British Handball News

GB Women Take on Top Norwegian Teams

2012-01-26T10:04:00.000Z

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

2012-01-26T10:03:00.000Z

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.

GB Men Battle to First Winter Victory

2012-01-13T10:21:00.000Z

GREAT Britain Men secured the first victory of their Winter Tour when they beat Serbia U21s 26-29 on Thursday in Belgrade.

A strong handball nation, Serbia U21s finished fifth at the last World U21 Championships, and were expected to provide Great Britain with a stiff test.

But GB put on perhaps the best performance of their Winter Tour, bouncing back from defeats against Austria in the World Championships.

Assistant coach Bill Baillie said afterwards: “We’re well pleased with that performance. We tried out some new defensive formations and we are delighted with the win against such a strong Under-21 side.”

GB battled for the full 60 minutes, leading 11-14 at half time and holding that advantage to win 26-29.

Steven Larsson was top-scorer with 11 goals, while Robin Garnham added six and Sebastian Prieto (pictured) five.

Great Britain’s defence was very strong, and goalkeeper Jesper Parker finished with an impressive save ratio of 41 per cent.

British Handball Against Arena Re-naming

2012-01-10T18:58:00.000Z

BRITISH Handball is against moves for the Olympic Handball Arena to be renamed The Copper Box so that the iconic venue retains the name of the sport both during and after the Olympics.

The Arena – which is a permanent structure and will play an important part in ensuring the 2012 games leaves a strong legacy – has been renamed the Copper Box to reflect the materials used on the outside of the 7,000-seater Arena.

But with handball being one of the fastest growing sport in the country at the moment, British Handball wants the name to remain as The Handball Arena.

Paul Goodwin, chief executive of British Handball, said: “Retaining the name of the sport in the title of the venue is important to us. The Olympics has given handball a great opportunity to grow in popularity, and all the indications are that we are achieving that.

“Handball has seen a six-fold increase in participation across England alone, with almost 60,000 children and young people being introduced to the sport last year.

“I think we deserve to have all our good work in developing the sport recognised by the authorities by not giving the venue a generic title which does nothing to reflect its usage.

“Why have they not renamed other facilities in a similar vein?

“Perhaps the Olympic Velodrome will be called ‘the big round wooden building’ or the basketball arena renamed as ‘the marshmallow’?”

Handball is the most popular team sport for women in Europe, and the second most popular for men.

And in Britain, it is growing in popularity in all corners of the game.

England Handball was set a target by Sport England of getting 3,000 youngsters regularly taking part in handball by 2013. But latest figures show there are already 9,000, 18 months ahead of the deadline.

This year’s British Universities Handball Championship saw unprecedented numbers of participants, while the English National League and Development League continues to go from strength to strength with new teams joining each year.

But the biggest increase in participation has come in schools, thanks largely to England Handball’s programme which has seen dramatic expansion across the country with Development Officers doing great work.

England Handball succeeded in getting handball named as one of just seven sports which are being offered to schools as part of the Government’s Change 4 Life programme which provides equipment and training in one sport to every school – and 420 schools chose handball.

More Angola Clashes for GB Women

2012-01-10T15:09:00.001Z

GREAT Britain women have returned from a training camp in France where they took on Olympic Test Event adversaries Angola twice in two days.

The African champions were beaten 22-20 by Great Britain in the opening match of the London Handball Cup at the Olympic Handball Arena in November.

They went on to finish a superb eighth in the World Championships in Brazil last month after winning four matches and reaching the quarter finals with victories against teams such as Iceland, Germany, China and South Korea.

The GB team travelled to France to meet them again twice in two days, and faced a sharper and more experienced Angola team following their World Championship exploits.

In the opening match, they lost out by just four goals, 22-26, with Britt Goodwin top-scoring with seven goals while Louise Jukes, Lyn Byl and Zoe Van Der Weel scoring three each.

And in the rematch the following day, GB performed superbly again, this time only losing by three, 24-27, with Kathryn Fudge scoring six, Marie Gerbron five and Jukes four.

Serbia Camp for Great Britain Men

2012-01-10T15:07:00.000Z

GB Men continue their Winter tour with a trip to Serbia this week, where they will play the Serbian Under-21 national team twice as well as a third match against a top domestic side.

The visit to Serbia makes it five countries visited by the squad in the last few weeks following a four-team tournament in Latvia, training in Hungary and World Championship matches in Austria and London.

They have taken on a wide variety of countries and gathered experience of dealing with several different styles of handball, and while their results have not been favourable the team has gained invaluable experience which will stand them in good stead ahead of the 2012 Olympics in August.

Battling GB Men defeated by Austria

2012-01-08T16:56:00.001Z

GREAT Britain Men brought the curtain down on their 2013 World Championship campaign with another battling performance against a strong Austria side, but were unable to avoid another defeat, losing 24-40.

The match at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London attracted a healthy crowd of several hundred, and they played a big part in cheering the GB team on to an impressive first half performance.

Austria were just 13-17 ahead at the break after GB’s defence showed they had addressed several of the issues that were identified during the midweek 37-22 defeat.

Martin Hare (pictured) scored six goals for GB, while Wirral’s Chris McDermott battled back from a back injury with five goals.

But ultimately Austria – ranked 14 in the world – proved too strong with Robert Weber scoring 12 goals to help them to victory.

After the break, GB shuffled their team to give all their players experience of playing against a top nation, and it was at that point that the visitors ran away with the scoreline.

Great Britain men will next be in action in Britain in April, when they are due to play in a four-team tournament.

More details to follow as they are available.

GB Men Lose, but Earn Rival's Praise

2012-01-06T12:00:00.000Z

A STRONG second half performance and six goals from Steven Larsson was not enough for Great Britain Men, who lost out 37-22 to Austria in the first leg of their 2013 World Championship qualifying matches on Thursday.

The hosts in Tulln proved too strong for Great Britain in the first half and quickly opened up a big lead, and although GB battled back with good periods of play which showed glimpses of their promise, they could not challenge Austria’s lead.

Battling GB’s performance earned the praise of Austria captain Viktor Szilagyi, who said afterwards: “Great Britain is physically strong, and we had to have respect for them.”

Great Britain will now travel to London to prepare for Sunday’s return leg at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre (2pm start).

A few tickets are left for the clash, which will give British handball fans a rare chance to see the GB team in action ahead of the 2012 Olympics later this year.

Austria – who reached the finals of the 2011 World Championships in Sweden last year - will bring another full-strength team to London in a bid to progress to the play-offs and ultimately the finals in Spain in 2013.

GB Men Face Stiff Test Against Austria

2012-01-03T17:30:00.000Z

GREAT Britain Men take on Austria twice this week in the qualifying stages of the 2013 World Championships, and it promises to be one of their toughest challenges yet.

They play in Tulln on Thursday night, and then come to London to play them again on Sunday afternoon (2pm) at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre.

Nothing less than two victories will do if GB are to progress to the play-off stage of the competition, while Austria will be looking to get their campaign off to a strong start with a double win.

Austria have named a squad which is littered with quality and experience.

With an average age of 27, their 18-man squad has an average of 60 international caps, while GB’s squad average 23 years and 17 caps.

Austria just missed out on a spot in the finals of the 2012 European Championship by one point. They beat Iceland 28-23 and drew with Germany 26-26, topping the group for most of the qualifying period before losing the return legs and missing out.

Their squad for the two matches against Great Britain includes their top scorer in those six Euro 2012 group stages Robert Weber, who scored 26 goals including eight against Germany.

Weber has scored 319 goals in 90 international appearances, but three of his team-mates have netted even more.

Viktor Szilagyi – their 33-year-old centre back who plays domestic handball in the Bundesliga for Flensburg – has scored 720 goals in 157 international matches.

Patrick Folser has scored 540 times in 203 appearances for Austria, while 29-year-old Roland Schlinger has bagged 473 goals in 125 appearances.

While Great Britain’s most experienced players have far fewer international appearances, they are still capable of scoring goals.

Yorkshire-born Steven Larsson has scored 160 goals in 24 games, while Scotland's Chris Mohr has found the net 107 times.

And more recently, Gawain Vincent hit form against Estonia last week and scored six times, while Alex Girvan scored seven against Lithuania the previous day.

Tickets are available on the door for Sunday’s match, which starts at 2pm.

Satchwell Excels for GB Men

2012-01-01T11:44:00.000Z

GREAT Britain men rounded off their Latvia camp with a narrow defeat to the hosts, losing out 25-23 after a superb second half display.

Goalkeeper Nick Satchwell (pictured) underpinned a strong defensive display from the GB team and finished with an impressive 52 per cent save ratio.

Latvia had been 17-9 ahead at the break, but GB stemmed the flow of goals well and won the second half 8-14.

Sussex-based Seb Prieto and Dorset’s John Pearce both scored five goals in the match to finish as joint top scorers for GB.

The performance against Latvia was much-improved from the previous day where GB went down 35-19 to a strong Estonia team, despite Gawain Vincent scoring six goals for GB.

Great Britain had competed well with their rivals in the first half and only trailed 15-12, but Estonia’s counter-attacks proved the difference and they pulled away to victory.

GB will now head to Hungary to prepare for their 2013 World Championship qualifying matches against Austria in Tulln on January 5, and then back at Crystal Palace three days later for the return leg (January 8, 2pm).

Girvan Nets Seven Goals on Comeback

2011-12-28T10:05:00.001Z

MISSING some key players, Great Britain men went down a narrow 34-30 defeat to Lithuania in the opening match of a four-way tournament in Latvia on Tuesday.

BOA handball athlete of the year Steven Larsson is unavailable for the first leg of their winter tour because of club commitments in Norway, while another first choice back player Martin Hare was also missing and Merlin Braithwaite is out with a knee injury.

Nevertheless GB battled well, with good displays from Alex Girvan (pictured) – returning to the squad after ten months out injured – while right winger Seb Prieto found his range after missing three months because of injury.

Girvan top-scored with seven, while Prieto added six goals, and Great Britain will be aiming to build on their good display in Wednesday's clash with Estonia.

Assistant coach Bill Baillie said afterwards: “A poor first half display cost us the game, with five shots hitting the post and eight technical faults.

“This meant we were chasing the game and although we reduced the deficit to two several times in the second half, we were unable to close the gap.”

After playing Estonia on Thursday they take on hosts Latvia on Friday, as preparation for their 2013 World Championship clashes with Austria.

From Latvia, they will go to Hungary to prepare for their first clash against Austria in Tulln on Jan 5, following which they will come to Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London for the home leg, on Jan 8 at 2pm.

GB Men Prepare for Winter Tour

2011-12-27T11:42:00.000Z

GREAT Britain men take on Lithuania today (Dec 27) in the first of a series of matches forming part of their Winter tour.

The team arrived in Latvia on Boxing Day, and will play friendly fixtures against Lithuania, Estonia and hosts Latvia on Dec 27, 28 and 29 respectively, as preparation for their 2013 World Championship clashes with Austria.

From Latvia, they will go to Hungary to prepare for their first clash against Austria in Tulln on Jan 5, following which they will come to Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London for the home leg, on Jan 8 at 2pm.

Captain Bobby White said: “Austria will come with an extremely strong side having recently appointed a new coach and given that the majority of their players are playing in The Bundesliga in Germany, it is safe to say we will have a tough job on our hands.

“The Austrians are capable of fantastic results, especially on home soil where they have beaten Beijing 2008 Silver Medallists’ Iceland. Having said that, we know if we perform to the best of our ability, we could make it yet another interesting match here at Crystal Palace, especially with a vocal home crowd behind us!”

And after those matches, their winter tour continues with a visit to Serbia, where they will play Serbia’s Under-21 side twice in friendly fixtures on Jan 12 and 13 respectively, before the camp ends and they return home on January 17.

Larsson Named Athlete of the Year

2011-12-21T10:44:00.000Z

STEVEN Larsson has been named as the British Olympic Association’s Handball Athlete of the Year after a string of impressive performances for the GB men’s handball team.

The Yorkshire-born right back, 30, was picked out for his powerful defensive displays as well as his free-scoring ways which helped the team notch up several international victories and is expected to play a big part in the team for the London Olympics next year.

“It’s a big honour to be selected as the Handball Athlete of the Year, and I’m proud to achieve such a reward for my home country,” he said.

“Things have been going really well for me as an athlete but more importantly for the British team as a whole. Let’s hope we can keep on going forward and improving as a team in the last few months that are remaining until London 2012!”

Larsson will be part of the GB team which embarks on a lengthy tour over the next few weeks, taking in training camps and matches in Latvia and Serbia, as well as playing Austria at home and away.

The home leg is at 2pm on January 8 at Crystal Palace.

Holmris: 'We had a Great Campaign!'

2011-11-30T13:17:00.000Z

HEAD coach Jesper Holmris has praised his players after the GB women’s team put on some great performances in the London Handball Cup last week.
Great Britain opened the Olympic Test Event on a high, beating African champions Angola 22-20, and despite going on to lose matches against Austria and Slovakia, Holmris was pleased with the overall experience.
“We have had a great campaign overall. We have shown once again that we have a very strong defence,” he said.
“Our defence was great and our keepers have done well all week, so we will go back to our home at Crystal Palace and work on our attacking, fast breaks and decision making.
“Playing three matches in four days was tough. We don’t have girls who can score easy goals so we have to fight for every goal, plus we don’t have the depth in our side. But they are fast and strong and they have a good attitude.”
The tournament was watched by thousands of schoolchildren and local residents, which created a superb atmosphere for all matches – especially when Great Britain were in action.
Captain Lynn McCafferty said: “It was an absolutely fantastic tournament as we received such huge support from our spectators which won’t be possible so often before the 2012 London Olympic Games.
“We still have nine months to develop and we have to take all chances to test our performing level and to improve. We’re now living together as a team so we can do everything together until the start of the Olympics.”

Strong Defence not Enough for GB Women

2011-11-26T19:33:00.000Z

AN IMPROVED defensive performance from Great Britain women was not enough to stop them slipping to a 17-22 defeat in their final match of the London Handball Cup on Saturday.

The final match of their Olympic Test Event, GB showed an improved fighting display after the previous day’s defeat to Austria, and will go into next week’s friendly fixture with Iceland looking to build on lessons learned this week.

“We were very disappointed after the Austria game, but we have had a great campaign overall,” said Head Coach Jesper Holmris. “We have shown once again that we have a very strong defence, and against Slovakia the British fighting spirit was back again.

“But we missed too many opportunities and scored just 17 goals which was never going to be enough to win. Our defence was great and our keepers have done well all week, so we will go back to our home at Crystal Palace and work on our attacking, fast breaks and decision making.”

Trailing 9-16 at half time, GB responded with a stronger second half which they won 8-6, but it was not enough to overhaul the deficit.

Holly Lam-Moores top-scored with five goals, with the other shared amongst the team. And goalkeeper Jane Mayes had a great save ratio of 41 per cent, largely thanks to a strong second half.

Brave GB Women go down to Austria

2011-11-25T14:06:00.001Z

A BATTLING performance from Great Britain women was not enough to stop them suffering a 31-23 defeat to Austria in their final Group game at the London Handball Cup on Friday.

After beating Angola in a surprise 22-20 victory in their first match on Wednesday, Great Britain had high hopes of reaching the semi finals of the competition. But when Angola beat Austria by two goals on Thursday that left GB having to beat Austria to keep their hopes of winning the tournament alive.

Despite some great periods of pressure against Austria, Great Britain were behind for much of the game. They found themselves 6-1 down after just 11 minutes, but battled back hard to 9-7 just 12 minutes later.

However, they could not stop Austria scoring steadily, with Acimovic causing problems throughout and ending as their top scorer with six goals.

