Jorn Smits (born 3 September 1992) is a Dutch handball player for

TTH Holstebro TTH Holstebro is a men's handball club from Holstebro, Denmark. The team is playing in the Danish Primo Tours Ligaen and play their home matches in Gråkjær Arena. History The club was founded in May 2000, when Holstebro Håndbold 90 an ...

and the

Dutch national team Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

Career

Initially, Smits first practiced football at the age of 6, but his cousin asked him to participate in handball training during the winter break. He then started to play handball at V&L in

Geleen Geleen (; li, Gelaen ) is a city in the southern part of the province of Limburg in the Netherlands. With 31,670 inhabitants in 2020, it is part of the municipality of Sittard-Geleen. Geleen is situated along the river Geleenbeek, a right tributa ...

. At the age of 15, Smits made his debut in the first team of V&L in the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is ...

. Some time later, he also played in the first team of Limburg Lions led by

Aleksandr Rymanov Aleksandr Anatolevich Rymanov (russian: Александр Анатольевич Рыманов, born August 25, 1959) is a former Soviet/ Russian handball player who competed in the 1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics ( ...

. In 2011, he went to Skanderborg Håndbold in Denmark. Smits made his debut for the national team on 5 June 2012 against

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

.Jorn Smits
, HandbalNL, geraadpleegd op 29 June 2021 In 2012, Smits returned to the Netherlands to play for

Volendam Volendam () is a fishing town in the municipality of Edam-Volendam, province of North Holland, Netherlands. As of 1 January 2021, it has a population of 22,715. It is twinned with Coventry, England. History Originally, Volendam was the location ...

. He grew to captain the team and became a fixture in the national team. During the time that Smits played at Volendam, the club won the national championship once, the national cup twice and the Dutch Supercup once. In 2016 Smits moved to Danish side Randers HK and two years later he went to Germany to play for

TV Emsdetten TV Emsdetten is a handball club from Emsdetten, Germany. Currently, they compete in the 3. Liga. Accomplishments *2. Handball-Bundesliga: 1 **: 2013 Team Current squad :''Squad for the 2022–23 season'' ;Goalkeepers * 16 Ante Vukas * 21 ...

. In Germany, Smits had little playing time in Germany and in February 2020 he rejoined Volendam. In January 2021, Smits returned to Denmark to play for

with his brother.

Personal life

His parents, and Cecile Leenen, played handball at high level. His brother Kay Smits and sister Inger Smits also play handball at a high level.De genen van handbalfamilie Smits: 'Later beseffen we hoe bijzonder dit is'
, NOS, 19 januari 2021

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smits, Jorn 1992 births Living people People from Geleen Dutch male handball players Sportspeople from Limburg (Netherlands) Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate handball players TTH Holstebro players