DOZENS of youngsters from across London took part in the London Inter-Borough Handball Tournament staged at Newham Leisure Centre recently.
The event was for year seven and eight pupils, and after some thrilling matches was won by Westminster City School and Barking Abbey School in the boys and girls competitions respectively.
With six boys teams and five girls team, for many it was their first taste of handball - but most left hooked on handball and wanting to play the game more!
Teams from Barking and Dagenham, Newham, Haringey, Westminster and Greenwich attended, and London Handball Development Officer Ari Bekker said: “To involve more and more teams and schools in a competition like this and to see their fantastic play is great.
“You could see from the excitement on their faces just how much they enjoyed the games. It’s great to be able to get young people together from different boroughs and play in a handball competition.”
In the boys event, after some close group matches, it was Westminster City and Thamesmead who reached the finals, with Woodside High and Newham Flames just missing out by one goal in the semi finals.
Both teams in the final were playing for the first time, but after a great match it was Westminster City School who won.
And in the girls competition, runners-up St Angela’s School were beaten by Barking Abbey, who didn’t lose a match all day.
More handball events will be staged in the London area shortly. Handball coaching sessions take place at Newham Multi Sports Club Hub every Tuesday evening from 3-6.30pm.
For more information contact Ari Bekker, London Handball Development Officer, on 07738 385515 or e-mail her at aranka.bekker@newham.gov.uk
Showing posts with label newham. Show all posts
Showing posts with label newham. Show all posts
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Brazilian Handball Teams Come to London
SEVERAL Brazilian handball teams visited London last week as they prepared for the Partille Cup in Sweden, with some fun and exciting matches taking place against local sides in London.
Sao Paulo’s Under-16 boys and girls (EC Pinheiros), along with their Under-14 boys and girls and under-12s were joined by another girls team from Santo Americano School for the visit to London, which included a trip to the Olympic viewing gallery in Stratford to see the progress of the site for the 2012 Olympic Games.
The Under-16 boys team took on their counterparts from the Newham Flames Handball Club, while the Under-16 girls team took on a mixed team made up of players from Olympia, Great Dane and Ruislip Eagles.
London Handball Development Officer Ari Bekker said: “This has been a fantastic opportunity for the players here in London to play against some great players from another Continent. It’s not every day chances like this come along!
“They were really friendly, and the matches were very exciting for both teams and played in a great friendly spirit, and we’ve been invited back to Brazil at some point in the future.”
And Newham Flames captain, Abdul Kadir, added: “It was great to had the opportunity to play against a Brazilian team. We haven't had much match experience, so it has really highlighted skills we feel we need to work on. We hope to continue improving. We enjoyed the whole experience.”
Sao Paulo’s Under-16 boys and girls (EC Pinheiros), along with their Under-14 boys and girls and under-12s were joined by another girls team from Santo Americano School for the visit to London, which included a trip to the Olympic viewing gallery in Stratford to see the progress of the site for the 2012 Olympic Games.
The Under-16 boys team took on their counterparts from the Newham Flames Handball Club, while the Under-16 girls team took on a mixed team made up of players from Olympia, Great Dane and Ruislip Eagles.
London Handball Development Officer Ari Bekker said: “This has been a fantastic opportunity for the players here in London to play against some great players from another Continent. It’s not every day chances like this come along!
“They were really friendly, and the matches were very exciting for both teams and played in a great friendly spirit, and we’ve been invited back to Brazil at some point in the future.”
And Newham Flames captain, Abdul Kadir, added: “It was great to had the opportunity to play against a Brazilian team. We haven't had much match experience, so it has really highlighted skills we feel we need to work on. We hope to continue improving. We enjoyed the whole experience.”
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Newham Flames Light The Way
THE growth of handball in the London region was demonstrated at the recent under-16 Inter-Borough Competition - and it was Newham Flames who dominated the event.
The event, organised with support from Newham Borough in partnership with Leyton Orient Community Sports Partnership (LOCSP) as well as England Handball, saw several good games of handball played which showed the rapid growth of the sport in the capital.