For GB, Scottish-born Zoe Van Der Weel ended as top-scorer with four goals, while Aldershot’s Kelsi Fairbrother, Warrington’s Holly Lam-Moores and Ewa Palies all chipped in with three.

“We had a fantastic result against Angola on Wednesday, but we didn’t play our best today,” said head coach Jesper Holmris afterwards.

“Our defence was disappointing, we didn’t intend on letting them score 31 goals, and our shooting needs to improve. But we’ve made massive progress in the last year and we will come back stronger.

“It’s nice to have a good crowd here, it makes a great atmosphere and it’s really good to see so many kids here.”

GB's final match of the tournament will be the 5th/6th play-off match against Slovakia on Saturday at 11.30am.

Super GB Beat African Champions Angola

2011-11-23T18:08:00.000Z

GREAT Britain made a thrilling start to their London Handball Cup campaign, beating African Champions Angola 22-20 in their first match at the Olympic Handball Arena on Wednesday afternoon.

With Sports Minister Hugh Robertson in attendance, GB dug deep and had to battle back from three goals down to take the points.

Warrington’s Holly Lam-Moores and Kathryn Fudge from Bury teamed up as joint top scorers with four goals each, and it was Fudge who scored the first goal after just a few seconds of the match which helped GB open up a three-nil lead just three minutes in and leave the Angolans on the back foot.

The Africans battled back to 11-11 at half time and led by the odd goal at various times during the second half, but Great Britain kept their cool and chipped away at the lead.

Leading by one goal, a GB timeout helped the clock tick down, and a penalty in the final 30 seconds from Britt Goodwin sparked celebrations in the 1,000-plus crowd as Great Britain were finally assured of victory.

After the win, a delighted coach Jesper Holmris said: "It was a great performance in a great arena, so it's been a good day for us. Home advantage is always a big advantage.

“It's the first time we played an African nation and they are African champions, so it was good for us to see we can compete against them - and there are still nine months to go before the Olympic games."

In other action on Wednesday, China scraped past Slovakia 26-28.

The competition continues on Thursday with China playing Poland at 10.30am, while Angola take on Austria at 1pm.

Great Britain’s next match is on Friday at 10.30am when they play Austria.

* Pictures by Bogdan Maran and Michele Davison. Many more to follow over the coming days.

Live Web Streaming from Olympic Test Event

2011-11-22T10:34:00.003Z

LIVE internet streaming of Great Britain’s matches in the London Handball Cup will be available thanks to a link-up between British Handball, GBSport.tv and the Daily Telegraph.

Great Britain’s opening clash with Angola on Wednesday and their match against Austria on Friday will be shown live at www.gbsport.tv and www.telegraph.co.uk/gbsport - and other Great Britain matches may also be shown later in the week.

The six-team tournament from November 23-27 will pit Great Britain against some tough opponents – both old and new.

With the teams split into two groups of three, Great Britain have old foes Austria in their group, while Angola will prove a new challenge for Jesper Holmris’s team.

And in the other group are Poland and Slovakia who GB have played before, as well as China.
GB captain Lynn McCafferty said: “It is really exciting, we all can't wait to be in the Handball Arena playing different nations and with spectators.

“We hope it will give us a real glimpse of what it could be like next year but of course the important thing is the present, and this tournament is important for us as part of our preparation.”

The event is being staged at the Olympic Handball Arena to give officials chance to try out their procedures, and a limited crowd of officials, local schools and media have been invited to attend to make the Tournament as real as possible.

Great Britain begin their matches with a clash against Angola at 1pm on November 23, and after a day off will take on Austria on Nov 25 at 10.30am.

Depending on results from the group stages, GB will play on the Saturday and possibly the Sunday too if they get through to the final matches.

GB Left to Rue Injuries in Israel

2011-11-06T20:50:00.001Z

DRAWING 13-13 at half time, Great Britain Men suffered injuries to two key players and ended up losing their World Championship qualification match against Israel 29-20 in Tel Aviv on Sunday.

Martin Hare and Robin Garnham (pictured) both suffered ankle injuries in the loss while Steven Larsson, who was GB’s top-scorer in the first clash between the two teams at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre on Wednesday, was marked out of the game.

“We probably lost the game in the first two and a half minutes of the second half when they scored four goals without reply,” said Assistant Coach Bill Baillie.

“They took out Steven Larsson, and put a lot more pressure on us and the crowd got behind them. We stabilised, but there was no way back and quite early in the second half we lost both Martin Hare and Robin Garnham with ankle injuries. Losing two experienced defenders meant we were just too exposed.”

Nicholas Satchwell did well in goal and finished with a save ratio of almost 45 per cent, while Garnham was top-scorer with five despite his injury.

Great Britain will now prepare for home and away matches against Austria in January.

Great Britain Narrowly Lose to Israel

2011-11-03T11:45:00.000Z

GREAT Britain Men narrowly lost their first clash with Israel 26-29 at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London on Wednesday evening.

The 2013 World Championship qualification match was close throughout, with Israel only leading 14-16 at half time.

Steven Larsson top-scored for Great Britain with nine goals while Chris Mohr (pictured) added seven, but it was not enough to secure a victory.

“Tactically we were spot on,” said assistant coach Bill Baillie. “Israel were certainly beatable and they were never more than three or four goals better, and for most of the game it was just one goal.

“We had a number of missed shots which could’ve made all the difference, but we were delighted with the performance of people like Chris Mohr and Steve Larsson.

“Israel did under-estimate us. They were a bit complacent because they had beaten us five times before, but they had to keep all their best players on the court for most of the time to stop us, so we’re optimistic for the return leg in Tel Aviv on Sunday.”

GB: Steven Larsson 9, Chris Mohr 7, Ciaran Williams 3, Robin Garnham 2, Seb Prieto 1, Martin Hare 1, Daniel McMillan 1, Mark Hawkins 1, Gawain Vincent 1, Jesper Parker, Robert White, Nicholas Satchwell, Merlin Braithwaite, Simon Wittlin, Scott Frew, John Pearce.

Israel: Chen Pomeranz 7, Avishay Smoler 5, Daniel Mircus 5, Dan Nathan 3, Itzhak Halifi 2, Ariel Rosenthal 2, Ofer Refeal Luzon 1, Amir Langlive 1, Guy Cohen 1, Ido Lavie 1, Omer Jacob Davda 1, Gil Yaakov, Eldar Shikloshi, Gal Moshe Avraham, Yotam Tal, Tomer Shimoni.

GB Men Ready for Israel Challenge

2011-10-26T13:51:00.000+01:00

GREAT Britain Men take on Israel in the opening match of their 2013 World Championships qualifying group next Wednesday (November 2).

The clash, which is at 7pm at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London, is the team’s first competitive match since August.

They last played at Crystal Palace in June 2010 when they secured their first competitive victory with a dramatic 32-33 win over Bulgaria – but the team will be keen to show just how much they have improved.

Wednesday’s opponents Israel also played in the qualifying stages of Euro 2010, but they fared better and won all three of their games to top the group and reach the second qualifying stage.

Following Wednesday’s clash GB head to Israel for the return leg on Sunday, November 6.

They then play in Austria on January 5 before playing the same opponent back at Crystal Palace on January 8.

Tickets for the GB v Israel clash are still available at http://www.amiando.com/britishhandball or on the door.

GB Keeper Makes Champions League Debut

2011-10-26T13:36:00.002+01:00

GREAT Britain goalkeeper Jesper Parker (pictured) made his debut in the VELUX EHF Champion League last weekend, helping Savehof to a 24-20 victory over Bosnian team Sarajevo.

The highest level club competition in the world, the VELUX EHF Champions League sees the best teams from nations across the continent compete for the ultimate prize – much like the football Champions League.

After a break for domestic and international matches, the VELUX EHF Champions League resumes for Savehof with a match against Swiss side Kadetten Schaffhausen on November 17.

GB Shock World Champs Russia

2011-10-22T16:35:00.002+01:00

GREAT Britain Women gave reigning World Champions Russia a scare in their Euro 2012 clash on Saturday, matching them for long periods and only losing out 16-24 when many had predicted a heavy loss.

GB had lost 34-18 to Montenegro earlier in the week, and many predicted a similar scoreline against Russia. But GB put on a superb display for the 350 spectators at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre.

They trailed by just four goals at 10-14 at half time, and maintained the pressure on Russia right to the final whistle.

Captain Lynn McCafferty (pictured) led by example and scored three goals, while six other players scored two as GB kept Russia guessing about where the goals would come from.

“We’re really happy with the performance,” said McCafferty afterwards. “After Montenegro we worked on several areas of our game to identify what we could do better. We worked on our defence and some of the little mistakes we made, and I think we’ve shown today that we managed to fix things.

“We wanted to play longer in attack and be more composed and more in control, and we did that. We stuck to our game plan and played our own game for 60 minutes in both defence and attack.

“They had some players who could score from ten metres which you can’t really stop, but if they got closer than that we worked very hard to make it difficult for them to score.

“We can take so many positives away from the game and feel good that we’re learning so much from this week.

“We can have confidence that we know how to address our weaknesses. But people in the handball world won’t take us for granted now, so we need to keep up the hard work.”

PREVIEW: GB Women Prepare for Russia Challenge

2011-10-20T09:14:00.000+01:00

WORLD Handball Champions Russia come to London on Saturday as Great Britain Women’s 2012 European Championship campaign continues (3pm start).

In what will undoubtedly be the biggest challenge yet for Great Britain, the court at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre will be littered with World and Olympic medallists.

Russia has won the last three world championships, and took the silver medal at the 2008 Olympic Games. They have a vast pool of players to call on, and seven of their 2009 world champions remain in the squad - Sedoykina, Postnova, Levina, Makeeva, Zhilinskaya, Murayeva and Turey.

After winning the 2009 world championships, they dropped to seventh at Euro 2010, after which the coach made a few changes and brought back some of his ‘veterans’ including line players Shipilova and Bodnieva (the latter after six years out) as well as playmaker Murayeva and right wing Uskova. But they also have some brilliant new young players, left back Anna Sen foremost among them.

Last month Russia won the prestigious GF World Cup invitational tournament in Denmark, comfortably disposing of Spain, Sweden and Denmark in the group stages before beating France then Norway in the Semi final and final respectively. Davidenko and Sidorova were named in the All-Star team.

With a defensive back line of players over 1.85m, Great Britain will need plenty of speed and cross-overs to make space.

It will be Great Britain’s second group match following their clash with hosts Montenegro on Wednesday. Poland are also in the group, and each team will play each other home and away over the next few months.

After Saturday’s Russia match, Great Britain Women are next in action in the Olympic Test Event from November 23-27, before resuming their Euro 2012 campaign with a match against Poland on March 21.

Battling GB Go Down to Strong Montenegro

2011-10-20T09:13:00.000+01:00

BATTLING Great Britain Women went down 34-18 to hosts Montenegro on Wednesday evening in their opening Euro 23012 qualification match in Herceg Novi.

A strong second half performance from Great Britain saw them lose that 30 minute period by just one goal at 13-12, but the home side had already established a strong lead after a 10-minute purple patch.

“A blinding ten minute spell by the excellent Montenegro side in the first half meant we had too much ground to make up in the second half,” said Team Manager Melanie Chowns. “More valuable experience and lessons learnt – next up Russia on Saturday.”

Bury’s Kathryn Fudge (pictured) was top-scorer for Great Britain, while Britt Goodwin chipped in with three.

The Montenegro team includes 12 players from Buducnost, the Montenegro champions who are one of only two teams still undefeated in the EHF Champions League.

They include the formidable back pairing of Katarina Bulatovic (a right back who is third top scorer in this year’s Champions League) and Bojana Popovic (left back, and former top scorer in the Champions League).

Among Montenegro’s scalps at the 2010 European Championships were hosts Denmark, Russia and Spain.

Great Britain now return to Crystal Palace National Sports Centre to prepare for Saturday’s home match against reigning World Champions Russia (3pm start).

Tickets for the Russia match are available in advance or on the door.

Euro 2012: GB Face Hosts Montenegro

2011-10-19T11:26:00.002+01:00

THE Great Britain Women’s Handball Team begin their Euro 2012 qualification matches with a tough away clash with Montenegro tonight (Wednesday).

After beating Finland in the pre-qualifiers Great Britain were drawn in a four-team pool with Poland, Montenegro and Russia with home and away matches against all three starting on Wednesday and concluding next June.

The squad travel out on Tuesday for the game on Wednesday, and will need to be on top form if they are to challenge their hosts, who reached the finals of the 2011 World Championships with two victories over the Czech Republic in June this year.

The Montenegro team includes 12 players from Buducnost, the Montenegro champions, who are one of only two teams still undefeated in the EHF Champions League.

They include the formidable back pairing of Katarina Bulatovic (a right back who is third top scorer in this year’s Champions League) and Bojana Popovic (left back, and former top scorer in the Champions League).

Among Montenegro’s scalps at the 2010 European Championships were hosts Denmark, Russia and Spain.

GB Captain White Moves to France

2011-10-19T11:25:00.000+01:00

GREAT Britain captain and goalkeeper Bobby White has moved to France after impressing in trials and securing a contract with Valence Handball Club.

White, 28 and from Milton Keynes, attended a trial at the end of last month, following which they snapped up the GB ace who has now moved to the town to the south of Lyon.

“They are a very ambitious club and are hoping to be promoted to the Second Division this year,” said White. “They have a fantastic following here and have had a very good start to the season.

“I am really looking forward to the challenge. The intensity of training here is fantastic and we have a good coaching staff and the all-round set up of the club is great, so hopefully I can continue my personal development and improvement as we gather momentum for the Olympics next summer!”

WIN: Women's Sporting Calendar featuring Holly Lam-Moores!

2011-10-19T11:24:00.001+01:00

GREAT Britain star Holly Lam-Moores is featured on a new 2012 calendar which is now on sale – and we have 20 copies to give away!

Holly, 21 and from Burnley in Lancashire, was snapped during the Euro 2012 pre-qualifier against Finland by British Handball volunteer Marek Biernacki. And the picture was so good, it made it on to the Women’s Sporting Calendar 2012!

Out of hundreds of images submitted, Marek’s snap of Holly shooting at goal was one of just 24 to be featured on the glossy A3 calendar.

The calendar features details of more than 300 sporting events including handball.

And even if you’re not one of our lucky winners, you can still buy a copy and help the sport. From every copy sold online, 20 per cent will go to your chosen sport.

Make 2012 a special year for women’s sport, advance its profile and help raise funds. Order NOW online here: www.illustratus.co.uk/shop/wsc2012

An ideal stocking-filler, thank-you present for your coach/teacher, client Christmas presents or an all-year reminder for the busy household, clubroom or office – price £8.99.

* To have a chance of winning a copy of the Women’s Sporting Calendar 2012, just email newsdesk@snowdons.co.uk telling us which country Great Britain were playing in the photograph of Holly Lam-Moores.

Entries must be received by November 2 2011. Winners will be selected at random after that date. Please include the postal address you would like your calendar to be sent to if you are a winner.

GB Women Head to Montenegro

2011-10-17T12:53:00.001+01:00

THE Great Britain Women’s Handball Team begin their Euro 2012 qualification matches with a tough away trip to Montenegro this week.

After beating Finland in the pre-qualifiers Great Britain were drawn in a four-team pool with Poland, Montenegro and Russia with home and away matches against all three starting on Wednesday and concluding next June.

The squad travel out on Tuesday for the game on Wednesday, and will need to be on top form if they are to challenge their hosts, who reached the finals of the 2011 World Championships with two victories over the Czech Republic in June this year.

The Montenegro team includes 12 players from Buducnost, the Montenegro champions, who are one of only two teams still undefeated in the EHF Champions League.

