From physio to national team goalie

Filip Huťan played hockey from the age of four until a serious injury stopped him at 22. In Olympic trap shooting he then made it all the way to the World and European Championships. As a physiotherapist he patched up half of our team, until at 37 he came to his first lacrosse practice himself. A year later he was in goal for Slovakia at the European Box Lacrosse Championship.

After a serious injury you had to hang up your hockey skates at 22. How did you cope with that?

It was very hard. I had been training on the ice since I was four, and suddenly the thing I loved had to end. Problems with your spine and legs are pretty unpleasant on top of that.

Then I found another discipline, Olympic trap. After years of shooting, focus and training I shot my way onto the national team. I qualified for the World Championship and then the European Championship, where I achieved some very good results. But over the years the passion faded, I lost interest and had almost no fire left.

What was it like to step back onto a playing surface after all those years, at 37, and feel competitive adrenaline again?

Since almost the whole box lacrosse team was coming to me for treatment, I hesitated for a long time about coming to a first practice. I knew it would not be easy, but it was a challenge for me.

You originally patched us up as a physio. What was the moment you decided to swap the medic’s role for a jersey?

In the end Martin Horváth convinced me. I told myself trying costs nothing. My fitness was not what it was in my twenties, but I would give it a go.

You started on the floor as a defender but ended up in goal, where your build really stood out.

Defence was my position in hockey too. Everything that came at me had to be stopped, and that was my rule. One day I wanted to try the goalie role as well. My build is not exactly ideal for it, but I had the reflexes from sport shooting. I told myself: the ball is yellow just like a clay target, and it flies just as fast.

Putting on goalie gear was a struggle at first. And then realising that I am the last and most responsible link on the floor, because goals and the goalie’s performance decide the result.

The ball is yellow like a clay target and flies just as fast.

How did the new role suit you?

I take it very seriously, patiently and thoroughly.

From first practice to the European Championship in a single year. That sounds unbelievable.

It is unbelievable, but it takes enormous self-discipline, chasing the goal in front of you, and building the confidence and precision of how to set yourself in the net. I had been to a European Championship before, but it is different when you fight for a team and not just for yourself.

How did that rocket rise feel from the inside?

It is hard to realise that if you miss practice or get injured, the team has no way to train and polish its plays. The goalie is the last piece of the puzzle and the most responsible part of the floor. At times it was pressure and stress that I carried with me at every practice and every game, so that I gave 120 % and did not let the guys and the team down.

Many guys over thirty think their sporting train has already left.

That is true. I never thought I would experience something like this again. And yet I did.

How did your age and life experience help you when you stood in goal against Europe’s best?

My age helped me stay very calm and think ahead with every move, where the opponent might throw the ball.

What was it like to put on the national jersey at the European Championship after everything you had been through in sport?

Very hard. You are not there just for yourself, you fight for the team and for the whole of Slovakia. You have to realise that and do absolutely everything for it like a professional.

We give everyone a chance here, whether it is the national team or a lower league for less experienced players. How do you see that?

I really like that about the team. Every experienced player, like Bibi, Šofo, Pisár or Adis, always tries to guide you. Calmly and with a cool head they explain game situations so that you understand what they want and can actually do it.

How would you describe the atmosphere that anyone who wants to play will find here?

The atmosphere is great and it motivates you to keep moving forward and try something new in life. The players are fun and try to enjoy the game, that is what it is all about. It is a sport of toughness, but also of precision, thinking, peripheral vision and coordination. Everything comes into play.

You get a good workout for strength, coordination and endurance, and you prove to yourself that you want to belong to a team that sticks together, stays focused and at the same time feels like friends, almost family.

What would you say to guys your age who hesitate, sit at home and think they are too old for a new sporting start?

That they are not at all. When I watch my friend and teammate Janíček running around the floor at his age, I keep telling myself that I want to be fit and healthy too, for myself and for my family. You should definitely come. If you were a team player, it will speak to you.

It is never too late to start

Didn’t play as a kid? No problem. We lend you the gear and the first practices are free. Sign up for practice and see for yourself.