After an IHF expert group, media and thousands of fans have cast their votes, the result is now final: Dagur Sigurdsson (42) and Thorir Hergeirsson (51), both from Iceland, are the Coaches of the Year 2015″, the IHF announced today on it`s website. Sigurdsson, national coach of German men`s team, got 59.1 percent of the votes, Thorir Hergeirsson, national coach of Norwegian women`s national team, got 48.8 percent of the votes.
„I am surprised, proud and thankful“, said Sigurdsson in a first reaction. The coach from Iceland added: „The award is a compliment for the whole coaching staff, for every helping hand around the national team and every player, who was part of our development and our success.“ In 2015 Sigurdsson reached with Germany the seventh place at the World Cup in Qatar and started the turn around for the handball-nation. In this year he was also coach of Füchse Berlin and won on club level the EHF-Cup with the team from the German capital.
In this years voting of the coach of the year in the women`s category, the voting was much closer and in the end: The fans were decisive for the victory of the coach of Norway`s women`s national team and Coach of the Year 2011, 2012, 2014 and now 2015. Dutch coach Henk Groener kept up and could win the same amount of votes as Hergeirsson in the IHF expert and media votings. However, 48.8% percent of the fans chose the Icelander and thus, made him Coach of the Year for the fourth time. Tomas Robert Ryde (3.), Evgeniy Trefilov (4.) and Dragan Adzic (5.) stood no chance.
IHF-Portraits of the World Coaches 2015
Dagur Sigurdsson
Date of birth: 3 April 1973
Nationality: Iceland
Coaching Career: Wakunaga Hiroshima, A1 Bregenz, Austria national team, Füchse Berlin, 2014-today Germany men’s national team
Achievements: 2015 EHF European Cup winners (Füchse Berlin), 2016 European Champion
Thorir Hergeirsson
Date of birth: 27 April 1964
Coaching Career: Frensborg/Ski, Elverum Håndball, Gjerpen Håndball, Nærbø IL, 2009-today Norway women’s national team
Achievements: 2010 European Champion, 2012 Olympic Champion, 2012 Vice-European Champion, 2014 European Champion, 2011 and 2015 World Champion