They include the formidable back pairing of Katarina Bulatovic (a right back who is third top scorer in this year’s Champions League) and Bojana Popovic (left back, and former top scorer in the Champions League).

Among Montenegro’s scalps at the 2010 European Championships were hosts Denmark, Russia and Spain.

And following their midweek match, Great Britain return to their base at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre to prepare for an even tougher task.

On Saturday, October 22, they will play host to reigning world champions Russia (3pm start). Tickets for the Russia match are available in advance or on the door.

British Handball Supports New Fundraising Scheme

2011-10-10T15:06:00.000+01:00

BRITISH Handball is supporting a new fundraising initiative which was launched this week by Team 2012, presented by Visa.

Named ‘Be There with Team 2012’, the public fundraising appeal is aimed at raising £2 million to help elite athletes – including the GB handball teams – be the best they can be as they prepare for the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.

‘Be There with Team 2012’ is encouraging members of the public to get behind and support Team 2012 athletes. Donations of all amounts are being accepted and welcomed on the website www. team-2012.com up until the end of the year. And between 10 October and 27 November, anyone who donates over £5 and answers a competition question will be in with a chance of winning tickets to the Olympic Games or Paralympic Games next year.

Members of the public will be directed to the website with the support from the Team 2012 Appeal radio partners Heart, Capital FM, LBC 97.3, Gold and Choice FM.

A major national text-to-win-tickets promotion is being run in conjunction with the Team 2012 Appeal newspaper partners The Sun, The Times and the Sunday Times, with support from BT as official Olympics and Paralympics partner. The public will be able enter daily competitions to win London 2012 tickets by text in November. All profits will go to the Team 2012 fundraising appeal.

In addition, Team 2012 supporting partner, adidas, has produced a limited edition run of 250 Team 2012 trainers to support British athletes, which will go on sale in late October. All proceeds raised from the trainers sale will go to Team 2012. And two lucky buyers will also be given the opportunity to go to either the Olympic or Paralympic Games next year.

Team 2012 is the official fundraising programme for over 1,200 British athletes striving to be selected for Team GB and ParalympicsGB at London 2012. With the aim of raising up to £25m overall, funds are invested in key areas including coaching, travel to competitions, medical support, sports psychology and kit and equipment.

The funds raised will be invested in a world class programme of support which will help ensure that British athletes are the best prepared, best equipped, best supported and most ambitious group of elite sportsmen and women possible at London 2012 and ultimately win more medals from more sports.

Jessica Ennis, 2009 heptathlon world champion, said: “The funds raised by Team 2012 are absolutely essential. The £2 million we aim to raise through ‘Be There with Team 2012’ represents a critical sum we need as athletes to get a final boost as we prepare to represent our country at London 2012.

“Every pound really will make a difference to Team 2012 athletes. I know from personal experience how fine the margins are in elite sport, and the money raised will help the British teams prepare to the best of their ability and make the most of the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of competing at a home Games.”

Sir Matthew Pinsent, four-time Olympic gold medallist and Chairman of the Team 2012 Fundraising Appeal, said: “Team 2012 provides our Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls with unrivalled support as they prepare ahead of the Games. Since I was competing, the international sporting landscape has changed significantly, with more nations than ever before capable of winning major medals.

“To excel amidst the most talented and competitive field of athletes the world has ever seen, our athletes will have to train for thousands of hours, compete at national and international championships and have access to the best facilities and staff. All of this requires funding, and with support from the public they can be in the best shape to win more medals across more sports at London 2012.”

To donate and be in with a chance of winning tickets to London 2012, visit the re-launched Team 2012 website at www.team-2012.com

GB Women v Russia: Tickets Now on Sale!

2011-10-01T08:33:00.000+01:00

TICKETS have gone on sale for Great Britain Women’s European Championship qualification clash with reigning World champions Russia in London next month.

The EHF Euro 2012 clash, at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, will form an important part of the GB team’s preparations for the 2012 Olympics in London next year.

The GB women will need all the support they can get for the clash, and will be looking to the crowd to be their extra player.

The Russia clash will be GB’s second match of the qualification stages.

On October 19 they will travel to Montenegro to take on their hosts in their opening clash, while they will play the return leg in May next year.

Ticket details for the GB v Russia clash are now available at www.amiando.com/GBRvRUS

And tickets are also available for the Great Britain Men’s clash with Israel in the qualifying stages of the 2013 World Championship at Crystal Palace.

For those tickets, please go to http://www.amiando.com/GBRvISR

Teams announced for Olympic Test Event

2011-09-27T11:12:00.001+01:00

THE line-up for the 2012 Olympic Test event – The London Handball Cup from November 23-27 – has been announced.

Alongside Great Britain women will be a strong international line up of Austria, Angola, China, Poland and Slovakia.

The London Handball Cup is part of the London Prepares Series and takes place in the Handball Arena in Olympic Park. The event will give London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) the chance to test many parts of its operations including the field of play; results, timing and scoring systems and how teams work together.

The competition will see six teams divided into two groups, with teams placed 1st and 2nd in each group progressing to cross-over semi-finals, culminating in a gold/silver medal and bronze matches on the final day of competition.

Group A includes Slovakia, Poland and China and Group B includes Great Britain, Austria and Angola. China and Angola have also qualified to compete at the 2011 World Championships in Brazil, following just a few days after the London Handball Cup.

The schedule is as follows:

Wednesday 23 November 2011
10:30 Slovakia v China
13:00 Great Britain v Angola

Thursday 24 November 2011
10:30 China v Poland
13:00 Angola v Austria

Friday 25 November 2011
10:30 Austria v Great Britain
13:00 Poland v Slovakia

Saturday 26 November 2011 – Semifinals and play off for 5th and 6th place

Sunday 27 November 2011 – Final and Bronze medal match

Tickets for the London Handball Cup will not be on general sale, but local residents, schools, colleges and members of handball clubs are being given the opportunity to attend the test event.

Debbie Jevans, Director of Sport at LOCOG said: “The London Handball Cup will allow us to test our operations prior to the Games, but we are also delighted to be hosting such high quality teams in the brand new Handball Arena. The test event will be competitive and exciting and a great chance for local residents and school children to witness top level Handball, many of them for the first time.”

Paul Goodwin, Chief Executive of the British Handball Association said of the test event: “It is exciting to be part of the first competitive tournament played in the Olympic Handball Arena and we are looking forward to competing against some of the world’s best teams in November.”

The Handball Arena was the third Olympic Park venue to be completed in May 2011 and will have up to 6,500 capacity at Games Time. After the Games, capacity will be increased to accommodate up to 7,500 spectators as it becomes a multi-use venue for community use, athletic training and events.

* The website for the London Handball Cup has just been launched at www.londonpreparesseries.com/handball/index.html

It contains all the information about the competing nations and news in the run-up to the event.

London 2012: The Race for Places Continues!

2011-09-26T10:39:00.000+01:00

WITH eleven month to go to the Olympics the race for places at 2012 is still wide open.

Only four of the 24 teams who will compete are known – both Great Britain men and women as hosts, the French men as World champions and the Norwegian women as European champions.

But the tension will rise in October, when the Asian and Pan American Continental Qualifications take place which will decide another four participants.

The last handball highlight of 2011 will be the Women’s World Championship (December 2-18) in Brazil. The World Champion will qualify directly for London 2012, while the nations ranked 2nd to 7th book their tickets for the Olympics Qualification tournaments end of May.

There are a huge number of contenders in Brazil, where the Russian women are trying to grab their fifth World Championship title in ten years.

At the 2008 Olympics in Beijing they finished second after losing to Norway in the final.

The Northern Europeans are also among the favourites despite some key players being injured or unavailable.

Apart from France (runners-up at the last World Championships in China), Romania (Bronze medalist at the EHF EURO 2010) and Korea (always on top performing level before Olympics) are also among the favourites. And teams like Montenegro, Sweden or host Brazil have an outside chance in the race for the medals.

One of the last big handball events before London 2012 will be the Men’s EHF EURO 2012 in January in Serbia, where the finals will be held in the 20,000 capacity Belgrade Arena.

As ever, the main contender for the title will be France, who are the reigning EHF European and Olympic champions.

Led by coach Claude Onesta, they have been unbeatable in all major tournaments since the Olympics in Beijing and have re-written history: After taking the Olympic gold medal they took two World Championship titles (2009 and 2011) and one EHF EURO title (2010) – and they are the first ever team to hold all major trophies at the same time.

With world-class stars like former World Handball Players of the Year Nikola Karabatic and Thierry Omeyer, the best defender in the world Didier Dinart and the most spectacular player Luc Abalo, France is like a wall in defence and a bulldozer in attack, unstoppable!

Below France, Croatia (Olympics champions 2004 and world champions 2003), Denmark (European champions 2008 and Silver medallist at the World championships 2011), Spain, Iceland or hosts Serbia are hope for medals.

Denmark, Spain and Sweden will host the last chance for the London 2012 tickets – the Olympics qualification tournaments on the Easter weekend 2012.

And by the end of May all the teams who will play at the London 2012 Olympics will be known.

Text: Björn Pazen

Elite Coaching Scheme Launched

2011-09-07T14:00:00.000+01:00

BRITISH Handball has launched a new elite coach development programme to ensure the growth of the sport in the UK continues long after the London Olympics.

Up-and-coming coaches across the country are being invited to take part in the scheme, which is a 12-month programme led by the Great Britain Olympic coaches supported by guest speakers from the world of handball, elite sport and beyond.

The scheme is being supported by both England Handball and Scottish Handball, who may where appropriate help individual participants with the costs of attending the course.

British Handball will provide significant resources to the initiative by providing head coach time, participant packs including work shop materials and DVDs, guest lecturers and other elite coach specialists, tickets to events, refreshments and lunch during the workshop days.

Participants will be asked to make a contribution of £250 towards these costs, and in addition participants will cover their own travel and accommodation costs.

The course will be based over several weekends, and will tie in with international matches where Great Britain will be competing – mainly in London at Crystal Palace.

There is a limit of 20 places on the scheme. For further details click here

Battling GB Men Take on World Beaters

2011-08-31T11:14:00.001+01:00

GREAT Britain Men took on some of their toughest opponents yet in France last weekend, competing in the prestigious Trophee Morbi Hand in Brittany against teams packed with Olympic and World champions.

Nantes have several international players who were among the best in the last World Championship, while top Spanish team Valladolid also boast many of the best players in Europe. And KIF Kolding are one of the best Danish clubs of all time.

The GB team competed well in the tournament, which formed an important part of their preparation for the 2012 Olympics in London next year.

Their first clash against Valladolid began well and they were trailing by just one goal at 5-6 in the early stages. But a pelvic injury to Seb Prieto was a set-back, and their opponents extended a bigger lead at the break.

GB’s shooting improved as the game went on, but Valladolid’s goalkeeper was in fine form and pulled off 23 saves to keep his side in a comfortable lead.

Seb Edgar scored four for Great Britain and Gawain Vincent, who was back on court after recovering from injury, added three in his ten minute spell on court.

The following day they took on KIF Kolding, and some great goalkeeping from Jesper Parker and Nick Satchwell enables GB to stay in touch with their rivals and were only trailing 5-7 after 15 minutes.

But with some key players out injured or unavailable, the pressure began to tell.

Mark Hawkins played well all round, scoring four goals and putting in an excellent defensive performance, while Chris McDermott (pictured) also scored four goals and Chris Mohr three.

The team are next in action against Israel in the qualifying stages of the 2013 World Championships in November.

* Photographs from GB Men’s matches in the Trophee Morbi Hand are available to view in the British Handball photo gallery

GB Women Set for Venus Cup in France

2011-08-25T11:17:00.000+01:00

FOR the third time this Summer, Great Britain women are in France this week preparing to compete against some of the best domestic teams in the Venus Cup in Marseille.

They will play three games in three days as part of the tournament, which is an important part of the preparations for the 2012 Olympics in London in less than a year.

They begin their campaign with a match against Handball Plan de Cuques on Friday, August 26, at 8.30pm, before taking on Nimes on Saturday evening (6.30pm).

Their final match will be against Toulon on Sunday afternoon before the closing ceremony and their return to Crystal Palace.

The tournament will also give the coaching staff a good opportunity to run the rule over their squad before preparations begin for their 2012 European Championship qualifying match in Montenegro in October.

GB Men Prepare For French Challenge

2011-08-16T11:53:00.002+01:00

GREAT Britain Men are preparing to travel to France later this month to compete in a high-level club tournament at Vannes.

The Trophee Morbi’Hand will see top teams from France, Spain and Denmark compete in the two-day event on August 27-28.

The event is the latest that will see the Great Britain team gain valuable experience of different styles and levels of handball as they prepare for the 2012 Olympics in London in less than a year.

The team will arrive in the town on the 26th and, following a welcome at the Vannes Town Hall, they will train that evening.

Another training session on the morning of the 27th will be their final preparation for the clash with Spanish side Pevafersa Valladolid, following which Nantes HB will play Danish visitors KIF Kolding.

The following morning the GB players and staff will attend a promotion event with local schoolchildren before the competition continues.

Depending on the results on Saturday, the play-off for third spot will take place at 4pm, while the final is scheduled for 6pm with the closing ceremony shortly afterwards.

The 18-man GB team will be led by captain and goalkeeper Bobby White from Milton Keynes, and includes newcomer Simon Wittlin who debuted for GB during their training camp in Lanzarote this Summer.

Valladolid are one of the best Spanish domestic teams who compete each year in the European Champions League.

Led by Juan Carlos Pastor, the former Spanish national team coach, they boast many of the best players in Europe including Sierra, Gurbindo, Perales, as well as Frenchment Joli and Serbian players Nikcevic and Krivokapic.

KIF Kolding are one of the best Danish clubs of all time with a lot of great players from handball history such as Lars Christiansen, Bo Spelleberg, Lasse Boesen, Frederik Ohlander and Kasper Irming.

And Nantes are one of the top French handball teams. Led by Thierry Anti, they have some of the best players from last World Championship in Sweden such as Ekdahl Durietz of Sweden, Rivera of Spain, Pribak of Serbia, Italian Scatar and pivot Gharbi from Tunisia.

PHOTOS: GB Women in Stelioplast Cup

2011-08-08T22:10:00.000+01:00

Photographs of Great Britain women in the the Stelioplast Cup in Germany are now available to view online.

Please go to our online photo album to see some excellent pictures by Thomas Prenosil, including some from GB's victory over Trier.

More of Thomas's work can be seen at http://www.thomasprenosil.de/

GB Women Beat Bundesliga Opponents

2011-08-07T16:25:00.000+01:00

GREAT Britain women secured a dramatic 26-25 victory over German Bundesliga outfit Trier in their final match of the Stelioplast Cup, bringing to an end a successful road trip into Europe for the London-based squad.

After beating the Japanese national side in a match in France earlier in the week, GB travelled to Wittlich in Germany to take part in the prestigious Stelioplast Cup which featured some of the world’s top sides including Champions League winners Larvik and Bayer Leverkusen.

Despite not having a full-strength squad due to club commitments, GB played well and grabbed a fantastic opportunity for the team to play against some of the very best players on the world stage and to continue to gain invaluable match experience as preparation for the Olympics.

Head Coach Jesper Holmris was slightly disappointed with the squad’s performance against Bayer Leverkusen where they lost by 11, but the team responded well against Larvik, eventually going down 21-10 but competing well in the first half against a team filled with Olympic gold medal winners.

The two losses meant a match against Bundesliga team Trier, and the team were determined to end the tournament with a win.

This duly came despite being behind for 58 of the 60 minutes. Zoe Van Der Weel scored the winner with a minute remaining to take the match 26-25.

