Jan Pytlick (born 5 June 1967) is a Danish

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

coach, and trains

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

national team. He was head coach for the Danish women's national handball team from 1998 to 2006, and again from 2007 to 2014. Pytlick has led the women's national team to victory in two Summer Olympics, as they became Olympic Champions in 2000, and again in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

. After the team's flop at the 2014 European Women's Handball Championship, DHF and Pytlick agreed to end cooperation. He is educated as a

bricklayer A bricklayer, which is related to but different from a mason, is a craftsperson and tradesperson who lays bricks to construct brickwork. The terms also refer to personnel who use blocks to construct blockwork walls and other forms of maso ...

. He played handball himself until he was forced to stop by injuries at the age of 19. This lead him to pursue a training career instead. He was the coach of the Danish teams Team Esbjerg and GOG Handball, both in Women's handball and men's handball, before DHF suggested that he applied to become the Danish national coach. He rejected the idea initially, but decided to apply anyway. His three children Simon Pytlick, Camilla Pytlick and Josephine Pytlick are all professional handball players, and so was his wife, Berit Bogetoft. His nephew Andreas Haagen Pytlick is also a professional handballer.

The Danish Women's national team

He met success immediately in the position, when he won silver medals at the

1998 European Women's Handball Championship The 1998 EHF European Women's Handball Championship was the third edition of the European Women's Championship. It was held in the Netherlands from 11 to 20 December. It was won by Norway after beating Denmark 24–16 in the final match. This was ...

despite the fact, that recently a long list of established players had decided to retire. He won back-to-back Olympic gold medals as well as gold at the

2002 European Women's Handball Championship The 2002 EHF European Women's Handball Championship was held in Denmark from 6–15 December. It was won by Denmark women's national handball team, Denmark after beating Norway women's national handball team, Norway 25–22 in the final match. Th ...

and silver at the 2004 European Women's Handball Championship. In 2005 he rejoined his former club GOG Håndbold. He did however not have much success, as the club finished the season in the middle of the table. In February 2007 he was once again hired as the

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

when Brian Lyngholm decided to withdraw. It was initially only ment to be a temporary return, but in March 2007 he decided to quit his GOG position to focus 100% on the national team. He signed a five-year agreement up to and including the

2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. In the end he was the Danish national coach until 2014.

After the Danish National Team

He returned to club Handball to coach Odense Håndbold, but was fired in 2019. He then joined

SønderjyskE Håndbold SønderjyskE is a Denmark, Danish sport corporation. They have a Football (soccer), football team (SønderjyskE Fodbold, based in Haderslev), two team handball, handball teams (SønderjyskE Håndbold, one male based in Sønderborg, one female bas ...

, where he was given a three-year deal, but was fired in 2019 due to disappointing results. He had initially planned to retire after the SønderjyskE position, but was convinced to join the Saudi Arabia men's national handball team up and until the 2023 World Cup.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pytlick, Jan 1967 births Living people Danish handball coaches Olympic coaches People from Svendborg Municipality Sportspeople from the Region of Southern Denmark Handball coaches of international teams