This is me: Luka Stepančić

For all what he has previously achieved, one of the biggest highlights in the career of Luka Stepančić is that is he back playing handball at top level again. The Croatian standout has gone through more than two years of injury worries, which kept him away from the courts. In this episode of our This is me series, Stepančić talks in his own words about his family, his rise to the elite of international handball, and how the birth of his son Jakov helped him to push through his revalidation period.

THIS IS ME: Luka Stepančić

I grew up in Labin, a small city in the Istria region of Croatia. There were only two main sports – football and handball. I also tried mountain biking and budokai but only for a short period. My first touch with sport was through football as my dad used to play football as a keeper back in the day. Somehow it was a natural thing to try.

When I was 11, I switched to handball. For me, handball is the No. 1 in Labin. Some might not agree with me, but the club and sport have a rich history in my town. Most of my friends from school were also into handball and that is why I stayed. My generation was a great team. We were friends and I always remember those days when I go back to Labin.

We were lucky enough to have great coaches in Labin. They were pedagogues, professors, and coaches, all in one. Today, I think kids lack those types of coaches. They were doing an amazing job with us and somehow they have instilled those important values. Not only sports values but human values also, those that stick with you throughout life – coaches Ratko Benazić, Klaudio Brezac, Zdenko Batinić and Boris Milevoj. In those teenage years, you can give up and quit if you don’t have the right support. Since I started handball, I have never wanted to quit, even when I had to face one of the biggest challenges in my life.

There was never a question if I would stay in handball or sport, even though I did have a different side of me and that was music. That is my mother Ankica’s side. She was a music teacher and consequently, I finished elementary music school too. I play piano and it will always be part of me.

My parents were a huge support in those beginnings, especially my father. They would spend their weekends driving us to matches all across Istria and were spending hours and hours in the venues supporting us.

I left my parents and Labin when I was 17. I got a chance to join Zagreb and finish high school in the capital. When I look back on that time, I realise me moving away was harder for my parents than it was for me. I understand that now as a father. And I am grateful they made it possible. It helped a little bit that my older sister Ana was studying in Zagreb, so my parents had someone to look after me.

RK Zagreb at the time had a great project that was led by coach Nino Marković. They had gathered great young talents from all of Croatia in their second team. We had a scholarship, they were taking care of our school, career, and life in general. I am sad that the system no longer exists.

Again, I was lucky enough that I had a great team and met friends for life in Zagreb. That is something I always put in the first place when choosing a new club. People and relations.

Before taking on the EHF Champions League with Zagreb I spent one year in Varaždin. We got a chance to play in Croatia’s first division to gain more experience and I think it was a good decision for me. I have only positive memories from there. Varaždin at the time was a strong team aiming to be the second club in Croatia. Vladimir Canjuga assembled a great team, a mix of experienced players and a couple of us, promising juniors. We had just become world under-19 champions that summer in Tunisia, led by him and Nino Marković. But as always, nothing lasts forever. When Kiril Lazarov left Zagreb to join Ciudad Real, Zagreb took me back. Zagreb left a mark in my life in every way.

Signing a professional contract with Zagreb was a turning point in my career. I was 19 and in a way that was a sign to me that handball would be my job, my life. I was lucky enough that in the early stage of my career, I could share the locker room with players like Ivano Balić, Valčić brothers [Josip and Tonči], Zlatko Horvat, Manuel Štrlek, Marko Kopljar, Kiril Lazarov…

We younger players had a lot to learn from them, so after a couple of years, when our time had come, we exploded in the Champions League. Stipe Mandalinić, Filip Ivić, Lovro Šprem, Luka Šebetić… we had a great atmosphere, played amazing, and reached the quarter-finals. The 2014/15 and 2015/16 seasons were like a dream. Under the coach who gave me the biggest affirmation and who trusted me the most, Veselin Vujovic, we played amazing handball and enjoyed playing in a packed arena, winning against teams like Kiel, PSG, etc.

For me, THW Kiel and the former Ciudad Real are the two biggest clubs in the world. My handball beginnings are connected with the year 2003 and the Croatian gold medal at the World Championship. I knew from the top of my head all 16 players, the officials, and the medical team. And of course, as a kid, you dream of playing for such big clubs and being part of the national team.

That is why I am proud I got a chance to continue my career in a club like Paris Saint-Germain. I had a few different offers, but we chose PSG. We had a beautiful life in Paris, again I met friends for life even outside of handball.

The period in PSG matured me in a special way – both as a player and as a person. When you share a locker room with handball stars, you can learn a lot. That year 2016 was special for me. I got married, became a father to Jakov, and moved to France. It was challenging but I would not change one step of my career. And not only of my career. Whatever I did, I would not change a thing.

But I do feel regret about the Champions League final in 2017 against Vardar. I think we were ready and so close to winning it. I have had an amazing three years and played with one of the all-time best players in handball, but I felt that I was in my best years and that I wanted to have more minutes and a bigger role in a team. Then came Pick Szeged. I signed a two-year contract and after only six months they offered a prolongation for three more years and I agreed. After winning silver at the EHF EURO 2020 with Croatia, everything was going my way I was enjoying it on and off the court.

