact that can be made with small gestures? Just a few minutes, a smile, showing genuine interest in someone. And imagine if the one providing that attention is someone admired.
“Staying after the match for ten or fifteen minutes talking with the kids, signing some autographs, taking pictures, these kinds of things brought me a lot of experience. Slowly, I was realizing how a big impact we, as athletes, are having on the kids. I was realizing, day by day, the responsibility that we are carrying on our shoulders, even though many of us are not aware of how big impact we can have on their lives. It’s something that caught me along the way, thinking like, ‘Okay, this is something beautiful, I can make someone’s life better, I can influence some kid, I can make them smile for at least a short period of time.’ For me, this was the huge boost when we are talking about my work with the kids.”
The gesture is followed by involvement in challenging yet rewarding work.
How do we reach children? How do we effectively and efficiently impart values such as respect for others and oneself?
“It’s not easy to open up. It’s not easy to get all the information that you would like from the kids, so it’s important to listen to them. Then you are getting a lot of information without even asking. How can we help them? Exactly through these kinds of programs, these kinds of organizations where we are trying to teach them that in playing, not achieving results, especially at early ages, it’s really not important. It’s important to have fun, to socialize, to be part of a team, of a society, to feel wanted somewhere, to feel sufficiently supported, because usually, there is a lack of support at very young ages. So, I try in my academy to talk with them a lot in a way that they really feel that they are completely accepted in every way. Zero expectations, just full support, full empathy, and a lot of love, definitely.”
She only spends 7 days a year working directly at the academy. She knows it’s not enough time and she would like to be more involved in the future. Her sports career doesn’t allow for more options. Everything will come in due time. She welcomes children from different European nationalities, and they share the same issues.
“They have an issue with self-confidence. That’s definitely one of the things that I’ve realized. Also, the lack of support, huge expectations especially from the family, and not being accepted in a community, not being satisfied with the relationship with the coach or with teammates. So, at those young age, they are really facing some serious difficulties.”
Nowadays.
Experience is a priceless asset.
When she began to shine, she was all grit, and she remains a force to be reckoned with on the court. How she plays, how she leads, or how she faces up to the fatigue or lack of strength of others. She gets involved, makes it her own, seeks solutions; and moreover, now, she has the ability not only to better understand herself, but also her teammates and the coaching staff. And so it goes in her career as in life.
“You know how it goes. It goes with experience. I’m not the same person I was ten years ago. That’s completely normal. My level of awareness is much, much higher now. Nowadays, I’m really trying to understand everyone. To understand everyone’s needs, everyone’s reactions. Usually, when you’re growing up, you can’t understand many times the reactions of others, let’s say teammates or colleagues, and usually, the first reaction would always be ‘she doesn’t like me’ or ‘she has some issue with me.’ And with the kids, it’s the same pattern. Over the years, you develop your empathy, and it grows bigger and bigger. Now, you try to understand the everyone´s background because each of us has a different one. So, I think everyone can be touched, everyone can be approached in a different way. It’s also about how much you work on yourself. I also have my own psychologist, and it’s a really good thing.”
We return to the beginning of the report and to the logic that the future is built on the present. Why should we be afraid to admit that we have a problem and need support?
“As professional athletes, we are constantly judged by our performances. We have to do our job, to be the best, and perform the best. And the things which you carry with yourself when the match is done, if you didn’t play well, if you are in a bad period… you usually close yourself off, carrying everything on yourself. So now, I’m happy that professional players are opening up themselves. They are giving the example that these are completely normal things and no one should be judged because, as I said, empathy is a very important part of everyday life, not only in sports.”
“Just have understanding for people who are next to you. Try to learn about them, about their lives, be there, help if it’s possible because I think this is the most important thing today.”
Achieving to break the fourth wall.
“It’s a huge transformation. Of course, you need years for this. In my growing up, I never heard about these kinds of topics; nobody was talking about this, so it was never spoken like, ‘Hey, Andrea, you have to listen, you have to think that maybe they have some difficulties.’ And this is part of education, so I would like to share exactly this part with the kids. Because we are also aware that there’s a lot of bullying in schools, and when it comes, we have to be aware. We need to be ‘boring’ and constantly speak about these topics. Because we don’t have anything to lose, just gain.”
A Game-changer. Andrea Lekić embodies the spirit of what we are doing.
“I’m trying to be a good example for the kids and hope that I’m getting better and better at this, because somehow I’m still at the beginning of my path. That’s how I see myself. I want to be that, I’m really doing this with my… let’s say purest emotion ever, and I really like to do better for the kids. Working on our future is working in our sport, so there’s nothing more beautiful than investing in the future, and kids are the future.”