Julen Aguinagalde Akizu (born 8 December 1982 in

Irun Irun (, ) is a town of the Bidasoaldea region in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. History It lies on the foundations of the ancient Oiasso, cited as a Roman- Vasconic town. During the Spanish Civil War, ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

) is a

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

Spanish 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 ...

er who played as a pivot for the Spanish national team.

Career

Aguinagalde started playing handball in his hometown club

Bidasoa Irún CD Bidasoa Irun is a team of handball based in Irún, Spain. It plays in Liga ASOBAL. History The Basque club was founded in 1962. Five years after its foundation, CD Bidasoa managed to get promoted to the second division and after the 1969/1 ...

. In 1999, he debuted for the senior team in the top division,

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 ...

. In 2006, he joined Spanish top club

Ademar León Ademar is a masculine Germanic name, ultimately derived from ''Audamar'', as is the German form Otmar. It was in use in medieval France, Latinized as ''Adamarus'' or ''Ademarus'', and in modern times has been popular in French, Spanish and Portug ...

. Here, he reached the final of

EHF European League The EHF European League is an annual men's handball club competition organised by the European Handball Federation (EHF) since 1981. It is the second-tier competition of European club handball, ranking only below the EHF Champions League. Previo ...

in 2007, where they lost to German team

HSV Hamburg Handball Sport Verein Hamburg is a professional handball club from Germany, located in Hamburg. Currently, Handball Hamburg competes in the Handball-Bundesliga. The full name in German is ''Handball Sport Verein Hamburg e.V.'' but the club has t ...

. In 2008, he won the

Copa ASOBAL The Copa ASOBAL is an annual handball cup competition for Liga ASOBAL teams. It was first played for in 1990 and is contested by the top four teams at the end of the first half of the Liga ASOBAL Liga Asobal is the premier professional handball ...

. In 2009, he joined league rivals

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 ...

, where he won the Spanish championship in 2010, and the

Copa del Rey de Balonmano The Copa del Rey de Balonmano ( English: '' King's Cup of Handball'') is an annual cup competition for Spanish handball teams. Organized by the Liga ASOBAL. It was originally known as the ''Copa del Generalísimo'' and was renamed ''Copa de SM El ...

in 2011 and 2012. In 2013, he joined Polish team

KS Kielce KS Iskra Kielce SA, officially known for sponsorship reasons as Industria Kielce, and previously named Vive Kielce between 2002 and 2022, is a professional men's handball club based in Kielce in southeastern Poland. The club plays in the Polish ...

. Here, he won the Polish championship every year between 2014 and 2020, and the Polish Cup every year between 2019 and 2020. In 2016, he 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 ...

. In 2020, he joined his childhood club

once again. He played for the club for 2 years before retiring in 2022, and joining Bidasoa Irún as a Sporting Director.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aguinagalde, Julen 1982 births Living people Sportspeople from Irun Handball players from Gipuzkoa Spanish male handball players Liga ASOBAL players CB Ademar León players BM Ciudad Real players Olympic handball players for Spain Handball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Expatriate handball players in Poland Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Poland Vive Kielce players Handball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Spain Olympic medalists in handball Mediterranean Games medalists in handball Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Spain Handball players at the 2005 Mediterranean Games Spanish expatriate handball players CD Bidasoa Irun players 21st-century Spanish sportsmen