Kia ora koutou katoa e te whānau Aotearoa Handball!
While the latest weather bombs to hit NZ and our July temperatures may mean none of us are thinking beach at this time (other than somewhere overseas to escape to), beach handball is where this month’s update must start off.
Massive shout out to our Men’s Beach Handball team who have now completed their 5 week European and North American Beach Handball odyssey. Awesome achievement to clock up New Zealand’s first ever senior level handball victory at a major international tournament with a W at the World Championships in Crete, narrowly missing out on a top 12 finish in a penalty shoot-out with the USA, and then backing up their earlier success with another W over the African continental champions to finish a very creditable 14th. The World Games in Alabama was a more exclusive 8 team event where we weren’t able to get over the line with another victory, albeit still finishing 7th after Denmark weren’t able to make it over. In Alabama we arguably put in some of the most head-turning performances ever by a NZ handball team competing overseas, with a highlight of the trip being coming within a whisker of taking beach handball’s traditional powerhouse Brazil to penalties. Heady stuff.
Congratulations to our history-making team, proving that Kiwis can in fact fly and take it to the best. Welcome back to the New Zealand winter, boys!
The Men’s team’s participation in July’s World Games concluded our highly successful 2021-22 Beach campaign, which included our Women’s Team pushing Australia hard in the Oceania qualifiers over ANZAC Weekend. Seems a long time ago... Eyes now turn to the 2022-23 campaign, with qualifying for the World Beach Games in Bali later next year the key objective. Both national rep squads will be opened up for selection over summer, with another action-packed beach handball programme planned. If you are interested in getting amongst it, contact NZHF Beach Handball beach@handball.org.nz to register your interest.
The next major event on the NZ Handball calendar is the Under 20 Open in Auckland. Great to see that tournament get off the ground to back up the success of Auckland’s Men’s and Women’s Open in May. Best wishes to Pepe and the Auckland Handball organising committee, and fingers crossed you don’t get hit with any COVID disruptions this time round. Any boys who were under 20 at the start of this year who have not yet been snaffled into a team for the tournament, please get in touch with Pepe at Auckland Handball info@aucklandhandball.com, as he may be able to find a spot in one of the teams to take you – the more the merrier. This will be the first selection event ahead of the IHF Oceania Trophy tournament in the Cook Islands scheduled for the end of November. Coaches and a management team have been appointed for that campaign and we look forward to seeing the future of our Men’s game develop over the next few months. If you are a male born in 2002 or younger and want to get involved, please reach out to Tim at high-performance@handball.org.nz.
And we haven’t forgotten about the girls! While we couldn’t get the numbers to run a female section of the Auckland Under 20 Open, your chance at IHF Trophy qualification is expected to come in 2023. We are currently working on a strategy to increase participation of girls playing across the country, and provide support to those keen to develop their skills in coaching and management to ensure the future of our women’s game is secure. Please reach out to Womens NZHF womenshandball@handball.org.nz if you are interested in being a part of that.
Following the Auckland Under 20 Open we have the National Club Champs being held at Wellington’s fabulous ASB Centre 8-11 September. At this stage we have yet to make a call as to whether we will need to use the afternoon of Thursday 8th to fit some opening games into the schedule. All depends on the number of teams who register, with the possibility of an exhibition game against an Australian selection late afternoon on the Thursday to kick off the tournament still on the cards. For our developing Clubs – thinking BoP, Queenstown, Wanaka, Southland – you are welcome to combine resources to make up a Barbarians team or two. Clubs/combinations can register by emailing me at president@handball.org.nz, with a registration fee of $400 per team payable no later than 7 September. Registrations close 15 August.
Further details regarding the Regional Champs to be held at Christchurch’s Pioneer Stadium in the 1st weekend of October will follow closer to the time. Regional Associations should be thinking about their selections for that event now, to ensure they are able to follow a proper process. Contact Tim at high-performance@handball.org.nz if you want a hand with that.
As notified in last month’s update, the NZHF AGM is going to be run virtually from 7pm on Sunday 25 September. The key advance task for Clubs is to think about anyone they would like to put forward for election to the three spots on the NZHF Exec that will come available at the AGM. Nominations for election to the Executive Committee must be received by NZ Handball (secretary@handball.org.nz) before 10 September. Get in touch if you would like further details.
Amongst all that, we had our Referees pathway programme kick off on 17 July, with the 2nd session scheduled for 24 July. Co-ordinated by Antoine Desnos, this programme sets participants on the path to become a qualified referee, potentially opening the door to blow your whistle at overseas events (or at least, get paid for doing so at the NZ Club Champs!) with your very own official referee shirt thrown in, thanks to the generous support of the Goethe Institut. Contact referees@handball.org.nz for further details.
Last, a plea on behalf of our developing clubs. To get handball up and running effectively outside the main centres, we need the numbers to make it happen. Please reach out to anyone you know in the BoP, Queenstown Lakes District or Southland, regions, in particular, who you think might be interested in getting into our great sport and encourage them to get in touch. And of course, there are always openings and a warm welcome for newcomers at all of our established clubs around the country!
David Ireland
President, New Zealand Handball Federation