Roy Edmans, 22, is still a young man trying to forge a career doing something that he loves. In his case, it is training to become a PE teacher for children aged 11-18 in a school. Outside of this, his passion lies in playing handball for Newham Flames, a team for which he has played for six years.
“I’ve been playing handball for about 10 years now. I got into it through school. Two coaches came into school and did a taster session in our PE lesson, me and my friends thoroughly enjoyed it, and I started playing from there.”
International Experience
From there, his handball career took off. He joined Newham Flames and it wasn’t long before he played in international tournaments for the club.
“We went to Sweden and Germany to play in the Partilla Cup and the Berlin Cup for Newham when we first started and that’s how long Newham Flames has been running for.”
Since joining Newham, Edmans has developed his game, and now captains his club. He reflects that there is more than one way to be an influential skipper.
“I’d say I’m a perfectionist I want myself and the team to get everything right, but I’m also a motivator, when the teams down. I see it as my job to pick the team back up and get them going again.”
Goal Machine
Many know Edmans for his potency in front of goal, and he has been Newham Flames’ top scorer for the last four seasons now, but he says it hasn’t always been that way.
“I couldn’t score to save my life when I was younger! I worked hard on understanding and improving my game though and over the last few seasons the goals have started to come. I’ve been top scorer for the last four seasons and I’d now say that is one of the strongest aspects of my game.”
Injury Woes
Edmans’ handball career hasn’t all been plain sailing though. Just two years ago he suffered a serious injury to his elbow, something he believes greatly hindered his game for a long time.
“I played with the injury for about four or five months. I was taking a lot of painkillers just to get me through games. Every knock that I took was agony and I couldn’t straighten my arm. It affected my ability to reach for high balls and my ability to actually catch the ball cleanly. I’m just glad that my arm is healed, now it feels as strong as ever.”
Speaking about his future in the game, Edmans believes the sky is the limit and still believes he is good enough to represent his country at international level.
Future Hopes
“I want to compete at international level, it would be my dream to represent my country at any level, other than that I just want to enjoy playing the sport that I love.”
Clearly he is very focused on his sport, and on current form it feels like there is no stopping the Newham Flames captain.With him still being young, it will certainly be an interesting journey to follow.
