Basic facts
Date of birth: 05.07.1973
Residence: Copenhagen (Frederiksberg)
Height: 1.67 m
Weight: 61 kg
End of career: April 2005
Position: Playmaker- l/r back (attack), center (defence)
No: 73 or 4 (73 due to her year of birth)
Previous clubs: FCK, Slagelse, AB, Virum, FIF, Nordstrand, Buxtehude,
B�kkenlaget, FIF.
Job: Has her own travel agency Travelsense - dealing with sports travels
as did her former employer "Rejse Galleriet".
Results:
1993: World Championship silver
1994: European Champion, EHF declared her best playmaker at the European
Championship
1995: World Championship bronze. Playmaker of the year in the German Bundesliga
1996: Olympic Champion, European Champion, top scorer for B�kkelaget (Norway)
1997: World Champion, IHF elect her as the best playmaker at the WC, liga
topscorer for FIF
1998: European Championship silver, liga topscorer for FIF
1999: Gold at the pre-Olympics in Sydney, Australia , liga topscorer for
FIF
2000: Second in IHF's vote for the best player of the year
2000: Olympic gold in Sydney, Australia. Shortly
thereafter Camilla declared her resignation from the national team.
2003: Danish Championship with Slagelse and Player of the Year.
Champions League winner.
See also the lists of previous championships
for the national team
Matches for national team: 194 (846)
National matches for the youth national team: 34
Childhood
The following information, I have picked up from a portrait
made of her by a Danish TV channel.
Camilla was born on 5th. July 1973, accompanied by her twin sister Charlotte.
I have the suspicion, that the two have trained in advance, because both
girls became good handball players. In fact, the entire Andersen family
contains of handball players, so one can say that the genetic and psychological
factors could not be more optimal. The parents Gert and Toni
have both played on the Danish national teams and also Camilla's
younger brother Kristian is a professional player for Virum/Sorgenfri
HK. Her parents claim, that Camilla could handle a ball before she could
even walk - and that is quite unusual. The talent was visible from the
start.
As she grew older, Camilla's first wish was not to play handball, though, but to play football. As there was no girls' teams around, she and her sister went to Virum-Sorgenfri handball club in order to watch dad work as a coach and later also to play themselves.
THEN Camilla would start her career as a prof. handball player? Wrong
again, first she tried to get ahead in tennis, until she came to her senses
and returned to her true sport, handball. Camilla and Charlotte both played
for the team FIF and together they entered the national youth team. The
entire world of the two sisters revolved around handball, until one day
Charlotte's career was ruined by an injury. It was a great chock to all
and Camilla was reminded to take better care of herself, to plan her training
schedule and her diet more carefully. Camilla came to play for FIF in
1991.
�
The career abroad
When Camilla turned 18, the timid young girl made a big decision and
went abroad in order to play for Nordstrand in Norway. The team did not
grant her much time on the court at all, leaving her in the role of a
spectator most of the time or fetching water for the big stars. In spite
of that treatment, Camilla states, that she developed a lot during that
time. It was especially a personal victory for her to leave her beloved
family and friends in Denmark and learn to cope on her own.
The process of gaining personal independence took one step further,
when she went to Germany and joined the team Buxtehude
for 3 years. The language barrier was passed by the means of a 3 months
intensive course in German and the every day challenge of communicating
with team members, who could only speak German. It was a good team which
won several titles ao. the European Cup. But what she could not handle
in the long run was their (East-)German training mentality. Only winners
counted and the rest were ignored. As she states:"If you lose a match
in Germany, they blame the foreigners. If you win, then it is thanks to
the team". (Tjeck interview). At the same time, Camilla had her
obligations towards the Danish national team, where she started playing
in 1992. In the end, she could not accept these conditions. Read also
about Camilla on the site of
C-4 , another fan.
The next destination was therefore B�kkelaget
in Norway 96/97. Along with her came her girlfriend Anja
Andersen, who had played for another German club. (Anja
is very unique.) It was a turbulent time, but the two Danes were
vital to the club's results, and when they stopped it was a great loss
to the Norwegians, who adore handball players as if they were film stars
- just as we do in Denmark. Camilla found it to be the worst season in
her life. The expectations were very high and the club did not manage
to fulfill them. The media was everywhere and Camilla describes it as
one big soap-opera.