Bury’s Kathryn Fudge (pictured) was in fine form and scored five - a feat matched by Holly Lam-Moores. And Jane Mayes - in goal for the absent Hargreaves - had a fine second half with over 50 per cent save rate to keep the Trier attack at bay.

“This has been a great preparation for the start of the season, giving our players the chance to play against the best players in the world,” said Holmris. “We have had some brilliant team and individual performances but we still need more consistency to put a string of top performances back to back.”

GB Women Beat Japan in Opening Clash

2011-08-04T17:02:00.000+01:00

GB women secured a thrilling 27-26 victory over Japan in the first of their friendly fixtures in France on Wednesday evening.

Despite having driven from London to Rouen earlier in the day and despite missing some key players, GB still managed to secure a victory.

Captain Lynn McCafferty was missing as she continues to recover from shoulder surgery, and despite a gruelling journey they produced a fantastic, hard fought victory where every player put in a great performance.

The coaches had expected the Japanese to be very quick but they were caught out by the British side and seemed totally unaware of the progress GB had made over the last few years.

The GB defence was at its best and backed up by a solid performance by Jane Mayes in goal. It was the British wingers who were the quick ones and Holly Lam Moores contributed 5 goals and Zoe Van de Weel (pictured) matched her efforts from the right wing.

Taking over the playmaker role was young Nina Heglund who also had a great game scoring five goals and combining well with Lyn Byl in the centre of defence.

After the win, Lam Moores said: “It was very tense at the end but it was amazing to beat one of the teams in our block of target nations.”

GB Women Invade Europe!

2011-08-01T15:03:00.000+01:00

GREAT Britain women embark on their travels this week, heading to France twice and Germany once to play both international and top domestic clubs over the next ten days.

With most players having enjoyed their annual summer break, they should all be keen to get stuck into their pre-season tour which will provide a good mix of different levels and styles of handball.

The team will take on Japan in Rouen on Wednesday (August 3, 8pm), and again on Thursday (6pm) with both games being at the Centre Régional Jeunesse et Sport.

The team will then head for Germany for the Stelioplast Cup in Wittlich, where they will play in small groups of three before the knockout stages.

Their first match is on Saturday, August 6 (12.55pm) with German team Bayer Leverkusen being the opponents, and they will then take on Norwegian team Larvik at 6.35pm later the same day.

Depending on results from the first day, GB will then play teams from the other group which may include Trier, Leipzig (both Germany) and FC Midtjylland (Denmark).

Finally they will travel back to France where, on Thursday August 11 (7pm), they will take on hosts Abbeville at Rue Josse Van Robais, 80100, before taking on the Algerian national side on August 12.

COMPETITION: Handball Features on New Stamps

2011-08-01T12:55:00.000+01:00

HANDBALL is one of ten sports featured on a new set of commemorative stamps that have just been released to mark one year to go to the London 2012 Olympics – and we have ten sets to give away!

The batch of 10 first-class stamps are entitled "Get ready for 2012", and as well as handball they feature depictions of classic Olympic sports such as field athletics and gymnastics as well as more recent additions to the Olympic and Paralympic Games, including triathlon, handball and wheelchair rugby.

The stamps are the third and final set to be issued during a three-year Games countdown, with the total of 30 representing the largest Royal Mail commission since the Millennium series in 1999 and 2000.

Stephen Agar from the Royal Mail said the stamps were a celebration "of what is set to be a great event in UK sporting history".

To stand a chance of winning one of the sets, just email British Handball Media Officer Frazer Snowdon on newsdesk@snowdons.co.uk and tell us the date of the start of the London 2012 Olympics.

Entries close on August 8, and the winners will be selected at random.

Just one year to British Handball's first Olympic Games

2011-07-27T01:00:00.013+01:00

EXACTLY one year from now, GB handball athletes will be making their final preparations for the London 2012 Olympic Games!

While a home Olympics is a special event for everyone involved, for British Handball athletes and staff it is extra-special given that this is the first time Great Britain have been part of the Olympic handball competition.

As soon as London won the right to host the Olympic Games, British Handball officials sprung into action and began building teams that would be competitive at the Games and make Britain proud.

And now, with just 366 days remaining, British Handball remains on track to do just that.

“Everyone in our sport can be rightfully proud of what we have achieved in a short time; other nations have recognised the meteoric progress that the Great Britain teams have made on the court, and at home, handball has become a recognised school sport as an effect of the London Olympic Games,” said Paul Goodwin, British Handball’s CEO.

Goodwin went on to say “The next year is crucial to our future and we will continue to build on the strong foundations that we have laid, until handball is no longer Britain’s best kept secret”

And GB winger Mark Hawkins said: “One year to go is an enormous landmark, it really begins the final countdown.

“The atmosphere is already building, and as we come within a year to go it is only going to intensify as we get closer and really makes the games feel real.”

Lorraine Brown, British Handball's Performance Director said "The campaigns of both the GB men and GB women over the past 6 months have shown that both remain on track for their 2012 targets". "With one year to go, there is a focused effort being made by both squads, to leave no stone unturned."

A series of talent identification schemes and scouting missions across the world have brought together the best handball players Britain has to offer.

The athletes have all made many personal sacrifices to chase the Olympic dream – a dream which will become reality in one year’s time!

GB's Hawkins and Larsson on the Move

2011-07-19T17:27:00.001+01:00

GREAT Britain winger Mark Hawkins and right back Steven Larsson have both signed for new clubs as their development into World-class handball players continues.

Hawkins, 25 and from Horsham in Sussex, is moving to Iceland to play for UMF Afturelding in the country’s top league. The move comes a year ahead of the London Olympics and follows three years playing for HK Aarhus Nord in Denmark.

And Larsson, who lives in Norway but has family in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, has been snapped up by Norwegian professional club Drammen HK.

Several international stars like Frode Hagen, Glenn Solberg and Kristian Kjelling have played at Drammen, and last year they finished second in the top Norwegian league.

“Last year they were second in the league, so this year we are hoping to be in the top three again,” said 30-year-old Larsson, pictured right. “But a lot of professional players have come back to the Norwegian League this year so it’s going to be a tough season.

“Hopefully we will have many good games, and we have also qualified for the European Cup so it will be a good build up for me towards London 2012.”

Meanwhile Hawkins, pictured left, said: “It's a fantastic opportunity to play in the top league of such a strong country. They develop so many good players physically and technically. It will be a great place to showcase myself.

“To be involved in a professional environment and playing for a team used to developing players will improve my game before next summer.”

Sporting Grants Available from Sportscover

2011-07-13T11:03:00.000+01:00

THE personal sponsor of GB handball athlete Nina Heglund, Sportscover are offering the wider sporting community support through their innovative Sportscover Sponsorship Fund.

Grants of $750 are available to successful applicants from around the world in a host of sports, and 20 such grants are being made in 2011.

“Sportscover's desire to assist community sports led to the creation of the Sportscover Sponsorship Fund (SSF) as an avenue to sponsor a wide variety of amateur sports men and women, striving to achieve sporting greatness across a broad cross-section of sports.

“Over the last few years, the SSF has donated over $70,000 in $1000 grants to grass-roots sporting clubs and associations,” said Martin Kelly, Sportscover’s Marketing Manager.

Sportscover is the insurer of British Handball and Scottish Handball, but has links to many different sports across the world.

For details of the scheme, go to http://www.sportscover.com/supporting-sport.asp?id=2154

GB Women in Euro 2012 - More Details Released!

2011-07-12T12:57:00.000+01:00

MORE details of Great Britain women’s 2012 European Championship campaign have been released.

Following their two-leg victory over Finland in a pre-qualifiers earlier this year, GB were drawn with Russia, Poland and Montenegro in the group stages, with home and away legs due to be played.

The first home game will be on October 22 against Russia at Crystal Palace, while the home game against Poland will be on March 21 2012, although a venue is yet to be announced.

And finally, the home game against Montenegro will also be at Crystal Palace on May 30.

The away dates have yet to be finalised, but GB will play in Montenegro on October 19/20, Poland on March 24/25 and Russia on June 2/3.

More details later.

GB Men World Championship Draw

2011-07-03T11:27:00.002+01:00

GREAT Britain Men will take on Israel and Austria in the 2013 World Championships qualification phase, after the draw was made in the Czech Republic on Sunday afternoon.

GB will play each of their opponents home and away in November and January, with the exact dates and venues yet to be decided.

The winner of the group after the qualification matches will then go through to the play-off stage of the Championships, with the finals taking place in Spain in January 2013.

GB Goalkeepers Sign for Top Clubs

2011-07-02T11:47:00.000+01:00

GREAT Britain goalkeepers Jesper Parker and Nicholas Satchwell are both celebrating after penning new deals with top clubs this month.

Parker (pictured left) has signed for Swedish champions Sävehof and has Champions League handball to look forward to next season, while Satchwell is moving to Swiss side RTV 1879 Basel, where he will be playing alongside many players with top international experience.

On his move, Parker said: “Sävehof are the current Swedish champions and that will give me daily contact with some of the best players in the Swedish league.

“Since we are soon moving into the last 12 months of preparation for the Olympic Games all players are looking to maximise the use of this short time, and I couldn't have dreamt of a better handball environment.

“Sävehof are aiming to defend their Swedish championship win of last season and do well in this season's Champions League run. I will have fantastic competition on the goalkeeper position in Sävehof but I will work hard to hold a competitive performance level.”

And Satchwell (right), who has become a strong part of the GB Men’s team in the short time he has been involved, said: “The level in the Swiss League is high with several players with experience internationally and from top-leagues such as the Bundesliga.

“The level of competition will be a step up for me. The club is ambitious and aim to reach the play-off stages of the Swiss league.

"The other goalkeeper at Basel is Swiss national team keeper Pascal Stauber who has a lot of international experience, so I hope I will be able to learn a lot from him.”

Olympic Jobs Up for Grabs!

2011-06-22T16:24:00.001+01:00

IF YOU are yet to secure your place on the London 2012 Olympics organising team, why not apply for a number of Games Time paid roles which are now up for grabs?

This is a great opportunity to utilise your sport related skills and experience to help London put on the ‘Greatest show on Earth’.

Opportunities available in handball will include: Administration Group Leader, Official Services Group Leader, Sport Information Group Leader, Athlete Services Group Leader, Field of Play Group Leader, Training Site Group Leader.

Roles will start from spring 2012, although you may be required to attend a test event from 23 Nov 2011 to 27 Nov 2011.

Please access these roles directly through the London 2012 website.
www.london2012.com/get-involved/jobs/working-for-locog

Those selected at CV stage will be invited to attend a recruitment selection day as a first stage of the interview process.

If successful and offered a Games Time role you may also be required to attend a test event relevant to your sport Competition role.

If you are seeking to gain a secondment from your existing role to take up a Games Time Role we advise you start talking with your employer now.

Victories Mark Good End to GB Men's Summer Tour

2011-06-18T12:11:00.000+01:00

TWO wins over tough domestic Spanish teams helped Great Britain men’s handball team finish their summer tour on a high in Lanzarote this week.

Tough stints in Turkey and Brazil saw the team gain huge experience of different styles and levels of handball, and they took those lessons forward into the final leg of the tour on the Canary Island.

GB took on ambitious Spanish Second Division team San Jose Obrero in their first match in Arrecife on Thursday, and after a slow start which saw them 15-16 down, they hit back well after the break to win 34-26.

That match marked a good debut for Simon Witlin (pictured), who plays in the First Division in Switzerland. Standing at 1.98 metres and weighting 111kg, Witlin made a real impact in defence alongside Robin Garnham and Steven Larsson and chipped in with a couple of goals.

Jesper Parker finished with a great 50 per cent save ratio in goal, while Nicholas Satchwell also did well with 42 per cent. Larsson top-scored with seven goals, while Seb Edgar scored six and Seb Prieto five.

And 24 hours later the team took on a Canary Isles Select team, which included some of the region’s top players, and performed well in a 39-29 victory.

"It was a good run-out for us,” said assistant coach Bill Baillie. “We really needed to stamp our authority on the game in the first 10-15 minutes so we didn’t feel under pressure for the rest of the game.

“We were up by 13 goals after the first ten minutes, so that enabled us to give all the squad a good run out.

“It has been a good finish to our summer tour to have two wins, but the main thing we have gained over the last month or so has been the experience we got in Brazil and Turkey.

“This squad has moved up a level as a result and we look forward to continuing that progression soon.”

GB Men are next in action at the end of August, when they will take part in a four-team tournament in France where they will play against teams from France, Denmark and Spain which include some of the best players in Europe.

GB Men Continue Summer Tour in Lanzarote

2011-06-14T18:32:00.000+01:00

GREAT Britain Men are in Lanzarote this week on a training camp, and will play two matches against local Spanish sides as their Summer Tour continues.

The team were in Brazil last week, where they took on the Brazilian national side three times in a bid to gain experience of as many different styles of handball as possible.

Matches on Thursday and Friday will mark the last of the current tour which has seen the GB men play hosts Turkey before their Brazil stay.

There were plenty of positives to come from the tough matches against Brazil, who included several players with Olympic and World Championship experience in the team as they prepare for the Pan-American Games later this summer.

Long-term injury victim Bobby White (pictured) marked his debut as captain in the second match, almost a year to the day since he last played, with Brazil securing a 35-22 win, while GB were much improved in their third game and only lost 25-16 after a much-improved defensive display.

The GB Men return to their clubs across the world following the Lanzarote camp, and are next together at the end of August for a Tournament in France.

Improved Defence from GB in Final Brazil Clash

2011-06-10T13:14:00.000+01:00

A MUCH-improved defensive display from Great Britain Men saw them compete with an experienced Brazil side for long periods, before going down 25-16 in their final friendly match in Sao Paolo on Thursday night.

Both captain Bobby White and Nicholas Satchwell were strong in goal and both had save ratios of around 40 per cent, while their team-mates were also strong in defence against a Brazil side which was unchanged from the one which beat GB 35-22 earlier in the week.

Chris Mohr (pictured) scored five goals for GB while vice-captain Steven Larsson added three, but their inability to convert more chances ultimately cost them the game.

Assistant Coach Bill Baillie said afterwards: “It was a much improved defensive display, but we were unable to convert the many clear chances we created, missing seven clear shots from six metres out and three fast breaks due to rushed shots and good goalkeeping.

“But it has been great experience for our young squad, which averages 23 years old, whereas the experienced Brazil side average over 27.”

The GB team will now return to London for a short time before heading out to Lanzarote for another training camp next week.

Brazil Clash Marks Captain's Return from Injury

2011-06-08T21:07:00.002+01:00

NEW Great Britain handball captain Bobby White made his first start as skipper against Brazil on Tuesday, finishing the match with an impressive 34 per cent save ratio in his first competitive run-out in a year following hip surgery.

But White (pictured), from Milton Keynes, was unable to help his side to victory, with a strong Brazilian attack – assisted by World Championship veterans Silva and Nascimento - helping to secure a 35-22 victory.

“The first half performance was good and we created lots of chances,” said Assistant Coach Bill Baillie. “But we were unable to convert some and this cost the team as it did in the first game.

“The players need these minutes on the court if they are to become competitive and we will be ready for the third game.”

Despite still recovering from a stomach upset which ruled him out of training the day before the match, Steven Larsson top-scored for GB with six goals, while Chris Mohr added five and Seb Edgar three.

A knee injury ruled out John Pearce, but there was a first full international cap for Jack Hennessey.

GB are preparing to take on Brazil in the third and final game of the series on Thursday night, but have injury doubts over Chris McDermott (bruised ribs), Chris Mohr (thigh injury) and John Pearce (knee injury).

