Kia ora koutou, Aotearoa Handball Whānau!
It’s been an action-packed past couple of months since my last update, plenty to report on and still some remaining Handball action to take place before Santa comes calling.
IHF Trophy Success
First up, our Junior and Youth girls returned to New Zealand a week or so ago, fresh from a fantastic experience at the IHF Trophy Oceania qualifiers in Rarotonga.
Led by Head of Delegation & NZ Handball Life Member Iva Sajdl, Junior Head Coach Jill James and Assistant Coach/Manager Mariel Azcona, Youth Head Coach Annalise Wilson and Assistant Coach Kristina Hames, ably assisted by Federation Rep & Squad Van Driver Julien Pringot and Official Photographer for the Tournament & NZ Handball Life Member Jun Tanlayco – alongwith visiting exchange student Dominik Mayer and a pack of cheering Kiwi supporters – our girls took on the best that Australia, the Cook Islands, Fiji, New Caledonia and Tahiti had to offer. And they didn’t disappoint!
With an outstanding team effort and many individual highlights, our Youth girls (Under 17 at the start of 2025) triumphed in all their games up to the final contest against a very strong, also undefeated, New Caledonia Team. That final was one for the ages, with New Zealand dominating early and then needing to fight their way back into it with a pulsating final few minutes before going down by the narrowest of margins. Following in the footsteps of the Junior and Youth boys from a year ago, the Youth girls finished a very creditable runner-up, earning themselves an invitation to the Under 18 IHF Youth World Champs in China mid-2026.
Our Junior girls (Under 19 at the start of 2025) had a far tougher time of it. Unlike the Youth girls, our Juniors only had a smattering of experience to call on. Some only met their teammates for the first time as they were about to head off to the tournament, many of them were still young enough to be eligible to take part in the Youth division, and some had never played a competitive game of Handball before. They did, however, enjoy a fabulous write up in The Post before they departed. Despite having the odds stacked against them, the girls acquitted themselves well with some outstanding moments, making it to the semi-finals before ending up 4th.
Congratulations to New Caledonia who took out both divisions, and to the Cook Islands Federation who put on an excellent event and were fabulous hosts, as always. They have set the bar very high as we look to host the boys’ equivalent event in a bit over a year. Special thanks to our travelling referees Josh Bruce-Campbell and Michael Zandbergen who performed a sterling job on the whistle throughout the tournament. Additional appreciation to Canterbury Quakes’ Justin Cope who diligently analysed the games and supplied our coaches with late night stats after each day’s play to help prepare for the games ahead. And of course, congratulations to our girls from both divisions and our entire delegation to the Cooks! You did the nation proud.
Handball League Aotearoa wraps up
Earlier in the month we saw the final weekend’s play for the 2025 edition of Handball League Aotearoa at Christchurch’s Ngā Puna Wai Sports Hub. With games spread across two courts, and mixing in some last-minute training sessions for our Junior and Youth girls before they headed away on the Sunday afternoon of the finals, it was great to see such a strong gathering of players and supporters from across the Motu.
Going into finals weekend, the Canterbury Quakes were leading on points in both divisions and heavy favourites to take out both titles once again. And so it transpired, but not without a fight and fierce opposition in both finals, with the Quakes sneaking home by two goals over Auckland in the Women’s final and by the same margin over Wellington in the Men’s. So congratulations to the Canterbury Quakes, worthy winners now of both 2024 and 2025 editions of HLA. A massive shout out to Karl ‘Ted’ Fitzpatrick who put in a huge shift to bring it all together, working tirelessly on a myriad of logistical challenges over the year to make the on-court Handball magic happen.
AGM
Switching to the governance and administration side of our great sport, thanks to all those who tuned in for the 19th Annual General Meeting of the New Zealand Handball Federation on 28 September. I appreciate that attending these sorts of events is not quite the same annual highlight on the Handball calendar as it is for me. But we are an incorporated society, and your participation is critical to the ongoing health of the organisation.
