On March 17, the second championship of the Student higher handball League of Tatarstan started. In the first, the debut season, last fall, the team of the Volga region Academy, won "silver medals".
Recall that handball at the Academy took just this academic year, inviting to train a team of four-time champion of Russia, champion of Italy, two-time winner of the Italian Cup, Vice-champion of Switzerland in handball Alexei Popov. So, it is not surprising that, barely assembled from the students of the Academy team, in which only one player was engaged in handball before entering the University, immediately won the "silver" League.
In the first game of the new season of "academics" in the sports complex "KAI-Olymp" was fought with bronze prize-winners of the first championship team of the KGEU. In autumn, the match ended with a major victory of our team 20: 8. This time the victory with a modest advantage (17:15) as a result celebrated "power". Distance in two points rivals "academicians" held throughout the game...
In many ways it helped that they used "academics" included in the game: rushed to the battlefield, in fact, from "the whistle". But the students of the Academy in the debut of the meeting acted sluggishly, without initiative, almost did not attempt to attack…  
During the break, the guys got a well-deserved scolding from the coach and," waking up", rushed in pursuit, but at this moment there was not enough composure. Once in the position of acting out and succumbing to emotions, "academicians" forgot about the plan for the game, practiced techniques and combinations. To act in the end of attacks calmer interfere with the desire to score to equalise.
Well, the defeat at the start of the championship will serve "academicians" as a good lesson. The defeat in his debut season clearly played a cruel joke with them: underestimated the opposition. Things happen. Failure should be an incentive to work even harder in training.
Judging by the words of the players after the match that's how they reacted to the defeat.
- I'm sure we'll get our own.  This is a reason not to give up, and "wind up", to remember everything what they learned in training, worked on my strength. Not for nothing sweated! - said one of the players, Ramil Nigmatullin.
With this attitude, the result was not long in coming. Already in the second, home (the tour took place in the hall of the center of rowing sports) game on March 19, the Academy team defeated KNITA with a score of 19:9. The match turned out to be spectacular and dramatic: with falls, injuries, bruises, a lot of beautiful goals and the removal of the goalkeeper of "academicians" (the only one in the squad)! The fact that most of the time our team spent in attacks at the opponent's goal saved us from trouble.
The coach of "academicians" Alexey Popov after the match admitted that he did not doubt the victory of his team in this meeting. But because he was more interested in not the score, and the preparations for the match against arch-rivals, the team of Kazan Federal University is the defending champion of the League. The fight will take place on March 21 in SC "KAI-Olimp" (kick-off at 16.00).  
- The task today was to play those combinations and" ligaments " that they will have to apply on Thursday. I needed that everyone left and played to understand what we have a reserve, - Popov after a match told.
The game with CFU today is the most important in the season. As for the chances of winning "academicians" coach is optimistic: "By the second season all the teams came prepared much better than the first, adding tactically and technically. Naturally, this season will be very difficult. The CFU team has already proved that they are very serious rivals. But we will do everything to win. Our goal this season is gold!»
There is no doubt that academicians have champion ambitions. In the new season they come under the motto " Together for gold!", which became a hashtag in the social networks of the team.