Battling GB Men Narrowly Lose to Brazil

2011-06-07T13:21:00.000+01:00

GREAT Britain Men gave hosts Brazil a tough match in their opening friendly fixture on Sunday, drawing with them in the closing stages before eventually losing out 32-25 in Sao Paolo.

Nine goals from Chris Mohr helped GB give their hosts a shock, and with just eight minutes remaining the scores were all square at 21-21.

Brazil pulled away to victory in the final few minutes but knew they had been in a tough match, and GB will be looking to secure a win in their remaining two matches over the coming days.

Assistant Coach Bill Baillie said afterwards: “It was a good start to the series for us. We were competitive for long periods.

“It was a good all-round performance from the team and a good chance to experience a different style of handball.”

As well as Mohr’s nine goals, Mark Hawkins and Steven Larsson both scored five, while Nicholas Satchwell in goal had an impressive save ratio of 38 per cent.

GB will play Brazil again on June 7 and June 9 (midnight GMT each day), giving them plenty of chance to try different formations and learn from the experience.

GB Women v Finland: Pictures now online!

2011-06-07T13:05:00.001+01:00

PICTURES from Great Britain Women's Euro 2012 victory over Finland are now available to view!

From the British Handball homepage, please click the "Gallery" link on the left to see the action from Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London.

Thanks to Marek Biernacki, Michele Davison and Mathilde Friggieri for the photographs!

Alternatively, please go to www.picasaweb.google.com/britishhandball

GB Men Set for Brazil Series

2011-06-05T13:09:00.002+01:00

GREAT Britain Men take on Brazil in the first of three friendly fixtures in Sao Paolo this afternoon (1530 GMT).

As part of their plan to gain experience of a wide variety of handball styles, GB are in Brazil for an eight-day training camp, and Assistant Coach Bill Baillie said: “The plan this year is to test ourselves against Asian and Pan-American teams, so going to Brazil will be very good for us.”

Following Sunday’s match, GB will play Brazil again on June 7 and June 9 (midnight GMT each time), giving them plenty of chance to try different formations and learn from the experience.

Head Coach Dragan Djukic has virtually a full squad to pick from, and Baillie added: “We’re injury free at the moment, with perhaps just one or two little niggles, but nothing serious.”

New captain Bob White is in Brazil and is back in action following recovery from hip surgery earlier this year, and Baillie added: “Bob White may see some action later in the week. The main focus is more on Nick Satchwell and Jesper Parker, but Bob will definitely play at some point.”

For their part, Brazil are just embarking on a new development programme for their handball side, and are working with a core group of new players rather like GB were a few years ago.

Following their matches against Great Britain, Brazil are also hosting Denmark, Norway and Portugal as they prepare for the Pan American Games in October.

Reports suggest they have three or four injuries in their squad, with those players unlikely to see action against GB as they try to recover in time for Denmark later this month.

Jubilant GB Progress to Euro 2012 Group Stages

2011-06-05T00:30:00.000+01:00

A SECOND successive victory over Finland at Crystal Palace on Saturday evening gave Great Britain women a spot in the group stages of the 2012 European Championship.

Following Friday’s nine-goal win, GB made sure of their passage through to the next stage with a 27-20 win on Saturday.

They will now prepare to take on Russia, Montenegro and Poland home and away in six matches over the next year, and are under no illusions about the challenge ahead.

And leading the plaudits following an emphatic win was Sir Clive Woodward, the British Olympic Association’s Elite Performance Director, for whom the GB win was his first taste of live handball and prompted rave reviews afterwards.

"I thought it was fantastic,” he said afterwards. “The athleticism and physicality was very impressive and it was a great game to watch.

"Success starts from the top and British Handball really have the leadership and the organisation right and that filters down into the rest of the team.”

Meanwhile, Head Coach Jesper Holmris said: “The first half was fantastic – the best performance we have had so far.”

GB led 17-4 at half time, and Holmris added: “Finland played much better than they did in the first leg, but our defence was just amazing and Sarah Hargreaves in goal was awesome in the first half.

“Both Lynn McCafferty (pictured with Holly Lam-Moores) and Lyn Byl also played really well, but the whole team played their part.”

McCafferty was joint top scorer with seven goals alongside Kelsi Fairbrother, while Byl added four goals to help reach the group stages which begin with a match against Russia in October.

“Russia and Montenegro are two of the top teams in the world,” added Holmris. “It’s a tough group, but it’s just a great chance for us to play against those teams.”

GBR v FIN - Women's Euro 2012 1st Phase Qualification, Saturday 4th June Audio Commentary

2011-06-04T17:17:00.005+01:00

Paul Bray commentating live from Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, London
First Half
Second Half (starts 5 mins in)

GB Women Secure Emphatic Victory Over Finland

2011-06-03T22:25:00.000+01:00

A NINE-goal victory over Finland on Friday evening helped Great Britain women’s handball team put one foot into the group stages of the 2012 European Championship at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London.

Their 31-22 victory came despite some periods of slack play, but overall will give GB great hope of progressing to the next stages of the competition, as long as they can win on aggregate following Saturday’s second leg against the Finnish side.

“The result is very good,” said Head Coach Jesper Holmris. “Especially as we didn’t play as well as we know we can.

“We started well and were 6-1 up after about ten minutes, but then we let Finland dictate and started to play their game, and our defence wasn’t as good as it can be.

“But in the second half we corrected a lot of our errors, and our wingers especially played well and scored from 13 of their 15 shots at goal. And Kathryn Fudge (pictured) had a very good performance in attack for us and top-scored with six goals.

"The win was more comfortable than we expected, but we should aim to perform better in the second leg. We always think that our own performance is more important than the result, and for that reason we will be looking to correct some mistakes tomorrow.”

Great Britain take on Finland in the second leg at Crystal Palace tomorrow (June 4) starting at 7.30pm. The match is the finale of a day of action which sees four England Handball Cup finals take place throughout the day.

Debut Hopes at Great Britain v Finland

2011-05-29T17:49:00.000+01:00

GREAT Britain Women will be hoping to repeat their 2009 victory over Finland when they play them again - twice - in the qualifying stages of the 2012 European Championship this weekend (June 3-4).

GB won both legs of their Euro 2010 tie, culminating in a thrilling first home victory for the British team at the Echo Arena in Liverpool two years ago to make it through to the group stages, and will be aiming to do the same again on Friday and Saturday night.

But this time both matches are at home - at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London to be exact - and this time there is a host of other handball action to keep spectators well entertained.

The first match is on Friday evening at 7.30pm, while the second is exactly 24 hours later.

Friday’s match could mark a first official international cap for two members of the team - Yvonne Leuthold and Dani Sposi (pictured).

The pair have been involved with the GB set-up for many years, having played in unofficial internationals and attended many training camps around the world.

Leuthold is now eligible to play after a three-year wait for her clearance to come through. And after several years of living in London, Sposi has also finally received a British passport.

It may also mark an GB international debut for Charlotte Le Blanc, a welcome new addition to the team who plays her club handball with HC de Belley in France.

But of course the match is being played in familiar surroundings for much of the team, who are settling into their new homes in the Crystal Palace area as part of British Handball’s exciting link-up with GLL who run a number of sporting venues around the capital, including the National Sports Centre at Crystal Palace.

GLL are providing help with accommodation, training facilities, jobs and a host of other areas, and we are indebted to them for their expert assistance.

The last time Finland and GB met over two legs was in the 2010 European Championships, where the top-scorers were Britt Goodwin and Holly Lam-Moores with eight each, while Annette Tallqvist was Finland’s best, also bagging eight goals.

Tallqvist scored five goals for Finland in their 25-25 draw against Portugal in the 2011 World Championship qualifying stage, a result which was to provide their only points of the championship.

But GB fared better, beating Slovakia and Cyprus to finish third in their group and only narrowly miss out on reaching the next stage.

Mohr Scores 17 as GB Men Battle Against Turkey

2011-05-29T17:00:00.002+01:00

GREAT Britain men turned in strong performances against Turkey in friendly matches this week, narrowly losing to a top-class opposition and a partisan support.

Chris Mohr (pictured) scored nine goals for GB as they lost out 30-33 in their first clash, and he bagged another eight in the second match which GB again narrowly lost 26-30.

It was a marked improvement from earlier in the week, when GB had lost out 33-20 to Turkey A.

“When we played Turkey in the Loughborough Series earlier this year they only beat us by two goals,” said assistant coach Bill Baillie. “But they had two or three of their main players out for that game as they couldn’t get visas, so I think they wanted to play us at full strength.

“It’s a good test for us as we’re about on the same level, but their team is older and more experienced with a lot of players in their late 20s and early 30s.

“They play a typical Mediterranean style of handball. They have an aggressive defence, we normally play against 6-0 defences, whereas they are quite open and similar to African and Asian teams in a lot of ways.”

In the first match, as well as Mohr scoring nine goals John Pearce bagged four, while Sebastian Prieto scored six in the second match, while Chris McDermott added five.

The team will now return to London for a couple of days of preparation before heading off to Brazil for an eight-day training camp at Sao Paolo where they will take on their hosts in several matches.

GB Men Prepare for Turkey Meet

2011-05-25T17:03:00.002+01:00

GREAT Britain men have begun their busy summer of international action this week, flying to Turkey for a training camp which will see them take on their hosts three times.

Following that the team will travel to Brazil and on to Lanzarote, as they continue to play teams with differing styles of handball to give themselves experience of a wide variety of nations.

The week-long training camp in Turkey will include two matches against Turkey’s first team, while they will also play a second-string Turkish outfit.

They are due to play Turkey A on May 26, and Turkey B on May 27. Following a rest day, they will then take on Turkey A again on May 29.

“Turkey will be a good opponent for us,” said assistant coach Bill Baillie. “When we played them in the Loughborough Series earlier this year they only beat us 28-26.

“But they had two or three of their main players out for that game as they couldn’t get visas, so I think they’re keen to take us on again.

“It’s a good test for us as we’re about on the same level, but their team is older and more experienced with a lot of players in their late 20s and early 30s.

“Hopefully, because we’re playing their B team too, we will get to see some of their younger players too.

“They play a typical Mediterranean style of handball. They have an aggressive defence, we normally play against 6-0 defences, whereas they are quite open and similar to African and Asian teams in a lot of ways.”

TastyLimburg Sign Player Sponsorship Deals

2011-05-25T17:02:00.000+01:00

BRITISH Handball sponsor TastyLimburg have stepped up their support of the GB national women’s handball team by providing personal sponsorship deals with three of the GB team.

The agreement was signed with Zoe Van Der Weel, Holly Lam-Moores who will become ambassadors of the TastyLimburg brand and Lynn McCafferty who will be sponsored by Dutch Engineering giant Stork, during a reception in London, and will help the players hugely as they prepare for the 2012 Olympics.

The reception was held at the Harrington Hall Hotel in Kensington, where TastyLimburg welcomed officials from the 2012 Olympics, from the region of Limburg in Holland, and from business from across Britain keen to link up with the forward-thinking brand.

Accompanied by some fine food brought direct from the region, TastyLimburg announced their plans to host an Olympic lounge in the capital during the games next year, in conjunction with British Handball.

The lounge will take the form of a Brazilian beach club, and will feature a beach handball court as well as hospitality areas.

Following the sponsorship signing with TastyLimburg, several of the GB players who have just moved to London attended a meeting with Crystal Palace Chamber of Commerce, where Chamber members were interested to meet their new residents and explore ways of making the most of their new Olympic-hopeful neighbours.

* British Handball’s next promotion event will see the GB men’s team attend a Handball Challenge at St Pancras International Station on June 1 where they will be encouraging members of the public to pitch their skills in a game of accuracy and speed against the GB players.

European Action Comes to London

2011-05-11T16:25:00.002+01:00

GREAT Britain Women will take on Finland in the qualifying phase of the 2012 European Championships in London next month.

GB will be hoping for a similar result to the last time they played Finland, where they beat them over two legs to qualify for the group stages of the 2010 competition.

The matches are on June 3 and 4, both at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre starting at 7.30pm.

The June 4 game will be preceded by a day of domestic action, with youth matches and the EHA Cup finals being staged.

Originally planned to be a four-team tournament with Greece and Israel, the Euro 2012 group has been split into two sub-section with the winner of the GB v Finland matches going into Group Three with Russia, Montenegro and Poland.

The finals of the competition will be held from December 2-16 2012 in the Netherlands.

Coach Holmris: Life in London in Fantastic!

2011-05-04T13:26:00.000+01:00

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!”

British Universities Team Heads for Poland

2011-05-04T13:23:00.001+01:00

A YOUNG British Universities team is competing in their first international event in Poland this weekend.

Selected largely from Lincoln and Loughborough due to a clash with the League play-offs, the event in Krakow will give many of the team their first taste of international handball against teams from Poland and Latvia in the Rectors Cup.

A tough five matches in 26 hours awaits the team, and Manager Rickie Bailey said: “That presents a real challenge, but we’re delighted to be taking part against experienced opposition in what is traditionally a top-class event, offering a real step-up in standard for our team.”

Big Improvements at Turkey Camp

2011-04-27T16:17:00.000+01:00

GREAT Britain women put in a string of strong performances against top class opposition while on a training camp in Turkey last week.

Five games in seven days gave Jesper Holmris’ team a tough week, with training sessions in between the matches against Poland and Turkey.

“It was a chance to see the progress since the team last played Poland,” said Team Manager Melanie Chowns. “And also to gain more experience of the different style of play that Turkey adopt.”

There was also a trial for 17-year-old Charlotte Le Blanc, who plays for HC de Belley in France, and the 1.80-metre left-handed player seized her opportunity well.

Coach Holmris was delighted with the two outstanding performances against Poland, narrowly losing 19–21 in the first match and playing even better in the second match against a fired up Polish team, who won 20–25.

“These results show the improvement, particularly in attack but it was the performance in defence that draw praise from the Polish coach,” added Chowns.

“The matches against Turkey were tougher for GB who are not so used to playing against teams who play so much with a 1 on 1 style of attack and highly physical defence, and this inexperience showed as Turkey dominated both matches.

“GB struggled with their shooting and lacked the usual flow in attack, but the whole squad was given a good run out and gained invaluable court time before the European Championship qualifiers in June.”

After the first match a presentation was made to left winger Britt Goodwin (pictured) who became the first British player in the women’s squad to score 100 goals for her country.

Handball Played At Olympic Arena for First Time

2011-04-19T14:25:00.000+01:00

THE first ever handball match has been played on the Olympic Park after the London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) invited Olympia Handball Club to play at the Handball Arena last week.

A playing surface and goals were installed for the trial, which saw the Olympia players demonstrate their skills so the Olympic Broadcast Service could test their camera set-up, with the light-tubes in the roof closed off to allow greater control of the lighting conditions.

Alex Gavrilovic, Handball Competition Manager, said: “The ODA has built a stunning venue which will provide an excellent platform for the world’s athletes to perform at their best. From a sports perspective, the lighting conditions in the arena are perfect for handball. We’re grateful to the Olympia Handball Club athletes for their participation and contribution to the test.

“Even though this was just a simulation, the athletes were keen to demonstrate the speed, physicality and excitement of handball. I can’t wait to see this Arena filled with spectators cheering for the GB teams as they make their Olympic debut.”

Handball tickets are on sale until the 26 April 2011. A total of 76 matches in 46 sessions are on offer, taking place over 16 days. To make sure you don't miss out on this exhilarating event, apply for tickets now at www.tickets.london2012.com

BHA Chairman Tackles Marathon

2011-04-13T14:42:00.003+01:00

BRITISH Handball’s chairman John Brewer is running the London Marathon this Sunday, raising funds for the Dame Kelly Holmes Legacy Trust.

