Kia ora koutou katoa e te whanau Aotearoa Handball
Here were are, Easter been and gone already,and the indoor handball season is upon us – along with a switch to the orange traffic light setting. Good times!
Fantastic to see Queenstown Handball pull off a successful central Otago tournament earlier in the month. Good numbers from the length of the country, and thanks to Jun for keeping all of those unable to travel to the event up-to-date with results and some more great action shots for the family albums.
Next up we have the Auckland Handball Open, 21-22 May. That’s shaping up to be another doozy, and the perfect opportunity to celebrate a lightening of COVID restrictions. Registrations don’t close until 9 May, so there’s still time if your Club has yet to commit. Pepe, Thomas and the rest of the Auckland Region Handball team are sure to put on a great event on the North Shore, so get along if you can.
The big news for NZHF from the past month is the signing of our strategic partnership agreement with the Goethe Institut. Handball traces its origins back to Berlin over 100 years ago, so forging an alliance with Germany’s cultural institute was a bit of a no-brainer for us. The Institut’s support for New Zealand handball has already been fantastic, with a shipment of handballs and other kit already on its way, and Das Kiwi Handball Projekt enjoying good traction in schools. We are really excited about this collaboration, and what it could do for handball in New Zealand. Keep an eye out for further updates on how Clubs can directly benefit from the initiative,
Another thing we have been working on is a new online player registration system. We are very keen to get a better handle on who regards themselves as a handball player in New Zealand, and where they fit in. Plus we need to wrap a bit more formality around Club affiliations to meet IHF Regulations requirements. We will provide Clubs and Regional Associations with a briefing on this in the next few weeks.
Last, best wishes to the New Zealand Men’s and Women’s Beach Handball Teams, off to battle the Australians in Coolangatta on 21-24 April for the Oceania spot in the Beach Handball World Championships in June and the World Games later in the year. Regardless of the outcome, after more than two years in the wilderness it’s great to have some international handball competition again. Our squads have enjoyed a great beach handball programme over summer to prepare and are in great shape for it – no pressure, guys, but the handball hopes of the nation are on your shoulders!
David Ireland
President, New Zealand Handball Federation