Author: Emma Horrell

 

 

Handball. A word that makes most people think of a foul in football. Until recently, few people in the UK had seen or played a game of handball. The Olympics has drastically changed this. As the host nation, Great Britain entered handball teams in the Olympics for the first time this year. So what is handball? The sport was developed in the 19th century in Germany and introduced to the Olympics in 1936.

 

Drawing together some elements of netball and basketball; handball is a 7- a- side game played on an indoor court similar to that of indoor football (futsal). The Olympics have led to a dramatic rise in interest in handball across Britain. The fast paced, high- scoring nature of the game combined with the acrobatic dives players use to shoot, attracted the attention of many spectators.

 

Since then, there has been a huge rise in the number of people wanting to play handball. We are now setting up the first ever handball club here at the University of Leeds. A ‘give it a go’ session in September gave people the chance to try handball. Since then a group of handball enthusiasts, from experienced players to complete beginners, have been working hard to organise training sessions and set up a club. With the interest we have had, we hope to become an official sports club very soon.

 

In early November, the men’s squad played their first ever match. A friendly against none other than Leeds Met! Unfortunately with only a few hours training under their belts, they were no match for a much more experienced team, losing 34-6. The players learned a lot, and now with a lot more training, things are looking up. There is a positive feeling among the group as we prepare for another friendly, this time versus University of Huddersfield on Friday November 30. Huddersfield are a new club with mostly beginners just like ourselves so it promises to be a close and exciting match. Looking ahead to next semester, we have a number of plans.

 

We’re looking to set up a ‘give it a go’ session and ‘just play’ sessions to raise the profile of the club and encourage more people to play handball. We have registered a men’s team for the national university championships in February and we are hoping to have enough ladies to play a friendly match soon. Beyond that, we are hoping handball can be included in the Christy Cup Varsity against the Universities of Liverpool and Manchester for the first time ever.

 

In the long term, we hope to secure some funding for kit and training resources and to enter teams into the northern development league next season. So if this has got you interested in handball, check out our facebook group: LUU Handball, follow us on twitter @LeedsUHandball or contact e.l.horrell@gmail.com for more information on training.