Aleš Pajovič (born 6 January 1979) is a Slovenian retired

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 ...

player and current coach of the Austrian national team.

Playing career

Pajovič started playing handball at his hometown club

RK Celje Rokometni klub Celje () or simply RK Celje, currently named Celje Pivovarna Laško () due to sponsorship reasons, is a professional handball club from Celje, Slovenia. They were the winners of the Champions League in the 2003–04 season, beco ...

. He played his first senior game in 1997. With Celje he won the domestic league every year from 1998 to 2003, as well as the Slovenian cup from 1998 to 2001. In 2003, he joined Spanish side

BM Ciudad Real Balonmano Ciudad Real was a Spanish handball team based in Ciudad Real, Castilla La Mancha. BM Ciudad Real played in Liga ASOBAL. History In July 1983 is founded in the city of Ciudad Real a handball club named Asociación Deportiva Cultural ...

. During that first season with Real, he won the 2003-04

Liga ASOBAL Liga Asobal is the premier professional handball league in Spain. It was founded in 1958 with the name of División de Honor, changing its name to the current name in 1990. The Liga ASOBAL, which is played under EHF rules, currently consists of ...

and Copa ASOBAL In 2004-05, he won the Spanish cup for the second time, and for the third time in 2005-06. That season, he also won the

EHF Champions League The EHF Champions League is the most important club handball competition for men's teams in Europe and involves the leading teams from the top European nations. The competition is organised every year by EHF. The official name for the men's com ...

for the first time. In the 2006-07 season, Ciudad Real had issues with registration of players (it had more foreign players than league rules allowed, and Pajovič was forced out to sit out the whole season. He stayed with the club hoped either Arpad Šterbik or Siarhei Rutenka would obtain Spanish citizenship. In October 2007, he joined German champions

THW Kiel THW Kiel is a professional handball club from Kiel, Germany. Currently, they compete in the Handball-Bundesliga and are the record champion with 23 titles. 2007 and 2012 were the most successful years in the club's history, as THW completed t ...

on loan until the end of the year. He then returned to Real where he won the treble in season 2007-08 (Spanish league, Spanish cup, and EHF Champions League), and a double in season 2008-09 (Spanish league and EHF Champions League). In 2009, he returned to

. In 2011, he joined Austrian side HC Shoppingcity Seiersberg on loan to help them get promoted to the top Austrian League. After that short stint, he joined German side SC Magdeburg. Halfway through the 2012-13 season, he joined league rivals TuS N-Lübbecke. In 2015, he joined Austrian HSG Graz, where he became a

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

during the 2017-18 season. He retired after the 2018-19 season and became a coach at the club.

National team

Aleš Pajovič played 181 games for

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

. At the 2004 European Championship, he was deemed one of the crucial players who helped Slovenia secure the silver medal. He competed at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

and the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Coaching career

In March 2019, he became the head coach of the Austrian national team and under his command the team played at four

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

(in 2020, 2022, 2024, and 2026), as well as three

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

(in 2019, 2021, and 2025).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pajovic, Ales 1979 births Living people Handball players from Celje Slovenian male handball players Slovenian expatriate handball players in Germany Olympic handball players for Slovenia Handball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Handball coaches of international teams Handball-Bundesliga players BM Ciudad Real players Liga ASOBAL players Slovenian handball coaches Expatriate handball coaches Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in Austria Expatriate handball players in Austria Slovenian expatriate handball players in Spain THW Kiel players SC Magdeburg players TuS Nettelstedt-Lübbecke players