Tusem Essen suffered a derby defeat in the 2nd Handball Bundesliga just before Christmas. A few days before the game, the Tusem coach announced his resignation.

2324 spectators – 2600 fans the arena offers space – had come to the sports hall at the “Hallo” to watch the NRW duel between Tusem Essen and ASV Hamm-Westfalen in the 2nd Handball Bundesliga.

After the bitter 23:36 defeat in the first leg, Tusem, tenth in the table, was unable to make amends and also lost to ASV, third in the table, in Essen, 26:31 (14:17).

Around 200 traveling and, above all, loud ASV fans were over the moon and celebrated their team.

Tusem coach Michael Hegemann said after the game: “We didn’t manage to put our opponents’ attack under enough pressure with our defense to get our goalkeepers into the game. Unfortunately, that wasn’t very good of us. We conceded too many goals and missed a few chances. Then it’s obviously going to be difficult. We had some good moves in attack, but in the end Hamm deserved to win.”

A few days before the Hamm game, Tusem and coach Hegemann announced that they would end their collaboration on June 30, 2024 after around ten years.

“Michael Hegemann has played a major role in our sporting success in recent years in various roles. In the last two seasons, he has transformed our team as head coach and introduced young players to the Bundesliga. We are very grateful to him for his work, his tireless efforts and his strong identification with and for TUSEM over all these years. We look back on our time together with a good feeling, are parting on good terms and will end our cooperation in the summer. Until then, we will continue to work together as we have done so far,“ explains Niels Ellwanger, Managing Director of Tusem.

”Hege” ended his active playing career in 2017 and initially served as assistant coach to Jaron Siewert and Jamal Naji in the following years. In 2022, he took over the position of head coach and led the young team to ninth place in the table after a major personnel change in the previous season. Parallel to his coaching role, Hegemann is currently completing the A-license course of the DHB.

“I already look back on my time at TUSEM with great gratitude. The fact that I was able to be active in the club for ten years and that I was given the opportunity to start my coaching career immediately after my playing career is not something that can be taken for granted. I am very grateful to the people in charge, my players and the fans of Tusem for their trust in me and my work,” says Michael Hegemann.

There is just one more league game left on the calendar in 2023, when the team travels to Dormagen for the Christmas game next Tuesday (December 26). The tip-off against TSV Bayer is at 5:30 p.m. in the Bayer Sportcenter.