Coach Holmris: Life in London in Fantastic!

THE first members of the Great Britain Women’s Handball Team have arrived at their new base at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London, as their preparations for the London 2012 Olympics gather pace.

Most of the squad will be living, working and training in London ahead of the Games next year, including Head Coach Jesper Holmris (pictured) and Assistant Vigdis Holmeset.

“Training and living in London in the lead up to the Olympics is a fantastic opportunity for exposure and promotion of handball and it will definitely be a huge motivation and inspiration for the team,” said Holmris.

“Back in 2007 a centralised programme in Aarhus, Denmark, was launched. But due to the funding cut in 2009 the players have been spread out all over Europe and several players have not been in an ideal club situation since then.

“Thanks to the hard work of British Handball and GLL and the commitment of the players it is now possible to come back together as a team in Crystal Palace which is fantastic.

“From a coaching point of view it has been clear from the beginning that a centralised programme was the ideal option for the GB women's team. It is simply giving us the chance to be best possible prepared for London 2012.

“The players will have all the support staff available and we will be training together on a daily basis. That really gives us an opportunity to fine-tune the tactics and develop the GB style and concept.

“In terms of the strength and conditioning training the big advantage is the contact time with the coach and the group motivation obviously but also the monitoring and planning will be much better.

“The downside of being based In London is the lack of competitive opponents and exposure to top level handball just around the corner.

“But the fact that we don't compete as a team in a club league gives us a very flexible programme which will optimise our chances to compete abroad and play different styles of handball more often than the international weeks of handball allow us to do.

“We have been talking about a centralised programme for a long time..... Now it is finally happening!”