�
Back to Denmark
In 1997 Camilla returned to Denmark and her old club FIF. She was very
happy about that. They called her every year to let her know, she was
still welcome to return and she could not wait to come back to her friends
and family.
As more and more of the old core players left the national team, Camilla's
role was getting increasingly important. She was a guide and supporter
for the younger and inexperienced players. She was also the official spokesperson
for the national team, for example when negotiations were to be made or
problems solved. One of her causes concerns the attempt of reducing the
number of matches (they have responsibilities both to the national team
and their club teams and go from one tournament to the next without a
break). The result is often, that the players have no time to do their
physical training and the number of injuries is alarmingly high. An obvious
result of that development can be seen on the national team itself, now
stripped of most of its star players. But it
was to get even worse after the Olympics Camilla has also been part of the chosen ones for Anja Andersen's Dream
Team experiment. Some of the world's best players come together to
play and they put together a series of show matches where the joy of playing,
experimenting with new shots and the urge for childish playing around
can be expressed fully. Hopefully she will be invited for many more summer
tours to come.
�
The cool artist:
Admit it. Camilla can do the most amazing stunts! The way her wrist can shoot off the ball in the most insane angles has often stunned a goalie. We have to watch it again in slow motion on TV in order to grasp what actually went on.
The main characteristic of Camilla is her laid-back mentality. She is a very happy and positive girl, always smiling and having fun. It is not very often that we hear a negative comment from her. Even when the team has lost, she seems always to be able to see the positive aspects (hey, it's only a game, get a life, she seems to think).
She is also known as Camilla the Cool! While other players break down
under the influence of stress, Camilla keeps calm under any circumstances.
The more impossible everything looks and the closer to the edge the team
gets, Camilla just grows cooler and cooler. A warrior would admire her
for that ability. The girl just gives us one of her sly charming smiles
and shoots the ball in the net like a canon ball. Ha, nothing to it, why
are you all sweating and looking so pale? Often Camilla has made the decisive
goal in a match which all thought we would lose. No wonder she was one
of former coach Ulrik Wilbek's favourite players. Her motivation is closely
linked to her mood, if playing is fun and the opponent is worth the effort,
she fires up. If not, it shows she is bored and she plays very badly.
Camilla was also the only one who could get through to Anja Andersen,
when she was having one of her breakdowns or fits of anger and despair.
Often Camilla would be the one to calm her down and talk to her. The press
was of course very interested in prying into their private affairs, when
informants had "leaked" a story telling that the reason Anja went home
from the Olympics in Atlanta ahead of time, was the fact that the two
had a relationship and that Camilla had broken up with her. Suing the
papers bringing the story and using the tactics of silence seemed to stop
the fire before it caught too much attention, which she, according to
a later tv interview, was very relieved about - that summer was not an
easy one for the two and their families. (Excuse me for bringing the attention
back, but it's hardly a secret anymore!) Of course, an even bigger media
fire broke out later with Mia, which also tore up the wounds of this event
- but that is another story.
�
Lazy or just wise?
Some people claim that Camilla is rather lazy and does not bother to
practice as much as required. She can drive her coaches nuts when she
loses concentration. Often she misses obvious chances when she fails to
put all her energy into it and lets her mind wander. Camilla defends herself
by saying, that she does not bother trying the impossible and cannot put
as much energy into matches with very little importance or against weak
teams. She must feel motivated and it shows when she is not. Furthermore
the game itself requires that the players economize with their energy
in order to prevent injuries - as time also has proven. Camilla is now
the only player of such experience with no major injuries (in her career
on the national team, that is). She is only doing what is required of
her and nothing more. But that, she also does one hundred percent.
The target of persistent and pestering fans - and press vultures
Camilla likes a good meal and having fun with her friends. But her so-called
fans won't leave her alone, when they spot her out the town. Even when
she is having a private dinner with a friend or partner, people will come
up to her and beg for autographs. Camilla is a very patient person and
never turns people down. In her mind, that would make her a bad example
and she does not want people to think she is snobbish. But hell, man,
something is wrong here. If people think that of you, it must be their
own problem. Who needs enemies when fans are around..
The same goes for the nosy press, always looking for new gossip. In Denmark
and Norway the handball girls take the place of movie stars in the public
agenda and thus get a massive media exposure. Previously it was mostly
poor Anja, who got all the front pages and negative articles. But soon
also Camilla got in focus and the press went way too far when the happy
news about her relationship with/registered partnership to the Norwegian
national player (and national darling) Mia
Hundvin seeped out into public space shortly after their "marriage"
in Copenhagen.
