Major new sponsors back British Handball

Wealth Manager, Collins Stewart Wealth Management, and international law firm Pinsent Masons, have joined forces to announce a major new sponsorship deal with the British Handball Association which will run throughout 2012.

Collins Stewart Wealth Management and Pinsent Masons have become Official Partners to British Handball, and both the Great Britain (GB) men’s and women’s handball teams will carry the Collins Stewart Wealth Management and Pinsent Masons logos on their shirts in all competitions and training matches in the build-up to the Olympics.

In addition to the sponsorship, Collins Stewart Wealth Management has also launched an initiative, which will see the company donating £10.00 for every goal scored, by both the men’s and women’s teams in the run up to the Olympics in August, to a Fund designed to assist the players who are making big sacrifices, to compete on the global stage.

Since London was awarded the 2012 Olympic Games in 2005, British Handball has been focussed on building two teams to mount a competitive challenge to the handball competition which will be played at the specially created handball arena at the Olympic Park.

Neil Darke, Head of Collins Stewart Wealth Management commented: “Handball is an exciting and dynamic sport to watch, and has great potential to grow in popularity throughout this Olympic year. We look forward to working alongside Pinsent Masons and the talented team at British Handball, to support the athletes who work so hard to help raise the sport’s profile in the UK, particularly during this exciting year.”

“We were attracted to British Handball as an organisation as, despite the sport being relatively unknown, their approach to building the game’s familiarity chimed with us. We were also very pleased as an anchor partner, to help bring Pinsent Masons to the partnership. Like Collins Stewart Wealth Management, Pinsent Masons’ business is built around its clients, which has given us a shared vision when looking to get involved with a sports organisation.”

Trevor Watkins, Head of Sport and a Partner at Pinsent Masons, said: “The sports sector is a key part of our firm's business. We are delighted to take this opportunity to invest back into sport and make a real difference in doing so. It gives our staff across all of our offices a tremendous opportunity to be part of the GB Handball journey as the teams prepare for what will be one of the greatest sporting events in this country in our lifetime and to play their part by volunteering, supporting and helping to create a strong foundation for the sport beyond 2012."

Paul Goodwin, Chief Executive Officer at British Handball, commented: “We are thrilled that the sport has attracted two high profile, award-winning companies as major partners; it demonstrates that British Handball is in a strong position in the build-up to the Olympics and we look forward to working closely with Collins Stewart Wealth Management and Pinsent Masons throughout the year to further develop the popularity of the sport into the future.”

The sponsorship will give a major boost to Handball’s plans to make the sport more popular in Britain. Handball is already one of the fastest growing sports in the country following its inclusion in the Change 4 Life programme through England Handball who have introduced the sport to more than 400 schools across the country. As a result of this, handball has seen a six-fold increase in the number of young people being introduced to the sport.

England Handball is the governing body for Handball in England www.englandhandball.com

GB Women v Poland - Tickets now Available!

WITH the Olympics just around the corner, handball fans have just a few more chances to see the British Handball team in action – starting with GB Women taking on Poland at Loughborough University on March 22.

Part of the qualifying group for the 2012 European Championships, the Great Britain v Poland match will pit the ever-improving women’s squad aim to give themselves a head start before they travel to Poland for the return leg just a few days later on March 25.

Great Britain women have notched up several notable victories over the last few years, and appear to be hitting form at just the right time for this Summer’s Olympics in London.

With the Great Britain Women’s team based at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, their clash against Poland in Loughborough is a rare chance for handball fans outside the capital to get to see our aspiring Olympians ahead of competing at the Greatest Show on Earth!

A series of friendly fixtures against top Norwegian opponents has helped Great Britain sharpen their skills ahead of the match, which is the third group match for both sides.

Poland and Great Britain have both lost their first two matches against former World Champions Russia and Montenegro, so both will be keen to bounce back with two victories to keep their hopes of reaching the finals of the European Championships alive.

The match at Loughborough University takes place on Thursday, March 22 and starts at 2pm.

Tickets are free to schoolchildren, and with it being an afternoon match it’s ideal for schools to bring their pupils to see international handball action.

Adult tickets are priced at £5, while concessions are £3.50 and students are £2.50. For more details or to buy tickets go to www.britishhandball.com

Norwegian Battles for GB Women

GREAT Britain women continued their preparations for this Summer’s Olympics with a series of friendly fixtures against top Norwegian domestic opponents.

They took on Liga team Fredrikstad and First Division side Halden twice each between Thursday and Monday, giving them vital experience of different styles and levels of handball.

Thursday saw the team take on Fredrikstad at the Olympic Handball Arena.

GB started out a little shaky in defence and ended up down at half time. But they fought hard in the second half and pulled level at one point, just losing out at full time 31-29. Lyn Byl and Kathryn Fudge were GB’s top players.

On Friday they met Halden at Crystal Palace and won comfortably. GB took some time adjusting to Halden's offensive defence at the start but once they had GB looked very strong. Final score 32-23.

However, on Saturday the team lost out to Fredrikstad 35-21. A poor first half finished 23-8 as GB lost out in defence too many times and didn't look their usual selves. However a much better second half which they won 13-12 showed a fantastic comeback with some fighting spirit!

The last two matches were against Halden again, and GB won one and lost one. The win again, a comfortable one finishing 45-34 after 90 minutes of handball.

There were good performances from the keepers and from the players coming off the bench as Lyn Byl, Yvonne Leuthold and Lynn McCafferty were all rested in the last third of the match. Winning the last third, the rest of the team on court really proved themselves.

The final game against Halden saw a tired GB lost out 28-19 to a team they had beaten comfortably twice before.

GB Women Take on Top Norwegian Teams

GREAT Britain women will take on two top Norwegian sides in friendly matches this week as their preparations for the Olympics continue.

They will take on Liga team Fredrikstad today (Thursday) and then First Division team Halden on Friday afternoon.

Saturday sees them play Fredrikstad again, while they will take on Halden again on Sunday and Monday.

Although the GB team are missing one or two key players through injury or unavailability, it will give the other squad players a great chance to shine and show the coaching staff what they are capable of.

GB Women v Poland - Venues Announced

THE venues for Great Britain women’s Euro 2012 matches against Poland has been fixed this week.

The home leg of the qualifying group clash will be held at Loughborough University on Thursday, March 22 (2pm start), while the away match is on Sunday, March 25 in Elblag, Poland – which is just a short drive from Gdansk in the north of the country.