Held at Newham Leisure Centre, the event was also supported by Olympic gold medallist Tessa Sanderson, who is a big fan of handball.
Newham put home advantage to devastating use their first team winning the event and their second team finishing as runners-up.
Waltham Forest finished were third, while other teams who took part included Hackney, Barking and Dagenham.
Ari Bekker London Handball Development Officer, said: “It was great to see so many players from the same age group in friendly but competitive games.
“Handball has shown great development in London and I hope we can continue this with help from the Newham Activity Team. The organisation was fantastic - a special thank you for Abul Hussain who managed to put everything together.”
And Thomas Laquan, 17, who has played for Newham since 2007, added: “I started to play handball at school. A coach came to our school and showed us and told us about handball. I haven’t heard about it before.”
Most of the players with Newham Flames were picked during a talent indication programme set up by Newham Council and LOCSP. Newham players have competed in international tournaments across Europe, and have travelled to Gothenburg, Manchester and Berlin to compete against Europe’s best youth handball teams.
Olympic Gold medallist Tessa Sanderson, who is helping the Newham Sports Academy to provide everybody with elite coaching, mentors, training and sport equipment, said afterwards: “Handball is about speed, agility, and communication. You don’t really need contact. It’s a sport that everyone can enjoy and good for everybody.
“I can see definitely there’s a future for handball in the UK. The more you promoted the more people get involved in it and the better it gets.”
And Chairman of England Handball, Mike Briers said: “We can see there is a lot of natural talent here which just needs coaching. It’s always fantastic to see young people playing sport together. And they progressed a lot during the late years.”
Local Sports Legacy Advisor, Alan Skewis added: “It’s good to see these children playing again and again and see how they developed over the last 3-4 years. Even those who have only come once are already skilled.
Skewis outlined plans for a handball league: “We have to make sure before the Olympic Games that the Olympic facilities will be used. The idea that all people from these boroughs can come together in the Handball Arena strengthens our plan to establish a strong Handball League later.”
The event, organised with support from Newham Borough in partnership with Leyton Orient Community Sports Partnership (LOCSP) as well as England Handball, saw several good games of handball played which showed the rapid growth of the sport in the capital.
Held at Newham Leisure Centre, the event was also supported by Olympic gold medallist Tessa Sanderson, who is a big fan of handball.
Newham put home advantage to devastating use their first team winning the event and their second team finishing as runners-up.
Waltham Forest finished were third, while other teams who took part included Hackney, Barking and Dagenham.
Ari Bekker London Handball Development Officer, said: “It was great to see so many players from the same age group in friendly but competitive games.
“Handball has shown great development in London and I hope we can continue this with help from the Newham Activity Team. The organisation was fantastic - a special thank you for Abul Hussain who managed to put everything together.”
And Thomas Laquan, 17, who has played for Newham since 2007, added: “I started to play handball at school. A coach came to our school and showed us and told us about handball. I haven’t heard about it before.”
Most of the players with Newham Flames were picked during a talent indication programme set up by Newham Council and LOCSP. Newham players have competed in international tournaments across Europe, and have travelled to Gothenburg, Manchester and Berlin to compete against Europe’s best youth handball teams.
Olympic Gold medallist Tessa Sanderson, who is helping the Newham Sports Academy to provide everybody with elite coaching, mentors, training and sport equipment, said afterwards: “Handball is about speed, agility, and communication. You don’t really need contact. It’s a sport that everyone can enjoy and good for everybody.
“I can see definitely there’s a future for handball in the UK. The more you promoted the more people get involved in it and the better it gets.”
And Chairman of England Handball, Mike Briers said: “We can see there is a lot of natural talent here which just needs coaching. It’s always fantastic to see young people playing sport together. And they progressed a lot during the late years.”
Local Sports Legacy Advisor, Alan Skewis added: “It’s good to see these children playing again and again and see how they developed over the last 3-4 years. Even those who have only come once are already skilled.
Skewis outlined plans for a handball league: “We have to make sure before the Olympic Games that the Olympic facilities will be used. The idea that all people from these boroughs can come together in the Handball Arena strengthens our plan to establish a strong Handball League later.”
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