It will be the 13th time in 27 years he has tackled the epic run, and this time he is raising money for an organisation which works with all sports, including handball.

“The Trust works with young people to give them experiences and opportunities through sport,” explained Brewer. “It also supports senior, experienced athletes in a range of sports, who are looking to develop life-skills and employment when their sporting careers come to an end.

“Through the Trust, British Handball is benefiting from the experiences of ex-World Bobsleigh Champion, Niccola Minichiello, who is working with our men’s and women’s teams.”

Brewer first tackled the London Marathon 27 years ago, and this time will be giving a series of talks on hydration and refueling before the race to all runners who will be collecting their numbers at the Marathon Expo running for four days at the Excel Centre in London Docklands.

Anyone wanting to add to his sponsorship total can visit www.justgiving.com/john-brewer1

London 2012: Excitement Mounts for Handball Manager

2011-04-04T15:10:00.000+01:00

WITH less than 18 months until the Olympic Games are held in London, British Handball spoke to 2012 Handball Competition Manager Alex Gavrilovic (pictured) to see how preparations are going. Andrew McSteen reports.

“My team is very excited, but we’re a bit too busy to think about it,” said Gavrilovic, who spoke to British Handball at one of our business networking events at Crystal Palace recently.

“There’s this looming deadline, an immovable object that we can’t ignore - it’s marvellous!

“The venue will be finished imminently, it will be handed over on the 10th May to LOCOG, so having the arena available this far out from the games has never happened before for our sport, so this is an amazing thing.

“There are a lot of similarities to the Sydney Games experience. Both teams have come from nowhere to create Olympic-quality athletes from virtually nothing with limited funding. But what British Handball and the athletes are achieving is so much better.

“Of course there is more funding which shows a good vision from UK Sport and the BOA and the athletes’ attitude, but they are there as a host nation and will want to take it as an opportunity to prove that they are worthy Olympians.

“We tried this same thing for the Australian teams for the Sydney 2000 games but not as successfully as it’s been launched here and I think this particular effort that has been put in by British Handball - and Paul Goodwin in particular - is just amazing. He is doing a lot with nothing, he is creating so many opportunities from virtually so little.

“In general with any Olympic athlete the media and the public don’t see the sacrifices being made. They see Michael Phelps in the swimming pool but they don’t see the hours and hours of training that the guy does to be where he is.

“Similar to GB Handball – people will come along to an international event and say ‘yeah, they’re good athletes’ but they don’t see the hours of training, the sacrifice, the living away from home and families, and giving up jobs.

“The Olympics are made up of a whole lot of athletes that aren’t high profile. You think about the media here and football – we know what they have for breakfast, we know what cars they are driving and you just don’t get that sort of information for Olympic athletes across any of the sports unless they happen to be the world champions, the most famous ones.

“Behind them there are a whole army of Olympians, doing it tough, putting it the effort in. It will be their families, their coaches and their immediate circle of support that get them through this – and that’s what makes Olympians.”

Behind the scenes, there are also an army of staff helping to put on the Olympic Games, and Gavrilovic added: “I’m delighted to have Sue Whitehead as our Services Manager and I’ve also been joined by Chris Athanasiadis who has been appointed as Technical Operations Manager for London 2012 and who worked with me at the Sydney Games.

“In Sydney he was the Handball Training Venues Manager and in Athens he was Deputy Competition Manager, so he comes with a lot of experience.

“So we have a very strong and experienced team to help us out. We’re focussing very much on some detailed planning some 18 months out or, as somebody put it, 69 weeks until the training venue opens for the Olympics. That really focuses your mind about how little time there is left now.

“We have a lot of detailed venue operational management and detailed competition activity and planning to do, especially for the test event in November, which feels like a long time away but in real terms bringing six international teams to Britain will be a huge challenge.

“A lot of work will be done in the next few months to interview all of our potential volunteers and select the final team of about 150 out of 2,000 who registered an interest in working with handball, which is an amazing number.

“Olympic Handball at London 2012 is far from being just a London-based event, we’ve had volunteers apply from all over Great Britain from Manchester and Newcastle to Edinburgh and Belfast – there are people from all over GB who want to volunteer!

“We are going out across Great Britain to regional volunteering selection events as well as London, which is our biggest one.

“In terms of our National Technical Official (NTO) training we have had people apply from all over as well as running sessions in Scotland, the north of England and London and it’s not just been those involved with handball, we’ve had many volunteers apply from outside of a handball background who just want to be involved in the Games.”

Handball is aiming to be one of the most successful legacy sports to come out of the 2012 Olympics, and leaving behind a meaningful legacy is an important part of the work being done by all parties.

“It would be a mistake to think that handball here is all about getting the athletes ready for London 2012 and then when it is all over let’s all get on with our lives,” added Gavrilovic.

“It’s very important that the sport here is focussing on life beyond London 2012 and what does that look like? How do they run it? How do they maintain it? How do they run programmes? How do they keep the athletes engaged? How do they grow the next generation of elite athletes?

“I think the sport is addressing that, and that is the essential bit.

“The fact that the EHF and IHF are both willing to invest in Great Britain Handball and the team speaks volumes, as they obviously want to grow the sport globally and they see London 2012 as an opportunity to put some things in place for the sport post the Games.

“Neither the EHF or the IHF are seeing this as a one-off. They want to see continued support and continued growth in this area. I’ve always said that we need a very strong English-speaking nation that plays very good handball.

“Australia didn’t quite get there with the Sydney Games so if we can achieve this here with the GB squad then it should help and inspire all the other English-speaking nations to raise their profile.”

British Handball Volunteer Roy Jones Passes Away

2011-04-02T12:04:00.000+01:00

MUCH-loved British Handball volunteer Roy Jones, who has worked at every tournament staged in the last three years, has died.

Roy first volunteered to work as a Team Host at the Women’s Four Nations Tournament in Sheffield in 2008, and went on to fulfill that role many times with different teams from across Europe. He most recently helped out at the GB Men’s International Series at Loughborough University.

“Roy was a gentle, modest and very educated man - a language teacher - who could speak many languages. He had always dreamed of volunteering at the Olympics and will sadly now not realise that dream,” said Paul Goodwin, British Handball CEO.

“Our volunteers play a very important part in making things happen and I ask you to spare a thought for Roy’s family and friends and those of our volunteers who have worked closely in recent years with Roy.”

There will be a private cremation, but a celebration of Roy's life will be held on Wednesday, April 6, at 3.15pm at Arden School, Station Road, Knowle, Solihull, West Midlands B93 0PT where he was recently working.

2012 Games Makers: Update

2011-03-31T09:18:00.000+01:00

IF YOU applied to become a Games Maker at the 2012 Olympics in London, chances are you will be invited to one of a series of selection events being staged around the country.

Dozens of selection events (dates below) are taking place in England, Scotland and Wales between now and August, so if you applied but haven’t heard back yet then don’t panic! Your invite may well be sent later in the year.

Handball was one of several sports that was over-subscribed, so you may be invited for a different sport.

In the invitation you’ll be instructed to log in to the Games Maker zone to choose a convenient time to attend. Please ensure you do this in order to confirm your attendance at the selection event. If you can’t make that day, you’ll be able to call the Games Maker support centre to arrange another date.
If you have any queries about the Games Maker programme, you can visit
london2012.com/volunteering

London (February 2011 – March 2012)
Weymouth and Portland (8 – 20 March 2011)
Salford (24 March – 16 April 2011)
Belfast (20 – 28 April 2011)
Glasgow (4 – 15 May 2011)
Gateshead (19 May – 3 June 2011)
Cardiff (7 – 18 June 2011)
Coventry (22 June – 7 August 2011)
Plymouth (11 – 17 August 2011)

Businesses Support British Handball

2011-03-23T00:01:00.000Z

A HOST of businesses have come forward to support British Handball as they prepare for the 2012 Olympics in London next year, adding to the growing portfolio of sponsors getting behind the exciting sport.

Handball is one of the fastest growing sports in Britain and is set to prove one of the success stories of the Games, with schools, universities and adult clubs across the land seeing unprecedented demand for the sport.

The latest businesses to come forward and support British Handball are top footwear manufacturer Mizuno, Feet Fresh deodorant powder and Global Sports Jobs.

Representatives from all those firms and other interested parties last week attended a presentation event with the GB Women’s handball team at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, where the women’s team will shortly be based following an earlier partnership deal with GLL.

Mizuno are now the official partner and preferred footwear supplier to both the men’s and women’s handball teams for the next two years, a move which ensures the teams will be best-equipped for the Olympics.

Both teams will be using Mizuno’s new handball-specific shoe, the Wave Stealth, which has been developed from research carried out with elite handball players from across Europe.

Feet Fresh is a natural mineral deodorant powder intended for the protection and preservation of foot health, implementing and maintaining the desired climate in the footwear - something that is essential for top athletes to perform at their best.

And Global Sports Jobs is a web-based career advice portal supporting professionals working in the sports sector, helping them find their perfect job, build their network and get ahead in their careers.

Will Lloyd, Director of Global Sports Jobs, added: “We are delighted to partner with the British Handball Association and to welcome them to our global network.

“With GlobalSportsJobs, the BHA will take the lead in creating a global jobs board for the handball community around the world, ensuring that the sport and its partners have access to the best professional talent available.

“I have been extremely impressed by the professionalism and the progressive outlook of the BHA and its officials and look forward to working with them.”

A number of other businesses also came forward with offers of help for British Handball and the athletes as they prepare for the move to live, work and train in London.

A long-term partner of British Handball, specialist flooring company Gerflor were also present and helped make the event such a success.

“We are delighted to welcome all our new partners on board,” said British Handball CEO Paul Goodwin.
“They are all offering different services and products, but each one is playing an important part in helping to make the GB handball teams a success as we prepare for the London Olympics.

“But they are also helping create a lasting legacy for handball in this country, something they can rightly feel proud of.”

“We’re in it for the long-haul, not just London 2012,” said GLL Regional Manager Tony Wallace. “The GLL Sports Foundation support 850 athletes throughout London of which the GB athletes here are part of it.

“We see it is a natural progression for London 2012 and beyond, all these athletes are getting a real good grounding into sport and the opportunity to excel.”

Great Britain v Turkey: Pictures now Online!

2011-03-13T17:59:00.000Z

PHOTOGRAPHS from the Great Britain v Turkey clash at Loughborough University on Saturday are now online!

Taken by Michele Davison, you can see the pictures by clicking here

Battling GB Men go Down to Turkey

2011-03-12T20:32:00.000Z

A BATTLING performance from Great Britain men against Turkey on Saturday was not enough to see them record a third consecutive victory, with the visitors scraping a 26-28 victory in the final match of the series at Loughborough University.

Nine goals from Steven Larsson helped GB contend with a strong Turkish side, and left Larsson as the tournament’s top scorer with 17 goals after bagging eight in Friday night’s victory over Italy.

“We’re really satisfied with how this whole week has gone,” said assistant coach Bill Baillie. “And we were delighted with the performance against Turkey even though we didn’t get the result we would’ve liked.

“But it was difficult for us because we had less than 18 hours rest between the two games, whereas Turkey had a day more than us.”

After going goal for goal for much of the first half the score ended with GB just one down at 13-14 at the break. But Turkey came out fighting for the last period, while mistakes began to creep into GB’s game.

Injuries to key players - with captain Ciaran Williams sustaining a facial injury and Chris McDermott a leg injury - further hit GB’s hopes, and they found themselves 19-26 down with eight minutes left on the clock.

However their fighting spirit shone through and they battled back to within two goals with a 7-2 streak, but just failed to catch their rivals.

Apart from Larsson’s nine goals, Sebastian Prieto (pictured) added seven, while for Turkey Tugberk Catkin and Ramazan Done both scored six.

“Every time these boys come together they are improving, and we can really see the step up now from how they were back in January when we were together last,” added Baillie.

“We have a four-week long camp in May, and it will be good to see how much we can improve then, but it’s all about staying together, learning together, and stepping up.”

GB v Italy: Photos now online!

2011-03-12T15:01:00.000Z

PHOTOS from Great Britain men's 33-24 victory over Italy at Loughborough University are now online.

The images - taken by official British Handball photographer Michele Davison - can be found here or by going to www.picasaweb.google.com/britishhandball

Images from the Italy v Turley match the previous day are also online.

Jubilant GB Sweep Aside Italy

2011-03-11T21:48:00.001Z

ALMOST nine months to the day since notching up their first competitive victory, Great Britain men beat Italy 33-24 in Loughborough to secure their second win.

It was a fitter and faster GB side which took to the court against Italy at Loughborough University, and after opening up an early lead few would’ve bet against GB making it two wins in a row following last June’s victory over Bulgaria.

“The boys played perfectly,” said Head Coach Dragan Djukic. “Our defence and attack was great, and we played right to the end of the match.

“This week we have had physical testing and we can see the improvements that all the players have made.

“We play Turkey next, and that will be a tough game as they have had a rest day, and they are an experienced team and have players who have been together for ten years.

“But if we defend like we did today, we will be happy and we could win again.”

After their good start to the match, GB’s lead was whittled away by some fast moves from Italy, and they were just one behind at the break, 14-13.

But GB kept their nerve and as the game went on they forced Italy into long-range shots. Six goals behind with 12 minutes to go, Italy kept battling and pounced on some defensive lapses by GB to keep their hopes alive.

However, GB battled on and extended their lead as Italian hopes faded and heads dropped.

Steven Larsson (pictured) ended as GB’s top scorer with eight goals, while Martin Hare and Chris McDermott scored six each.

Photo copyright: Nigel Farrow (http://www.nigelfarrow.com/)

Great Britain Aim for Italian Job

2011-03-10T22:28:00.001Z

GREAT Britain Men take on Italy in their opening clash of the Loughborough Three Nations Series on Friday evening, with their rivals eager to taste victory following an opening day defeat to Turkey on Thursday.

Italy went down 28-33 to Turkey in Thursday evening’s clash after a late fightback by the Turks proved enough to snatch the win.

The GB squad witnessed Thursday’s clash, and will be taking nothing for granted after seeing great fighting spirit and skill from both sides.

“It was a really good game,” said Great Britain captain Ciaran Williams, pictured. “They are both strong teams and have some really talented individuals, but Italy are younger than Turkey, and that may have proved the difference.

“These two teams are both of a really good standard, and we’re looking forward to the test.”

Ahead 15-13 at half time, Italy posed a threat to the Turkish defence from across the court, but it was right back Michele Skatar who scored eight goals, while left backs Flavio Messina and Tin Tokic added four each.

However, Turkey’s second half fightback proved too strong, with right back Done Ramazan their top scorer with nine goals, while right back Omar Arifoglu and left winger Tan Idris both scoring five goals.

GB have been in Loughborough all week training, and Williams added: “The facilities here are great. It’s been really tough for us because we’ve been doing a lot of tests, but all the squad are fitter and sharper, and this week has really helped us bring it all together.”

Nine months have passed since Great Britain recorded their first competitive victory, beating Bulgaria by one goal in the qualifying stages of the 2012 European Championships.

And the team are eager to show how much they have improved - starting with tonight’s match against Italy.
Several training camps and a tough domestic season later, Great Britain will be keen to get on court once again.

“I’m back fully fit now for the first time in ages, so I can’t wait to get on court,” said Williams, who was not 100 per cent for the Euro 2012 campaign.

“The atmosphere in the camp is great, we’re all really up for this and want to show what we can do. We’ve played training matches since last year, but this is the first international clash so we’re all really up for it.”

GB Men Ready for Three-Nation Challenge

2011-03-09T21:15:00.001Z

THEY have been training at Loughborough University all week, but now the GB Men’s handball team are ready to take on Turkey and Italy in an international series of matches at the Sir David Wallace Sports Centre.

