Kia ora koutou, Aotearoa Handball Whānau
I am penning this month’s update on the way home after another successful weekend of handball in the Garden City. This time we were at the fabulous new courts at Ngā Puna Wai Sports Hub at Halswell where we wrapped up another year of domestic handball, kiwi-style.
The past six weeks has been full noise for New Zealand Handball, both on and off the court. In this month’s update we cover a few highlights from that noise, and look forward to what the rest of the year has in store.
Handball League Aotearoa 2024 concludes
What a fitting climax to the inaugural national league! When we planned the HLA at the start of the year we took a punt on the concept, not quite sure how it would pan out, and how the handball community would embrace it. With both the men’s and women’s finals going to extra time and many of the games over the final weekend regional tournament only being separated by one or two goals, we couldn’t have hoped for a closer competition.
Congratulations to the Canterbury Quakes for taking out both divisions – claiming the women’s title from Auckland to reverse the outcome of their pool play encounters, and taking the men’s title in another thrilling final, this time going the distance (and more) with Wellington. It was not just the closeness of the contests that made the finals weekend so rewarding, but the fantastic spirit in which all games were played, with respect for the opposition and match officials to the fore despite the intensity of the contest. Super exciting to see all the emerging talent coming through. And just as exciting to see some of the veterans of the New Zealand game still getting amongst it, as well as a few local legends from New Zealand Handball’s past fronting up to cheer on the action from the sidelines.
Big thanks to all those who pitched in to make the first taste of Handball League Aotearoa go down so well. There are definitely some aspects we will look to improve on for next year, and we will do our best to lock in some dates as early as we can, but the basic blueprint feels like one worth persevering with. Massive shout out to Ted Fitzpatrick for his drive in developing the concept, and all the effort he put in to make it happen.
NZ Handball Club Champs 2024
Of course, the regional finals in Christchurch this month was not the only major tournament New Zealand Handball has hosted in the past six weeks. The first weekend of September saw the annual New Zealand Handball Club Champs boast one of the largest ever gatherings of players for a tournament on New Zealand soil at Wellington’s stunning Ākau Tangi stadium. This year we were delighted to host a veritable swarm of players from across the ditch, with five teams representing three different Australian clubs, along a full representation of Handball Clubs from around the country with a total of 17 teams taking part.
Once more the competition did not disappoint. Congratulations (again) to the Canterbury Quakes for taking out the Men’s title from Sydney’s UTS in a thrilling final. Congratulations as well to UTS for coming out on top in the women’s final, with Victoria University of Wellington Handball Club claiming bragging rights for top New Zealand women’s Club as the losing finalist. We hope to welcome everyone back again for next year’s event.
Annual General Meeting
Sandwiched in between the excitement of our two pinnacle tournaments on the court we also had the excitement of the AGM off the court. Thanks to all those who tuned in to contribute to this important piece of annual administration. If you weren’t able to join us but would like to check out what was discussed, draft minutes from the meeting as well as the NZHF Exec’s annual report for 2024 can be found on our website - Annual General Meeting
Sadly, this year’s AGM saw Rowan Moloughney call time on her tenure on the Exec. As Secretary-General Rowan has made a massive contribution to all we have achieved over the course of her two-year term, and we wish her well for her next life challenge, although suspect she will never be far away from us. We were however, delighted to have Leanne Dawson elected to join us for a two-year term, and she has now taken over the role of Secretary-General. I was also re-elected, and will continue on as President. Frank Stoltenberg was re-appointed by the Life Members as their representative on the Exec, with incumbents Willy Silcock, Ted Fitzpatrick and Julien Pringot completing the Committee. There is much to be done and we don’t have a monopoly on good ideas, so if you think of anything you can do to help grow our wonderful sport please get in touch – we’d love to hear from you.
Regional Forum
Looking ahead, we are now starting to plan for 2025. To kick off that process, we will be hosting an online forum for Regional Associations and Clubs to get together and share ideas on Sunday 3 November. In addition to plotting out a proposed schedule of events for the year ahead and reviewing the year past, we will be discussing the proposed new player registration system discussed at the AGM. Regional Association and Club reps, look out for a meeting invite coming your way soon.
IHF Trophy
To round out 2024, our Junior and Youth Men’s Teams will be heading over to Tahiti in December for the Oceania qualifiers for this major tournament. Congratulations to all those selected to take part – it is an exciting group, and we wish them all the best for their final preparations. Just as exciting is the depth of talent our selectors had to choose from, although unfortunately that means some quality players missed the cut. The good news for them is that there is no shortage of handball opportunities in their future, and we look forward to sharing the journey with all our emerging talent.
That’s it for now. With summer just around the corner, the focus for next month’s update will inevitably turn to the sand when I plan to cover what lies in store for our passionate Beach Handballers over the next few months.
All the best
David Ireland
President, New Zealand Handball Federation