Kia ora koutou Aotearoa Handball Whanau
I am penning this month’s update hot on the heels of our first ever high performance super camp in Christchurch, with our men’s and women’s youth and senior squads coming together to make the most of the coaching resources on offer. It was awesome to see all that handball talent on display, and fantastic to have international coach Roland Nemes over here spreading his handball wisdom - as well as the wisdom shared by our domestic-based coaching talent as well, of course! A big shout out to all those who juggled the logistical challenges involved to bring it all together so well.
The squads all now go their separate ways with their respective programmes, but the success of this first attempt at a multi-dimensional camp has encouraged us to try the initiative again when the planets next align.
Trans-Tasman Condolences
It was with great sadness that we heard of the shock death of Australian Beach Handball coach Patrik Weiss in Perth earlier this month. Very sobering to think that less than two months before his death he was playing a key part in orchestrating Australia’s victories over New Zealand in the Oceania Beach Handball finals in Coolangatta. Our thoughts go out to Patrik’s family and the Australian Beach Handball community, and we wish the Aussie national teams well as they deal with this setback on their path to the Beach World Games in August.
Regional Round Up
One of our strategic initiatives is to ensure we are connecting our regions together, and we had a good catch up with many of the regional reps earlier in the month. The fantastic mahi that Justin and the rest of the Canterbury Handball community are putting in to provide handball in schools is particularly encouraging, with some great structures in place. The future of handball in that region looks to be in great hands, and we hope to be able to replicate some of the initiatives that have brought success in Christchurch elsewhere in the country.
Other regions have their challenges, but there are some good initiatives in play - and good to see the Wellington Club league start up again at the start of the month. One area we are struggling with is numbers in Queenstown, so if any of you know of anyone in that area who might be interested in a hit out, please send them Leo’s way.
Tournament Survey
Another initiative we have under way is to gather feedback from the first three national tournaments that have taken place so far this year. Your views matter, and we are committed to making all New Zealand handball events the best they can be. So if you were involved in the Beach Handball Club Nationals, the Queenstown Open or the Auckland Open, please take the time to complete the survey and let us know what you think.
You can find a link to the survey here: https://handball.org.nz/tournament-feedback.
Youth High Performance
The details for the Women’s Youth & Junior IHF Trophy qualifiers have finally been announced - 16-20 October in New Caledonia. It was encouraging to see such a strong turnout of the youth squad at last weekend’s super camp, and it looks like we have some exciting new prospects in the mix. Relieved they now have a date to focus on - and it ain’t far away! Contact secretary@handball.org.nz if you would like further details.
Before that event takes place, we of course have our youth Men taking on the world in Croatia early August. The preparatory campaign has been massive. The delegation has had to deal with more than its share of challenges, but they are nearly there -and it’s not too late to donate to the cause or sponsor the team!! See https://handball.org.nz/youth/current-youth-mens-campaign for further details.
Referee training
Antoine’s excellent refereeing course continues each Sunday evening. If you want to be paid to referee at an NZHF national tournament in New Zealand, or be put forward to referee at international tournaments, need to take this course. On that note, we are seeking expressions of interest for a pair of referees to participate in the Women’s Youth & Junior IHF Trophy qualifiers in New Caledonia in October. Contact referees@handball.org.nz to get involved.
Coaching
If you are interested in beginning your coach development, please reach out to high-performance@handball.org.nz. Tim and Roland will be running an entry level and a high performance focused coaching programme to upskill you and help encourage conversations and collaboration between our coaches doing their great mahi for the benefit of New Zealand Handball.
Club Champs
And last but certainly not least - There’s now less than three months until the pinnacle of the domestic handball scene - the NZHF Club Champs and registrations are now open! We’ll be starting early on Friday 8 September and going through until late afternoon Sunday 10th. Entry fee is $500 per team, with the WCC Sports Event Partnership Fund coming to the party once again to help subsidise the costs involved - big thanks to our friends at WCC and the fabulous Ākau Tangi Sports Centre for making the event possible.
Please register your teams here: https://forms.gle/7dtqWMnWZfjfcMRx9
If you have any questions or need further information, please contact secretary@handball.org.nz
That’s it for now. All the best for your Handball endeavours, whatever they may be, and take care out there.
David Ireland
President
New Zealand Handball Federation