National U15 Champs attracts 100s of youngsters

MORE than 400 eager young handball stars of the future took part in the National Under-15 Championship heats at SportHouse in Barking last week.

The first round of the national competition saw a very high standard of handball being played.

The boys event was split into three groups, with the top three teams from each going forward to the next stage of the competition. From Group One, Carshalton Boys, Woolwich Polytechnic and The Bromfords School go through, while in Group Two All Saints topped the group, while Bexley Heath and Tiffin School were close behind. And Harris Boys, Aylesbury Grammar and Seven Kings from Redbridge will also go through.

Harris Girls and barking Abbey were the two teams to go through to the next stage in the girls competition, while The Bromfords School and Bexley Heath will join them after finishing first and second.

The event took place at SportHouse, which is where international teams will train during the Olympic Games this summer.

After the event, Harris Girls Team Manager, Marcus Kudliskis said: ''Both the U13s and U15s National events were just amazing and extremely well organised, providing students with the opportunity to play on a full-size Olympic court, with official referees, and having to abide by all the Olympic rules and regulations.

“They were also greeted by professional players and coaches who even took the time to show students a few new skills and tricks whilst they were warming up on court!''

And Crispin School’s PE department also enjoyed the day, saying: “All the staff were really helpful and friendly and the referees all took the time to answer our questions about the game and helped our pupils to understand handball better (this was our first time playing other schools at handball and we have only really been playing it since January).

“A lot of our players were from year 9 (14 year olds), yet they really benefitted from playing. We had a 5 1/2 hour coach trip back to Somerset and they couldn't stop talking about it all the way back!”

Top skills on show in U13 Champs

SOME top handball skills were on show at the National Under-13 Handball Competition in Barking on Saturday, where the new SportHouse facility played host to the regional heats.

More than 300 young people took part in the event, from schools and clubs from across London and the South of England. The top three teams from both the boys and girls competitions will go through to the second round of the competition in May, with the grand finals eventually being held in London in June.

Ark Academy from Wembley won all their games to finish as top girls team, while also going through to the second round are Harris Girls Academy and last year’s finalists Helenswood Girls Academy.

Harris Boys School from Southward won the boys Group 1 event, again with maximum points, and they will be joined in the second round by Woolwich Polytechnic and Ark Academy.

The Boys Group 2 event was won by Erith School, while All Saints Catholic School and Carshalton Boys School also go through.

Carshalton Boys Team Manager Keith Middleton said: 'This has been a fantastic tournament that really showed off the progress that handball has made in the UK in the last couple of years. Lots of high level competition and more importantly hundreds of boys and girls enjoying themselves.”

And Lynn Barker, the Event Co-ordinator at SportHouse, added: “Friday, 16 March, saw the first competition in SportHouse, the under 13 schools completion saw schools from all over London competing in the first round.

“The young people were excited to be playing in this massive centre where the world’s best will be training during the Olympics. For many of the young people it was their first ever competition and both they and their teachers thoroughly enjoyed themselves and it was absolutely brilliant to see.”

* Photos by Mathilde Friggieri