Bolte eager to forge his own path, taking the opportunity to play for professional Ukrainian handball team
How the Game of Handball Has Transformed the Life of Luke Bolte
Luke Bolte couldn’t say no to another chance to follow his dreams of playing handball professionally, even if it meant he would have to step out of his comfort zone and uproot his life by moving all the way across the world to Ukraine.
Until late 2019, the 21-year-old senior marketing major at The Ohio State University envisioned spending the rest of his post-graduation life living and working in Port Clinton, but those plans changed when he got reintroduced to the game of handball. The Bolte family does own a real estate company based on the shores of Lake Erie, but Luke has long been determined to make a name for himself. This opportunity will allow him to forge his own path.
His life was forever altered when he joined the Team Handball Club at OSU in September of 2019. By his own admission, he didn’t know the rules or how to play the sport at first, but he picked it up quickly and by good fortune his career in the sport really took off shortly after.
“I had no idea what handball really was until I was 19,” Bolte said. “Handball started as an opportunity for me to stay fit and in shape after high school. Then, it later transformed into a chance to explore the world, to see what’s out there.”
He said he played a version of it in middle school gym class, but it wasn’t really comparable to the one he is playing now.
The 6-foot-5, 240-pound talent from Tiffin, Ohio, plays the pivot position in handball, which he compares to playing in the post for basketball, the sport that he was devoted to in high school and for much of his life. He said the two sports are very similar, which helped ease the transition to playing handball full-time.
“I’m just a big, physical, corn-fed kid,” Bolte said. “Creating lanes for other people and finding gaps and hitting open people is what I do on the court. I need to improve on everything though. I need to be more mobile and see the lanes better.”
His first foray onto the professional handball scene happened when he joined the United States Junior National Team in January of 2020. He played in a tournament for them in Germany, which ended up being such a pivotal moment in spearheading his international career. He said getting the chance to train with some of the best coaches and players in the world gave him a much-needed headstart on what to expect and showed him what it takes to be a true professional.
Bolte actually had plans to move over to Germany to officially start his international playing career in May of 2020, but then the pandemic struck and that effectively put a damper on any potential plans to play overseas for the time being.
He participated in several matches with the Detroit Handball Club in the spring of 2021 as a way to stay in shape since he wasn’t allowed to practice at OSU during that time.
After a wait that seemingly felt like an eternity, Bolte received a text in September of 2021 about potentially joining a club in Belarus. That opportunity ended up falling through after he wasn’t able to get a Visa. He said the political climate in Belarus is not very favorable to foreigners, so he wasn’t too sad about not getting that chance to play there.
At that point, his career was in a state of limbo, but he remained hopeful that he would get another opportunity to play overseas.
Fast forward four months later, Bolte got a text on Dec. 19 of last year saying that a Ukrainian club called Handball Club Motor Zaporozhye was interested in his services. He knew immediately that this was the opportunity he needed. He couldn’t pass this up. His transfer agents are currently in the process of ironing out a few minor contract details. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, he is set to move to Ukraine and join the team after he graduates in the spring.
“Opportunities like this don’t come around often,” Bolte said. “I’m going over with a prayer and a dream.”
It will certainly take him some time to get used to the language barrier and life in general in the Ukraine. There will be a huge culture shock.
“I’m terrified, truthfully, of the idea of moving halfway across the world away from my family, away from everything I’ve ever known,” he said about his upcoming move to Ukraine. “I’m just a kid from small-town Ohio. I think the outcome of it will be good, so I think I can handle the fear of moving.”
Bolte is anticipating an extremely rough learning curve, but he won’t let fear stop him from taking risks because he knows that a lot is at stake. He has never been afraid to step outside of his comfort zone. He believes he has come too far to fail.
“I’m going to be thrown into the fire,” Bolte said. “My hard work ethic has gotten me to this point and it will take me where I want to go.”
The American-born talent noted that he has only been playing the sport competitively for the last two years. A significant portion of the athletes that he is going to be playing with and against overseas have been playing this sport for their whole life. You can imagine how that feels.
The international handball scene is quite similar to European soccer, they also have a Champions League, which features many of the most recognizable soccer counterparts, including FC Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain. The European Handball Federation is the governing handball body.
Bolte is excited to be joining a Champions League squad in HC Motor Zaporozhye.
He mentioned how different the style of the game is in Europe compared to in the states. The biggest difference being that players in America can largely get by just relying on their athleticism and frame.
In Europe, your skill needs to be technically refined to a high level if you want to have sustained success. He knows that he still has a lot of work cut out for him if he wants to have a long professional career, but he is off to a great start.
Bolte’s college coach, JD Orr, who also coaches for Team U.S.A., said that his sales pitch to many of his players involves mentioning that with handball being a relatively unpopular sport, there’s a great chance that they could make a living and even become an Olympian if they are good enough. That resonated with Bolte and he is making the dream a reality.
With his wide array of handball connections, Orr handles a lot of the behind the scenes international recruiting stuff for many of his players and partially helped facilitate the opportunity for Bolte to go play overseas for the Champions League club in Ukraine.
Los Angeles is slated to host the Summer Olympics in 2028 and with the U.S. being the host country, they will get an automatic bid for every sport.
Orr had a hand in helping advance Bolte’s playing career and he said he hopes that he will be on the Olympic team when that time comes.
“He is setting a great example for our team,” Orr said. “It’s not very common for guys like Luke to get this chance. He’s going to make us proud.”
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