Heiner Brand is one of the most renowned and successful personalities in international handball. As coach of the German national handball team he led the team to win many titles, including the World Championship in January 2007. Heiner Brand was responsible for the most successful era German handball ever had and he is the only person who has won the world handball championship both as a player (in 1978) and as a coach (in 2007). Heiner Brand (*1952) played for VfL Gummersbach throughout his 25-year active career. Heiner Brand was also successful in the Germany men's national handball team, where he played a total of 131 games and scored 231 goals. In 1988 he started his career as a coach at VfL Gummersbach and from 1997 to 2011 he was the Germany men’s national handball team coach. Heiner Brand played an important role in shaping handball in Germany for an entire decade and in turning Germany again into one of the world’s best handball teams. After ending his career as a coach, “the Beckenbauer of handball” was manager at the German Handball Federation from 2011 to 2015. Since 2013 he is an extraordinary member of the Referees and Rules Commission of the International Handball Federation and since 2014 he is handball expert and commentator for Sky. For his outstanding sporting success Heiner Brand has received several awards: he was voted coach of the year seven times and received the Federal Cross of Merit in 2007. Heiner Brand is not only a successful sportsman, but also a sought-after speaker, presenting even complex issues in an entertaining and straightforward way. Among his topics are team management, teambuilding and team motivation.