In the show “In Vivo Veritas” on Megafon TV, Tone Barič, the director of Eurofest, was a guest. This year, Eurofest celebrates its 30th edition. Barič shared his experiences, final preparations, and future perspectives for the tournament. Interview is in Slovenian language.
The conversation was recorded in Slovenian.
Megafon TV, along with Radio Capris, will play a significant role in this event, providing essential coverage and connection with viewers and listeners. The tournament will take place from July 4th to 9th, featuring over 240 teams from 15 countries worldwide.
Tone Barič shared his insights in the print edition of Megafon.
Read the full issue HERE (slovenian)
Tone Barič could be described as someone who dedicated his life to handball from an early age and continues to do so today. Born in Sevnica, he played for the local youth teams, joining the senior team soon after elementary school. At fifteen, he became a member of a team in the inter-republic Yugoslav league and also started coaching handball.
His talent was noticed by the elite Slovenian handball club Kolinska Slovan, where he wanted to transfer when he went to study in Ljubljana. This was the peak of his ambitions, but they were soon shattered. “Every young athlete dreams of joining such an elite company, which the club was at the time, being among the top clubs in Yugoslavia. Unfortunately, my home club in Sevnica didn’t let me go for another year because we had a weak team. This decision hurt me as a young, ambitious boy so much that I gave up on these dreams,” said Tone.
In 1980, he decided to move to the coast, where he got a job as a physical education teacher in Izola and Koper. He had felt the desire to teach from a very early age, wanting to combine sports education with history, but since such a program didn’t exist, he decided to study sports at the then High School of Physical Culture in Ljubljana. Upon arriving at the coast, he was a coach for younger teams and also played. The club in Izola had both men’s and women’s teams, with only an outdoor court, around which many friendships and loves were formed. This is how his love story with his current wife Orjana began. Together they have two daughters, Anja and Polona, who also followed the handball path. Anja was in the Slovenian youth national team, and Polona was a member of the Krim Handball Club and the Slovenian women’s national team.
With his move to the coast, the dreams of Eurofest were also born. Tone Barič is the organizer of this very popular international handball tournament. The inspiration for organizing such an event came from visiting tournaments abroad, such as the one in Teramo, Italy, which featured 500 teams from around the world. “It was like a small world. Everywhere you looked, there were young handball players of all ages, colors, and jersey designs. In the evenings, they all gathered in the city center, communicating in broken Italian and English, forming special bonds. When I saw the enthusiasm of the young players who dreamed about the tournament all year long, I decided to try to create something similar on the coast,” explained Barič.
In 1993, he organized the first Eurofest in Izola, which grew more than expected, forcing him to quit his job and fully dedicate himself to sports organization. The early years of the festival were tough. During the second edition, centered in the Piran municipality, they wanted to parade the teams from the bus station to Tartini Square for a reception. But an hour before the event, the stage and sound system were not yet in place, and they found out they didn’t have the necessary permits.
His favorite anecdote from Eurofest is when a team of Yugoslav national stars visited. Instead of using dressing rooms, they changed in their black BMWs and Mercedes cars by the central venue in Lonka. “We never had such luxurious dressing rooms,” they said. When they performed tricks on the field, it looked like a magician’s show. “The next evening, Lonka was full. They were real stars,” Barič recounted enthusiastically. After a change in municipal authority in Izola, the festival moved to Koper, where they received more support. Before the change, they received a lot of encouragement from Izola, but only “crumbs” after. Tone’s company faced significant debts and was almost forced to close. “We were lucky because the Koper municipality recognized and valued our event, so we have been organizing it in Koper since 2015. Since then, it has become one of the most popular festivals in the world. This year we have 245 teams registered,” he said.
His activities have not ended. He was also the first to introduce wheelchair handball. With Slovenian handball player Maja Šon Užmah, they formed a team of wheelchair basketball players. “In the first year, we were invited to an unofficial European championship in Zagreb, where we won. Two years later, we won bronze at the World Championship in Cairo, Egypt.”
Tone’s work is connected with youth, whether as an organizer, coach, or teacher. He adheres to his life’s motto: “If you do something, it must be 120% and with all your heart.”
