English League Dates Set

THE English National League season begins on September 26, it has been announced.

The first matches in both the Women’s League and Division One of the Men’s League will start on that date - with university clubs being exempt from playing.

After champions Great Dane, Olympia and Manchester play their European Challenge Cup matches on October 1-3, the league resumes on October 10 with a second round of Men’s Division One games, while the Women’s Development League also begins then.

For more details of the English League calendar, please go to http://www.englandhandball.com/

Schools Prepare to Embrace Handball

HUNDREDS of schools and colleges across the country are preparing to welcome handball onto their curriculum as part of the Change4Life programme.

The scheme - set up to help our kids to get fit and stay fit - will see handball developed in around 420 secondary schools and colleges, and it is hoped many of these will then become fully established handball clubs for the future.

As part of the roll-out of the scheme, England Handball is looking to recruit eight new staff to ensure the sport is given the best possible start at this crucial phase of the plan.

“Without doubt, this is the most exciting development opportunity which the EHA has ever had,” said England Handball’s Director of Development Louaz Hofton.

“The Change4Life programme will involve developing handball in 420 secondary schools and colleges across the country. Although this is only funded for one year, those student clubs will be supported by the Change4Life staff to become established recreational handball clubs from September 2011 onwards.

England Handball are recruiting six part time Activators and two part time Managers to be strategically placed around the country to ensure the spread of the game is as effective as possible.

With the North West and London currently hotspots for handball in England, it is hoped that other regions will also embrace the sport and, through schemes such as Change4Life, help make the sport widely known.

Scottish Referees Course

IF you are a budding handball referee and live in Scotland, then there is a course for you!

The Scottish Handball Association is staging a training course on September 18-19, at a venue to be confirmed.

Running from 9am-5pm each day, the course will cost £35 per person, and is open to people aged 16 or over on the day of the course.

For more details, please contact fred_wallaceuk@yahoo.com

England Players Wanted for Home Nations Clash

PLAYERS eligible to play for England are invited to attend a training camp in preparation for the Home Nations Four Team Tournament in Scotland in October.

The event will be held on a date to be announced, and clubs are being asked to nominate players they feel are good enough to make the grade.

Players must be registered and training with a competitive club and playing regularly at a minimum of EHA National League First Division level, and you should be able to commit to all the dates in the programme.

Although there is some subsidy of the programme, some accommodation costs may need to be paid by the player.

For more information, please go to http://www.englandhandball.com/

Head for Nottingham for Pre-Season Fun!

DON’T forget! The annual pre-season handball tournament at Nottingham will take place on Sunday, September 5.

The popular event is for both men and women and is being staged at Nottingham University’s Sutton Bonington Campus from 12noon until around 6pm. Teams from across the country are expected to attend.

The event also looks set to be run alongside an update event for referees, delegates and table officials.

For more information, please contact organiser Colin Wills on colin.wills@nottingham.ac.uk.

London Schools Event Proves a Big Hit!

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

Improving England Overcome Ireland

THE England youth handball teams beat Ireland in both the boys and girls competition in a friendly tournament staged at Birchwood, near Warrington, on Saturday.

Just a matter of months since Ireland beat them in a club tournament, England showed just how much they have improved by winning the event, which was their first international matches on home soil and were hosted by the Warrington Wolves Handball Foundation at Birchwood Leisure Centre.

England fielded both their A and B teams in both the boys and girls events, and after England Girls B had lost out 10-4 to Ireland, England A battled to a 18-16 victory over England B.

And in the final match, England A won again, beating Ireland 15-10 with Ellie Whitehead scoring six goals, while Laura Black and Jess Milligan both added three. But it had been level at 7-7 at half time until a second-half push from the England girls saw them clinch victory.

In the boys event, Ireland were made to toil by England B before narrowly winning 20-19, but England A proved too strong for their B side, winning 26-11.

In the day’s final event, England A took on Ireland and after leading 12-8 at half time, they built on their lead and ran out 26-17 winners with James Higgins scoring nine, while Paul Roden added four. For Ireland, Anderson scored five and Harding four, but it was not enough to stop a much-improved England side.

A healthy crowd were treated to a parade of the teams before the action began, and Louaz Hofton, England Handball’s Director of Development, presented a special EHA Plate to the Irish Olympic Handball Association’s Susanne Moloney.

After the event, Moloney invited England back to Ireland for a re-match, to be staged in Dublin next year with the Under-16 teams.