Forming an important part of their preparations for 2012, the week in Loughborough also gives the venue chance to hone their facilities which will be used as a holding camp prior to the 2012 Olympics.

The first match sees Italy and Turkey play each other on Thursday (1930 start), and it will be a match watched with interest by the GB team who will want to see just what they will face in the following days.

Great Britain are first in action on Friday (1930 start) when they play Italy, who only narrowly failed to qualify for the second stage of Euro 2012 on goal difference having beaten Georgia and Finland.

Finally, on Saturday Great Britain play Turkey, and will need to be at their best to beat a side who overcame Belgium and Luxembourg in the early stages of the 2012 European Championship last year.

Regular updates, match reports and previews will be available each day on www.BritishHandball.com as well as via the British Handball mailing list.

GUIDE TO ITALY

NANTES right back Michele Skatar was Italy’s top-scorer with 23 goals in three games in the qualifying stages for the 2012 European Championship, and he will prove a real threat to his rivals at Loughborough.
The 25-year-old has 61 international caps to his name - more than all but one of his team-mates - Pressano right winger Adriano Di Maggio having 66.
Also worth watching for the Italians is Demis Radovic, a 22-year-old left winger from Conversano who scored 17 in the Euro 2012 qualifying group.
And Tin Tokic is also named in their squad for Loughborough. Another 25-year-old, the left back with JJ Arrate scored 14 goals in their Euro 2012 campaign.

GUIDE TO TURKEY

LIKE Italy, Turkey are also a team with a talented player at right back - 29-year-old Ramazan Done who plays for Besiktas in the Turkish League.
He scored 24 goals in three games at the 2012 World Championships qualifiers and was the driving force behind a team who very nearly won their group.
And in the group stages of the 2010 European Championship he was Turkey’s top-scorer in all but one of the seven games he played in.
And Turkey’s left back Emre Keskin is also quite handy in front of goal, having scored 16 times in their three-match World Championship qualifying campaign.
Finally, Tolga Ozbahar is their most experienced player, the pivot having made 53 appearances and scored 12 goals in their World Championship qualifying campaign last year.

University Trials Begin

2011-03-09T21:13:00.002Z

AFTER the success of the British Universities Championship last month, BUH are delighted to invite GB-eligible male players to register for the British Universities Handball Trials.

The trials will be held from 1-5pm on Sunday March 27th at the University of Nottingham’s Sutton Bonington Campus.

Successful candidates will be invited to represent Great Britain Universities at the 15th Krakow International Mens’ Student Handball Tournament from May 6-8 2011.

Trial Registration is due by March 23 and should go to admin@britishuniversitieshandball.com

Asker Adventure Reaches Climax

2011-03-03T08:59:00.000Z

BRITISH handball athletes have been plying their trade with Asker HC in Norway for three seasons, but this year will be their last as Project Homecoming sees the majority of the GB players come to Crystal Palace to prepare for the Olympics next year.

With GB assistant coach Vigdis Holmeset in charge at Asker, a string of GB players have experienced the Norwegian game over the last two and a half years, and helped turn the club around from one threatened with relegation to one challenging for promotion.

The players have all bonded with their squad-mates at Asker and formed a successful team, which will make it hard for them to leave for London later this year.

“It’s going to be a real shame to leave a club we've been at for the past two and half seasons,” said Louise Jukes. “They have been incredibly supportive to us and we would not be where we are now without them.

“We've made a lot of friends here and will miss them terribly. However knowing what it’s like to play together and how much it can improve a team shows us first hand that being together in London is the future if we want to have a chance at 2012.”

After initially helping to save Asker from relegation in their first season, the GB players and the rest of the team turned things around and finished second in the league last term. But that meant many of their players receiving offers to play elsewhere.

“This season was always going to be tough after losing six of our key players after coming second in the league last season,” added Jukes. “But we did however gain GB winger Britt Goodwin and young Nina Heglund also stepped up to the seniors having shown her form with the youth team.”

Jukes - who along with Kathryn Fudge are the only two GB athletes left of the original players to make the move to Asker - added: “The season has been up and down for us, often facing teams who play their elite Liga players against us in order to secure the win.

“We've had some very good results but unfortunately we will not be knocking on the door of promotion this season. It has taken some time to get the team functioning as a unit with the majority of the players coming half way through the season but things are looking up and we are currently sitting fourth in the table.

“There have been some great performances from the GB girls, particularly Britt Goodwin who is, like she is at GB, sitting as top goal scorer for the team, often converting 10 goals a game. It really is fantastic being able to train with each other day in day out, and we have improve leaps and bounds under the guidance of GB assistant coach Vigdis Holmeset.

“We still continue to go to the elite training with Marit Breivik and some of the Norwegian National team players and it is a huge honour to be invited to this. They are some of the best players in the world and to be able to learn from them and even be on the same court as them is a real privilege.”

GB Men Prepare for International Series

2011-02-23T12:33:00.000Z

GREAT Britain Men’s Handball Team are preparing to take on Italy and Turkey in a series of international handball matches at Loughborough University next month.

Forming an important part of their preparations for the Olympic Games in London next year, the matches will give the team a stiff test as well as presenting the coaching team with chance to run the rule over their established stars as well as those pushing for a place in the squad.

GB are in Loughborough for the whole week on a training camp, while the matches against Turkey and Italy are lined up for the end of the week in the Sir David Wallace Sports Hall.

The first international match is on Thursday, March 10, with Italy and Turkey playing each other (7.30pm start), and the following day sees Great Britain play Italy, again starting at 7.30pm.

Great Britain will then play Turkey on Saturday, March 12, starting at 3pm.

Entry to all the games is just £2 on the door, while schools can get free entry by prior arrangement.

Great Britain will be aiming to build on their victory over Bulgaria in the Euro 2012 qualifiers last year (pictured) - their first competitive international victory - but will need to be on top form in Loughborough.

Italy only narrowly failed to qualify for the second stage of Euro 2012 on goal difference having beaten Georgia and Finland, while in the same competition Turkey notched up wins over Belgium and Luxembourg.

For ticket enquiries please contact office@britishhandball.com

University Titles Spread Around UK

2011-02-23T12:31:00.002Z

THE strength of handball in British universities was showcased in a superb championship in Nottingham last weekend, with more than 30 teams competing in the two-day event.

Both men’s and women’s winners were crowned in championship and plate competitions at the University of Nottingham.

AECC Bournemouth won the men’s championship, while Cranfield won the respective women’s event. Manchester won the men’s plate event, while women’s plate winners were Edinburgh.

Bournemouth won the men’s championship in thrilling style, beating UCL (London) 11-10 after extra time and penalties.

Cranfield beat Loughborough 3-0 to secure the women’s championship, while the Men’s plate went to Manchester on goal difference. And Edinburgh overcame Manchester 5-2 to win the women’s plate.

The Most Valuable Player awards went to Isabella Markus from Edinburgh University, while Sindre Witzoe from AECC Bournemouth was the pick of the men.

British Handball scouts were in attendance and noted good performances from several individuals, while the GB men’s team captain Ciaran Williams was refereeing throughout the tournament.

Next year is Olympic year, and as such the British Universities Championship will be in London, where another record entry could well be on the cards.

Handball's Homecoming: A Player's View

2011-02-23T12:30:00.000Z

WITH just three months to go until the Great Britain women’s team are based in London, captain Lynn McCafferty has spoken of her excitement at ‘Project Homecoming’ and the benefits it will give to the team as they prepare for the London Olympics next year.

McCafferty has lived apart from her husband for five years as she chases her dreams. But apart from the obvious benefit of being closer to her home in Cumbernauld, she is looking forward to the extra progress the team will make thanks to living and training together permanently in the run-up to the games.

“I have mixed feelings about Project Homecoming but mostly really happy and positive about the next step in our adventure,” she said of the move to Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, where GLL will help the players with top class training and work opportunities.

“Leaving Denmark will be sad as I have made some really good friends here. Although I have had highs and lows with the handball I know I will miss it very much.

“The experience I have gained while being here has been absolutely priceless and I can only look back in awe and be thankful about how lucky I have been. I have been training with some world class players and have learned so much just by being part of the same training session.”

Returning to the UK a year earlier than planned has come as a surprise and a bonus to all the members of the team who had moved overseas to chase their handball dream, but McCafferty perhaps left most behind.

“I can’t contain how ecstatic I am about coming home a year early! After five years of living away from home I can’t actually believe that I will only be a mere hour away from visiting my husband!

“But of course my happy feelings are not all personal!

“I am 100 per cent sure that the squad will improve leaps and bounds by being together more often. We are always playing much better together near the end of the training camps, and it seems like 10 days just isn’t enough.

“It’s great that we have all gained experience in different handball cultures, but now it is time to bring it together and make it work.

“We will also all be better supported in London by all the staff, such as our Strength and Conditioning coach. The things he implements on camps can now be done more often under expert supervision thus making us even fitter, stronger and faster.”

Aside from the difficulties of living in a different country, something else the players will not miss is the unfavourable exchange rate.

“Financially I will be in a better situation as well as the others,” said McCafferty. “We receive our support money in GB pounds, but spending it on Danish Kroner or Norwegian Kroner means it doesn’t go far at all after the exchange rate and bank charges.

“This is a massive positive for the players who have been financially struggling for such a long time. Of course we will now have the opposite situation for our foreign-based players, but I am sure with us living in London a year before the Olympics will be positive exposure for potential sponsors which will help us fund our living and training costs.”

And while many of the talented British players will want to continue playing handball overseas, McCafferty - who will be 33 when she plays at the Olympics - will be staying firmly at home in Scotland.

“After 2012 I am 100 per cent going back home! I have not lived together with my husband as man and wife and I am desperate to just be at home.

“I already have some plans in place with regards to handball, my career - and of course starting a family. I am also very excited to see what opportunities arise after the Olympics, that’s going to be really exciting!”

* After spells in Norway and Italy, Lynn McCafferty is back playing in Denmark for a second spell this season, where her club AGF Aarhus are currently ninth in the table.

“I have been getting some good experience here,” she said. “The coach uses me more in defence than attack which has been working well for the team and for me.

“Of course I would like to get more court time in attack, but the other playmaker does a really good job and I respect this and just make sure I do what I can when I do get the opportunity in attack.

“I have many positive things that I have gained from my time here and I look forward to using this in the future.”

Record Entry for University Championships

2011-02-10T11:02:00.000Z

A RECORD number of teams are set to battle it out for a place in Europe at the British University Championships at Nottingham University on February 19-20.

Around 30 teams from as far apart as Glasgow, Bournemouth, London, Edinburgh and Southampton will compete at the 2011 BUH Championships, demonstrating the continued growth of Handball as we look to the future beyond London 2012.

The winning BUH Championship teams will go forward to the EUSA European Universities Handball Championships in Rijeka, Croatia, later this year, representing another major step up for all our British University players.

Entry to the event is free for spectators and the standard of handball is bound to be high. And once you've seen the sport in action you'll also be chasing for London 2012 Handball tickets!

GB Men’s team captain Ciaran Williams will be in attendance and refereeing, while British Handball’s Performance Director Lorraine Brown and women’s team manager Mel Chowns will also be there scouting for future international talent.

More information on the 2011 British University Handball Championship is available from admin@britishuniversitieshandball.com

Split into the main championship and a plate competition, the men’s championship event has attracted three teams from Loughborough and two from Lincoln as well as others from Southampton, UC London, Cranfield, AECC Bournemouth and Bath.

In the women’s championship Loughborough field two teams and will take on Cranfield and Lincoln.
The plate competition has men’s and women’s teams from Edinburgh, Strathclyde, Manchester, Nottingham and Leeds Met, while the men’s plate has also attracted entries from Imperial (London), Warwick, Oxford and Bath. Southampton/Oxford field a joint team in the women’s plate event, as do Imperial/UCL (London).

Games will take place on both days at University Park in Nottingham and Sutton Bonington just outside the city, while the finals on Sunday are all at Sutton Bonington.

Matches are 15 minutes long, allowing for more than 70 throughout the weekend.

Larsson Stars as GB take on Sweden U21

2011-01-27T14:55:00.002Z

GREAT Britain men took on Sweden Under-21s in a trial match in Malmo on Tuesday, and competed well against the young starlets before succumbing to a 34-25 defeat.

GB are in Sweden on a training camp all week and are also taking in some of the 2011 World Championship matches.

Tuesday’s match gave Head Coach Dragan Djukic time to try out various different formations, although he was without talented goalkeeper Bobby White who is recovering from a hip operation.

17-11 down at half time, GB strengthened their attacking play after the break and only lost the second period 17-14, with Steven Larsson (pictured) scoring eight goals.

GB Men Prepare for Sweden Under-21s

2011-01-24T11:40:00.000Z

GREAT Britain men’s handball team take on Sweden Under-21s in a friendly clash at the Malmo Arena on Tuesday.

Out in Sweden for a training camp, the GB team and coaches are taking in several of the 2011 World Championship games as part of their trip.

One of the strongest nations in the world, Sweden Under-21s should provide a tough test for Great Britain as they continue their development and progress towards the 2012 Olympics in London next year.

And prior to the clash with the Swedish Under-21 side, GB will play Helsingborg this afternoon (4pm, Jan 24).

British Handball Teams Confirmed for 2012 Olympics

2011-01-19T14:36:00.001Z

BOTH the men's and women's GB handball teams will compete at the London Olympics in 2012 after the British Olympic Association (BOA) gave them the green light.

After a presentation by British handball officials last week, the BOA announced on Wednesday that British Handball would be allowed to take up their place at the games.

The news was announced by BOA Chief Executive and Chef de Mission Andy Hunt at the Olympic Handball Arena in London, which is set to be finished in around 14 weeks time.

“We are extremely pleased to be able to confirm that the British Handball Association has proven to us that they will maximise the opportunities that come with participation at a Home Games to make a step change in their sport that will also have a lasting legacy for handball," he said.

“British male and female handball players are competing in high level club competition in Europe and getting the experience they need to deliver a credible performance at the London 2012 Olympics.

"I am confident that handball will be using the experience of London 2012 to ensure sustained competitive excellence and use London 2012 as a platform to qualify by right for future Olympics as well as a springboard for growth and capturing the interest and imagination of the British public.”

As the National Olympic Committee for Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the BOA, among its many duties, is responsible for approving the eligibility and entry of all British athletes who compete as members of Team GB at the Olympic Games.

BOA Director of Sport and Deputy Team GB Chef de Mission Sir Clive Woodward said: “Handball enjoys tremendous popularity throughout Europe and there is no reason it shouldn’t be the case in the UK - I believe that the London 2012 Olympics can be the platform for that growth.

"I have no doubt that handball will do Team GB and their sport proud in 2012. I am sure they will seize this opportunity and make the most of it for the long term benefit of their sport. I am delighted that the players now know that all the hard work so far has been worth it and that going forward they can concentrate fully on getting ready for 2012.”

Paul Goodwin, British Handball CEO, said: “We are delighted with the BOA's decision to endorse both the men's and women's handball teams participation at the London Olympic Games. Today's announcement is testimony to the hard work and dedication of our athletes.

They have climbed mountains to reach this point and know only too well the challenges that lie ahead.

"Since embarking on this 'Olympic journey', British Handball has always delivered on its promises and we are convinced that our athletes will deliver a credible performance in 2012 and that the British public will not be disappointed.”

Lorraine Brown, British Handball Performance Director, commented: “The announcement today is fantastic recognition of the progress made by the GB handball teams over the past four years and vindication of the hard work, dedication and commitment shown by the players who never lost sight of their Olympic Dream.