Little did I know that was only the start of my new path, the beginning of something that would make me the Luka I am today. I am 32 years old now, and the period from 29 to now is a time frame when I learned the most about myself, learned from mistakes and how to keep on fighting.

I was out of handball for two and a half years, injury after injury. Three surgeries, two Achilles tendon surgeries, complications no one could predict, countless hours of uncertainties, hard work, dedication… Just a rollercoaster of emotions.

All tears, sweat, ups and downs, everything that happened in those two and a half years were worth it. I am back, I am playing the Champions League again in a high rhythm and I never felt better. Against all odds.

I owe my career to Saša Baščevan, PhD and Trpimir Vrdoljak, MD, who were two of few people, not to say the only people aside from my family, who believed in my comeback. Now, I am focused on what is ahead. I never think about new injuries or what could happen. Maybe that is one of my advantages. That feeling from January 2022 prepared me for almost anything.

Except maybe for the feeling I had in February 2023. It still gives me goosebumps. I returned to the court after two and a half years for my first official match. After the game, all the emotions and memories from the past came out of me…

That whole period was hard. Inexplicable. I still don’t know what was pushing me forward. Maybe the doubt many people had was driving me forward. When everything went to plan after the third surgery, I just knew I had to push more, to show myself I can do it. Subconsciously you want to do it for your kid, for your family. They were my biggest support. Next to me through it all and you can’t just give up. I was on crutches for almost two years, and I even couldn’t play with my son in the park. When you mix all that, it gave me energy for a comeback. Becoming a father changed me. It gave me a new perspective and a new dose of responsibility in my job.

My wife Ana is my backbone, our family’s backbone. Of course, you don’t realise fully what your wife does for you and your family until you move abroad. I am happy she is part of my life and forever grateful. You are changing and growing as a person, as a player, and our family is growing through us. But all of that time, you need to understand and respect that someone subjugated everything to be by your side. The same as you left your home, friends and family, they did the same but because of you.

You can’t be selfish to take their growth or anything else away from them but also through that unselfishness, you can find extra motivation to fight in every hard or challenging situation that you face, together. She comes from a sports family, she used to play basketball at a young age, her dad is a basketball coach, and her brother is a basketball referee, so for us was always easier to discuss some specific sports situations. I don’t have enough words to express how important she is.

Ana was there for me even through my first injury – a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligaments. Even that injury has a special story. Only seven months later I was part of the national team for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. As only 14 players can play, compared to the usual 16 on the squad list, it was completely unreal for me to be among them after a tough injury. Even though we didn’t win a medal, just being an Olympian is a great honour and an amazing feeling to be a part of it.

I have two medals with Croatia – bronze at the 2013 World Championship and silver at the EHF EURO 2020, with world gold in the younger age categories. I am proud of it but of course, I would like to win gold. To this day I have regrets about a few competitions. Like the 2017 World Championship in France, I hope Zlaja [Zlatko Horvat] will not get mad :), the EHF EURO 2020 final where we could have gotten that gold, and EHF EURO 2018 in Croatia.

I was part of the Croatian youth national team in 2009 when we got a chance to go and watch Croatia in the final against France. Zagreb was the host of that incredible match and as a kid, I was amazed. Imagine playing a championship in front of your people in a packed arena, fighting for the medal. I thought that was once in a lifetime opportunity. I never thought we would see the championship, either world or European, in Croatia ever again.

Then, nine years later Croatia is hosting the EHF EURO, you are part of the national team and you have a chance to relive that moment again but this time as a player. I am really sad we failed, sad about the game against Sweden and everything that happened later.

Being part of your country’s national team is an amazing feeling and we always have a great time when we are together. Honour to the exceptions, the national team gave an additional push to each and every one of us in terms of our careers. We as players should never forget that.

But there is another side to the sport. I believe that we, players, who have good exposure in the media or influence on social media etc., have a responsibility towards our society. I am active in many humanitarian organisations. UNICEF is just one of those which I am doing publicly. Helping others is important to me and will always be part of my life.

This is the second year in a row that UNICEF has a topic on youth mental health and the reason why they decided to make it again is because it is an extremely important topic, especially as it is still a taboo. I think we should talk a lot more on that topic with kids, and I am happy that I can be part of projects like that.

Just like the EHF's Respect Your Talent project. I had an amazing time at the camp in Vienna being an ambassador. I was impressed for a month. Organisation, energy, just perfect. That is something we never had as young players. If we could have someone talking to us about mental coaching, contracts, agents, and nutrition, we would have an even better start.

Do I see myself professionally in that? Maybe. As a part of some organisation, I would like to help children.

If you had asked me a year ago where I see myself in the future, I would probably give you a straightforward answer. It was a period where I still didn’t know if I could continue playing handball and I had to start thinking about different options.

Now, being back at full strength, I only see myself in handball. And I don’t see an end of it yet.