Follow the Turkish team : destination China

Team Türkiye was selected to the 25th IHF Women's Junior World Championship 2026 in P.R. China (June-July 2026). We had the opportunity to chat with Can Sagbas, goalkeeper coach, on his unique experience.

What does preparation for an event of this scale look like?

Preparing for a macro-level competition like the IHF World Championship involves not only on-court tactical and physical workloads, but also live data discipline during match play. Rather than using the Steazzi application as a pre-match archive, I position it as a live tracking mechanism that I actively operate from the bench from the opening whistle. Amid the fast pace of the game, I input the opposition's current shooting tendencies, their preferred angles, and our goalkeepers' save data in real time. This allows us to ground our on-court communication and tactical adjustments with our goalkeepers strictly in

live, objective data.

Playing far from home in a different culture, how do you adapt (food, travels, languages... for example) ?

In tournaments held in distant geographies, factors such as time zone differences, dietary changes, and travel fatigue can directly impact the athletes' circadian rhythm (biological clock) and motor reaction times. While we manage this adaptation process through pre-planned nutrition and sleep protocols, on the court we establish a technology-driven common language. The real-time statistical data I collect on Steazzi right from the bench creates a universal language of 'handball analytics' that transcends all cultural or linguistic barriers. Regardless of where we are in the world, this instant data-driven language enables us to maintain our tactical discipline and goalkeeper-defense synchronization seamlessly.

You focus a lot on technical and cognitive development of your goalkeepers. What were your biggest learning experiences this past year ?

The most critical insight I gained this past year was observing firsthand, backed by data, that goalkeeping performance relies far more on 'visual perception, rapid decision-making, and cognitive awareness' than on raw reflexes alone. Because I use Steazzi live during the game, my biggest advantage is being able to provide instant, objective feedback to my goalkeepers during half-time or time-outs. When the first half ends, instead of giving abstract impressions in the locker room, I show my goalkeepers Steazzi's exact target zone distribution across the goal frame and the angular success rates of the opposing shooters from that specific half. This reduces the goalkeeper's cognitive load, speeds up visual processing, and shortens their positioning adjustments against shooters' tendencies by milliseconds in the second half.

What were your ambitions for this world championship?

Our main goal is to maintain our goalkeepers' save percentages at a high and sustainable standard throughout the tournament. By leveraging the live shooter tendencies and goalkeeping stats we log from the bench, we aim to make accurate tactical interventions at any moment in the game and elevate goalkeeper-defense cohesion to its peak. While representing Türkiye at the highest level on this elite international stage, we also want to prove the success of our live data-driven cognitive goalkeeper coaching methodology with concrete results at the World Championship level.

A big thank you to Can for this testimonial. It's always a pleasure for us to be able to get first hand feedback and reactions from the court! The Turkish team finished 25th in this tournament.