"Although everyone in GB Handball performance programme recognise that there is still a lot of hard work to be undertaken in the next 18 months to ensure we maximise the time remaining, the trust and support shown by the BOA in our plans is tremendous news."

GB goalkeeper Bobby White, said: “It is fantastic news that the BOA has given us the opportunity to compete at the London Olympics. There has been a great deal of hard work from everybody involved in British Handball, none more so than the players that have continued to fight and improve when circumstances were against us. Now we can focus solely on what we can control, and push on even further.

"In 2012 we will have the chance to show the British public what an incredible sport handball is and show the f the International handball community what can be achieved in such a relatively short amount of time, considering where we started!”

And women’s team member Dani Sposi, added: “It's fantastic news to hear that we are going to compete for our country at London 2012. We have been working very hard and have been dedicated to the dream of competing in London for the past four years.

"Being part of Team GB is a great honour and we are pleased the BOA saw in our team a credible group of athletes as well as a great opportunity for British Handball. We will be based in London later on this year to intensify our training and be ready to produce inspiring performances in London, for the public, for the sport and for the legacy we would love to leave behind for the next generation of handball players.”

Team GB players can now look forward to competing at the Handball Arena in the Olympic Park, with the ODA confirming that the upper tier of 3,500 seats has now been completed and the last of the sustainably-sourced copper cladding fitted onto the unique roof.

Work is moving ahead inside the venue, with the remaining 3,000 retractable lower tier seats to be installed once the sprung wooden court surface is completed next month. A webcam has also been installed at the area, allowing people to see the progress made to date.

ODA Chairman John Armitt said: “The Handball Arena is one of the most compact on the Olympic Park, with legacy and sustainability very much integrated into the design process.

Progress is moving ahead at an impressive rate, with over half of the seats already in place and work underway of installing the sprung wooden floor.”

GB U21s Fly the Flag for Britain

2011-01-12T22:30:00.000Z

A STRING of battling performances saw Great Britain Under-21 Men’s handball team gain the respect and admiration of rival players, coaches and spectators at the World Championship qualifying tournament in the Czech Republic.

Fighting spirit shone through from all the players, who competed well in all three of their matches in Nove Veseli despite a young squad with little international experience.

The development work being done across the country produced many of the players on show, and many of those receiving their first caps will surely be back for more after some sparkling performances.

The team lost all three of their matches, but with an average of just one and a half caps for the GB squad, they played strongly against teams who have been together for several years and are already destined for top-level handball careers.

They faced a tough opening match against a Slovenian team who are ranked number three in Europe, and lost out 46-14 to a side who have largely been playing together for five years.

But the GB players responded superbly the following day with a strong performance against the host nation, Czech Republic.

Great Britain were only two goals down at half time at 15-13, and among the crowd who gave them a standing ovation at the break was the Slovenian team who had beaten them the previous day.

With Jack Hennessy out with a back injury and captain Chris Mohr and Nick Satchwell both playing through ankle injuries, GB were unable to sustain the pressure and went down 41-29.

For the final game against Norway, the GB team were back to full strength after some good work from the physio. After a hesitant start GB trailed 13-10 at half time.

With just 12 minutes left Norway were only leading 29-23, but GB tired and could not stop their experienced rivals pulling away to win 47-28.

GB Senior Team Head Coach Dragan Djukic was present for all the Under-21 matches, and saw much to be optimistic about as British Handball continue to make plans for the future of the sport in this country.

Lord Coe Backs Handball to be An Olympic Hit!

2011-01-05T14:41:00.002Z

LONDON Olympics Chairman Lord Coe has backed handball to be a big hit at the 2012 Games.

He was responding to questions about Olympic tickets which go on sale in March, and backed all sports - including handball - to sell out and give the British public a real sporting boost.

“There is massive interest in sport generally in this country and people will also want to go to see sports they have never seen before to sample the Olympic experience,” he said.

“This is also an opportunity for a number of federations to use that showcase as a way of attracting young people to the qualities of that sport.

“Handball for example could have a very big leg-up in this country as it is a very good sport and exciting for kids to learn and play.”

GB U21 Men Prepare for World Championships

2011-01-01T12:52:00.000Z

GREAT Britain Under-21 men travel to the Czech Republic this week where they will be competing in one of the toughest groups of the World Championship qualification stage.

A squad of 22 players will travel on Monday to prepare for the group stage, which begins on Friday with a clash against Slovenia, and continue with matches against the hosts Czech Republic on Jan 8 and Norway on Jan 9.

“Our average number of international matches in this squad is just four, while our opponents range from 28-40,” said Head coach Bill Baillie. “Our opponents have had most of their players in the system for four years, while ours have been with us for just one.

“But this is progress from last time and with the good work being undertaken by England Handball, this will only improve for future championships.”

A strong goalkeeping line-up goes to the Czech Republic with GB senior number three Nicholas Satchwell (pictured) leading newcomer Mukesh Singh, while Salford’s Rob Avery also looks promising.

Other key players for the Under-21s include GB seniors Chris Mohr who captains the U21s, while wingers Alex Girvan and Seb Edgar will be expected to put their experience with the GB seniors to good use.

Avery is joined in the squad by Salford team-mates Aden Woodall, Jack Hennessey and Josh Hampson who have all been in good form in the National League.

But the team is without injury victim Gawain Vincent, while Henrik Forsting is unavailable.

“We have been drawn in one of the toughest - if not the toughest - groups,” added Baillie.

“Slovenia finished third at the Under-20 European Championships in August and the Czech Republic finished 12th. And Norway were one of the best teams in pot three of the draw and are currently in Iceland preparing for these championships.”

Euro 2010: Britain Invades Europe!

2010-12-22T12:48:00.002Z

GREAT Britain invaded Europe last week with handball fans, officials and players travelling to witness the thrilling finals of the 2010 Women’s European Championships in Denmark and Norway.

British people were working in several areas of the competition, as the growth of the sport in Britain continues to gather pace.

The European Handball Federation’s Head of Media and Communications is JJ Rowland who played an important part in staging the event, while British Handball’s Honorary Vice President Paul Bray was commentating for the EHF website’s live coverage.

British Handball Media Volunteer Andrew McSteen was editing the competition website, while England Handball official Miriam Pupalova was involved with tournament statistics.

Also at the event was British Handball’s official photographer Michele Davison, while BHA chief executive Paul Goodwin and EHA chairman Mike Briers were guests of the Norwegian Handball Federation.
GB women’s team head coach Jesper Holmris, captain Lynn McCafferty, and GB men’s team player Sebastian Prieto were also at the tournament.

And even among the non-British people at the event, much of the talk in the halls and bars was of the Great Britain women’s team, who beat Slovakia during the first week of the competition, which was split between Denmark and Norway.

After watching Norway win the European Championship, Lynn McCafferty said: I’m a bit awestruck being here. I’m a big handball fan so to watch Norway play is something else. And to play against them in the Olympics… well, you’ll have to ask me nearer the time as it feels unbelievable.

“It’s great to be here and watch it live and see the atmosphere. Obviously I’m a little bit jealous that I’m not on court playing. Handball is such a big sport here in Denmark and Norway and it would be great if it was a big in other places as it is here.”

And BHA chief executive Paul Goodwin said: “Whilst in Lillehammer we received many compliments for the progress our teams are making, not least from Marit Breivik, the celebrated Women’s national coach for Norway.”

Goodwin and Briers were invited to the event by Karle-Arne Johannessen, president of the Norwegian Handball Federation, to attend the matches between France and Slovenia and Norway and Hungary.
They were part of a 9,000-strong crowd who witnessed victories for France and Norway, with the hosts going forward to the next stage of the finals.

They met with officials from the Norwegian federation and discussed co-operation opportunities ranging from International competition to commercial opportunities and development support.

GB Winger Holly Wins Athlete of the Year Award

2010-12-22T12:47:00.000Z

GREAT Britain winger Holly Lam-Moores has been named as the Olympic Athlete of the Year for Handball by the British Olympic Association.

Since their centenary year in 2005, the BOA have named one athlete from every sport as Athlete of the Year, with one being named as overall winner. This year, it was GB Athletics’ Mo Farah.

Andy Hunt, the Chief Executive of the BOA, said: “Throughout 2010, athletes from all 26 summer Olympic sports continued to prepare themselves for the once in a lifetime opportunity presented by a home Olympics in London in 2012.

“During this year we have seen many well-established sports continue to excel at World and European Championship level, while other sports have demonstrated great progression in their ambition of competing with the very best in 2012.

“During 2010 many young athletes have produced thrilling breakthrough performances and it’s particularly encouraging to see so many young athletes named by their sports as the Olympic Athlete of the Year.

“The award of the Olympic Athlete of the Year trophy recognises the dedication, commitment and excellence of athletes who represent the very best of British talent in their respective Olympic sports. I wish all the award winners the very best as they continue their preparations for London 2012, Sochi 2014 and beyond.”

GB Captain McCafferty Steps Up a League

2010-12-22T12:46:00.000Z

GREAT Britain women’s captain Lynn McCafferty (pictured) will play out the rest of the season with Danish First Division side AGF after impressing in training with the Aarhus-based side.

McCafferty has been playing with Hadsten, while also training with AGF. But her performances have been improving and she was given the chance to step up to the next level.

“It was a really tough decision due to my loyalty to the coach at Hadsten as they had helped me a lot coming back to Denmark and I had promised them that I would stay until the end of the season,” said McCafferty.

“I had been approached before but decided to stay with Hadsten. But after the Poland camp the coach approached me again and I really had to think about it because it could be my last chance to play in the second best league in Denmark before returning to UK and then the Olympics.

“This is of course a step up in level and intensity which is beneficial for me and my development.
After a little soul searching I decided to move to AGF.

“I have developed a lot during my time at Hadsten and had great help from the coaches and players. My performance at the camp in Poland was testament to my time at Hadsten.”

British Handball Event Manager Handed Top Olympics Job

2010-12-22T12:44:00.000Z

BRITISH Handball event manager Sue Whitehead, who has masterminded major handball events at Crystal Palace, Liverpool and Sheffield, has been appointed as Handball and Goalball Services Manager for the Olympics and Paralympics.

Community sports manager at Siddal Moor Sports College in Rochdale, has been granted a secondment from that job. She begins her new post after Christmas and will spend the next 18 months in London working at the LOCOG offices at Canary Wharf.

“It’s a big honour to be a part of the Olympic Games,” she said. “School have been fantastic in granting me this secondment and I am very grateful for all they have done.”

Sue first worked for British Handball when she was event manager for the highly-successful Four Nations Tournament in Sheffield in 2008, and then went on to hold a similar role on the team which planned events at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London, the Echo Arena in Liverpool and the Kelvin Hall in Glasgow.

Events she has planned include several 2010 Women’s European Championship qualifying matches as well as the four-team 2012 Men’s European Championship.

BHA and EHA officials in Talks with Norwegian Handball

2010-12-16T10:10:00.000Z

TOP officials from British Handball and England Handball were guests of honour at two important European Championship clashes last week.

Paul Goodwin, the Chief Executive of British Handball, and Mike Briers, Chairman of England Handball, were invited by Karle-Arne Johannessen, president of the Norwegian Handball Federation, to attend the matches between France and Slovenia and Norway and Hungary.

They were part of a 9,000-strong crowd who witnessed victories for France and Norway, with the hosts going forward to the next stage of the finals.

Goodwin and Briers met with officials from the Norwegian federation and discussed co-operation opportunities ranging from International competition to commercial opportunities and development support.

“Whilst at Lillehammer we received many compliments for the progress our teams are making,” said Goodwin. “Not least from Marit Breivik, the celebrated Women’s national coach for Norway.”

* Partners in Handball: Paul Goodwin from British Handball, left, and Mike Briers from England Handball, right, are welcomed to Lillehammer by Norwegian Handball Federation president Karle-Arne Johannessen.

Women's World Champs: Photos now online!

2010-12-06T13:57:00.000Z

PHOTOGRAPHS from Great Britain Women's matches in the 2011 World Championship qualification group are now online!

Taken by Julia Treharne in Poland, the pictures are available at the British Handball photo library, by clicking here

Hosts Poland End GB's World Championship Dreams

2010-12-05T19:24:00.002Z

A BATTLING performance from Great Britain women’s handball team was not enough to see them progress to the next stage of the 2011 World Championships, with hosts Poland topping the group after a 32-17 win over valiant GB on Sunday.

Great Britain finished third in the five-team qualifying group after a string of good performances, which included victories over pre-tournament favourites Slovakia as well as Cyprus.

Slovakia drew with Austria earlier on Sunday to leave the door open for GB to spring an upset and progress to the next stage of qualifying by beating hosts Poland.

But despite some good periods of play, the hosts were just too strong for the GB ladies, for whom goalkeeper Sarah Hargreaves (pictured) was voted player of the match.

Zoe Van De Weel chipped in with three goals from the right wing as did Kathryn Fudge, while Lyn Byl caused problems for the Polish side before having to go off with a bloodied nose towards the end.

Head Coach Jesper Holmris said afterwards: “We played OK, but we should’ve converted more of our chances. When Poland were 7-2 ahead, we had just as many chances and it should’ve been 7-7, but we wasted too many.

“Physically we were struggling a bit today, because Poland were a completely different level, and seeing them play they were obviously going to win the group. They were very strong.

“But overall the tournament has been fantastic for us, and our performance against Slovakia was awesome, and really shows what we can achieve and how far we’ve come.

“This has given the players such a lot of motivation to go back to their clubs and work hard, because they can see it really makes a difference.”

* Picture by Julia Treharne in Lublin, Poland.

Injury Mars Great Britain Win Over Cyprus

2010-12-03T22:36:00.000Z

A CONFIDENT 39-20 victory over Cyprus saw Great Britain Women move up to third spot in the World Championship qualification tournament in Poland on Friday.

But the victory came at a cost, with line player Amondine Webb suffering a knee injury which could rule her out of action for up to three months.

But her team mates battled on after the first half injury, leading 23-10 at half time and building on that lead after the break.

After scoring five goals in GB’s opening day clash with Austria, Britt Goodwin netted seven times against Cyprus - as did Holly Lam-Moores as the British wingers wreaked havoc on the Cypriot defence.

After three games in three days GB now have a rest day where they will tend to several knocks and niggles ahead of their final match of the qualifying tournament against hosts Poland on Sunday.

If Slovakia can beat current group leaders Austria in their final match on Sunday, Great Britain’s fate will be in their own hands, with a win over Poland giving them passage through to the next round of the World Championship.

* Picture by Julia Treharne in Lublin, Poland.

Last-Gasp Goal Helps GB Women Beat Slovakia

2010-12-02T21:23:00.000Z

A DRAMATIC last-second victory over Slovakia saw Great Britain women’s handball team give their World Championship qualifying campaign a shot in the arm.

GB won the clash 27-26 after Kathryn Fudge’s late goal, but it could have gone either way throughout the match with the sides level at 15-15 at half time.

Seven goals from Kelsi Fairbrother (pictured) underpinned Great Britain’s victory, although the while team played much better than their opening day loss to Austria on Wednesday.

“Slovakia were the top seeds going into this competition, and although they aren’t as strong as many people thought this is still a good win and a great day for British Handball,” said Head Coach Jesper Holmris.

“Everybody played well, and our defence was better than yesterday, what is great about this win is that everything that went wrong against Austria we corrected for this game.

“We’re looking forward to playing Cyprus and Poland in our final two matches now.”

Ewa Palies found the net six times, while Lyn Byl, Kathryn Fudge and Britt Goodwin all scored three times.

GB’s remaining matches are:
Dec 3, GB v Cyprus 18.15
Dec 5, GB v Poland 15.15

* Photo by Julia Treharne in Lublin.