His huge passion for beach handball came very naturally and very early in his life. “We created a team of friends to play and it was love at first sight. Since then, I play whenever I can, because I love this more spectacular aspect of the game, combining aerials and pirouettes. It is a very beautiful sport and at the same time it helps me keep in shape during the holidays,” stresses Martins.
After such an intense season of indoor handball, where Szeged finished second in the Hungarian Championship and fell just short in the EHF Champions League, beach handball also serves as a lighter continuation of the competition and to "clear the head" a little. But what does it really feel like to combine indoor handball at the highest level with beach handball?
“It’s something I’ve been doing since I was very young”
“Beach handball is usually played in the summer, which complements my sports season during the year. It helps me not to spend so much time inactive during the holidays and to keep in shape. It’s something I’ve been doing since I was very young and it’s been going well,” highlights Miguel.
There is no doubt that beach handball is on a very promising growth path, it is already played almost all over the world and the Portuguese athlete went even further by wanting to make beach handball an Olympic and professional sport.
“I think it’s amazing that beach handball has evolved so much over the years and that there’s room for the possibility to become an Olympic sport. Let’s hope that in the near future it can become another professional and remunerated sport in our country, because the clubs and players are taking this sport more and more seriously,” he says.
