Iuventa Michalovce Women

The final in Elche should have been the crowning moment of the 2023–24 EHF European Cup for Iuventa Michalovce: a 30–28 win over Benfica in the semi-final had put them within one tie of a European trophy, and they had already taken a 22–28 result home from the away leg. Two points were not enough. The home leg finished 20–22, and the aggregate went to Atticgo Balonmano Elche, 50–42. It remains the closest a Slovak women's handball club has come to that particular title.

Michal Lukačín took the club to its first Extraliga title in 2002/03, and Dušan Daniš kept the run going through the mid-2000s; since then Iuventa has collected the championship almost as a matter of routine, up to a fifteenth crown in 2024/25. Four Slovak Cups sit alongside it. The club entered senior competition in 1976 as TJ Odeva Michalovce, and only later, after several renamings, became MŠK Iuventa.

The rivalry with HC DAC Dunajská Streda still gives the league something to argue about, even when the destination of the title itself is rarely in doubt. Captain Patrícia Wollingerová has carried much of that weight on court in recent seasons, alongside Iryna Kompaniiets. Home games are played in front of 1,800 people at the Chemkostav Arena.

Under Peter Kostka, the club goes into the new season defending its latest league title and measuring itself again against continental opposition, still short by two points of the one trophy Elche took off them.