Again and again the couple find themselves on the front pages of the
tabloids - for example if they want to have children one day, will they
exchange "secret" information about each others' national team strategies,
will their relationship influence on their play when being opponents on
their respective national team etc. etc.
Sometimes they themselves gave statements like the interview in the
Tjeck magazine or a TV talk show in order to give the vultures what
they want once and for all, desperately hoping they'd be left alone afterwards.
The end
After the Olympics in Sydney, where Camilla and her team mates returned
home with a surprising gold medal and a feeling of finally being a united
team, Camilla announced that she would no longer participate on the national
team. Even though she had threatened with leaving before, few had thought
she would really do this, when the national team was just fighting its
way back to the top after a down period with many new players and injured
top players.
The reasons given were the hysterical media attention around her and
Mia Hundvin and the fact that they would be the first married couple ever
to meet in an Olympic match. Months before all the papers could write
about was how they would react during the match and wether they would
pass on information on each others' teams, leaving the players totally
numb with nerves. Even Sports Illustrated was there to write a big article
about them. The mere thought of the coming European Championship and the
inevitable next match against Norway was more than Camilla could take
and so she quit. Also Mia made the same decision and told the Norwegian
national team that they had seen the last of her. In spite of several
warnings, the media did not know its limits and kept on writing idiotic
articles about the relationship instead of the handall game. It is not
fun to see one's picture on tabloid front pages every other day or have
a gossip magazine printing one's private adress. It is always hard to
be the first "celebrity" out of the closet, but should they really let
the tabloids rule their lives? When they married, they clearly said no,
the media should not decide what to do or when to do it. But their strength
weakened with time and the attention became unbearable. Will it encourage
others to come out when they see the girls forced out of their beloved
sport because of the pressure on their private lives? A topic for a good
discussion on "role models" versus the right to privacy.
Slagelse and building a new future
Camilla first worked in a Copenhagen travel agency called "Rejse
Galleriet" (started by the famous football player Brian Laudrup),
where she was skilled. Together with some collegues, she has started a
new travel agency called Travelsense.
She really loves selling sports travels and an international education
has also enabled her to work worldwide, the day she may feel to move to
eg. Norway.
Camilla and Mia changed clubs from FIF to Anja's team Slagelse
due to the sad fact that it was only going down-hill with FIF - no results
and no money to pay the wages of the players. Camilla had the choice of
stopping playing handball alltogether or find a club where she could put
her last efforts. As Anja's experiment with assembling her team and entering
the league became a success, the old offer from Anja became more appealing
than it had been. This is the place where both the economy and the sports
philosophy suit Camilla's demands, even though it means many hours of
driving back and forth. Alas, the relationship with Mia did not last -
and now Mia is having a child with a Norwegian sportsman and plays for
Nordstrand in Norway.
Now Camilla's task was to help Slagelse to develop into a leading winning
team, with the special mixture of experienced players from around the
world and very "green" young players. She was again having the
role of playmaker and captain of the team. Camilla said that she has begun
to have different priorities in her life apart from the sport. Now her
family and career are the most important things in her life. Unfortunately,
we will never see her back on the national team. On Slagelse, Camilla
has finally rediscovered her motivation and the joy of playing - she is
full of energy and plays her best.
She feels that this team is the best, she has ever been part of but also
the most difficult - all due to the many individualists on the team. And
the medals keep piling up from national and international tournaments.
Back to Copenhagen for the final seasons
We all thought that Slagelse should be her last team. But Camilla wanted
to have fun with her sport, and the pressure to win every match for Slagelse
was getting too much. In September 2004 Camilla decided to return to her
old club FIF in her hometown of Copenhagen. The club had in the meantime
been bought by FCK (football club) and stuggles on a 6.th place in the
national league. Her hometown team needed her to turn the tide and she
could again find joy in winning. In the beginning of 2005 she finally
felt, that it was time to move on in life and leave handball alltogether.
Her fantastic career was ended with a great farewell match with old friends
from the national team and the clubs she has played for. In the future,
her travel agency career is her first and only priority. We can only thank
her for many years of brilliant entertainment and for being such a good
role model for many young players around the world. She has won all there
is to win and can look back on a career, most players can only dream of.
As Anja Andersen said to her on that last day on court: She is the biggest
talent I have ever seen in Danish handball.
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