Highlights of this year’s AGM included:
Re-election of Karl Fitzpatrick and Julien Pringot to serve another two-year term on the Executive Committee
After five years on the Exec, Treasurer and Beach Handball portfolio head Willy Silcock opted not to offer himself for re-election. Willy has made a massive contribution to New Zealand Handball over the years and we are heavily indebted to him. The Executive Committee showed their appreciation for all he has done by immediately co-opting him back on to the Exec on an interim basis as we look for a permanent replacement to take over the Federation’s finances.
The Federation’s financials remain in good health, largely thanks to the ongoing flow of funding from the TAB.
An extensive suite of changes was made to the Federation’s constitution, concluding the consultation process kicked off earlier in the year.
With the constitution now meeting the new legislative requirements, the Executive Committee was approved to apply for re-registration of the Federation under the new law. That will have some implications for the way we need to operate moving forward with a bit more red-tape for the Executive Committee to cover off (yay), but our stakeholders will be protected from that as far as possible. Hopefully all our Clubs and Regional Associations that are set up as incorporated societies have their own re-registration requirements in hand, with the Federation now formally available as a dispute resolution option for you all.
A record of the AGM, including our annual report, financial report and draft minutes, can be found here.
Following the AGM, the Executive Committee met to conclude governance arrangements for the year ahead. Sadly, Secretary-General Leanne Dawson has advised that she will be stepping away from Exec duties (although will continue in her role as manager of the New Zealand Women’s Handball Team). We are grateful that she is continuing on the Exec in a transitionary capacity for the time being, and appreciate the contribution she has made to the governance and administration of New Zealand Handball over the past year. Leanne played a key role behind the scenes driving our review of strategies and priorities since coming on board at last year’s AGM.
The make-up of the Executive Committee following that meeting is as follows:
President & Complaints Officer – David Ireland
Secretary-General – Leanne Dawson (temporary)
Treasurer & Beach portfolio – Willy Silcock (temporary)
High-Performance portfolio – Karl Fitzpatrick
Membership portfolio – Julien Pringot
Life Member representative & Youth portfolio – Frank Stoltenberg
We are in the process of co-opting a couple more stakeholders to join the Exec through to the next AGM. Willy and Leanne can then slip out of the mix for a well-earned break. Further news will be included in a future Update once that process has concluded.
Another summer of Beach Handball on its way
The official Beach calendar throws off at the start of November with an open camp at Christchurch’s Pioneer Stadium on 1-2 November. The full programme, as it currently stands, can be found here.
The highlight of the upcoming season of sand is undoubtedly the Oceania Beach Handball Qualifiers we are hosting at Pioneer Stadium over Waitangi Weekend 6-8 February. We look forward to welcoming our wider Beach Handball whānau from around Oceania, and finally having the opportunity to return the hospitality we have enjoyed around the region in years past. The winners of the Men’s and Women’s divisions of the Oceania Qualifiers are expected to qualify for the IHF Beach handball World Champs to be held in Croatia in June next year.
The New Zealand men last qualified for the Beach Handball World Champs and World Games in 2022 where they acquitted themselves with distinction. So there’s plenty at stake, and plenty of mahi required on and off the sand to prepare ourselves. Fortunately, Willy Silcock has agreed to carry on with the Beach portfolio to oversee the event, but other volunteers will be needed – if you can lend a hand, please reach out to Willy at beach@handball.org.nz.
But wait, there’s more!
Rounding out this month’s update, we look forward to the Handball Festival that Auckland Handball is hosting at the Bruce Pullman Arena on 1-2 November. Unfortunately we couldn’t escape a scheduling clash with the Beach Handball Open Camp being held in Christchurch the same weekend, What it means is that those who prefer to play on solid ground get a final chance at a hit out before we bring the curtain down on another successful year of indoor handball, Kiwi-style.
And next year’s Handball calendar is starting to take shape. Building on the success of this year’s format, we have Club Champs locked in at Wellington’s Ākau Tangi Sports Centre for 10-13 September, throwing off at around 4pm on the Thursday and concluding around 5pm on the Sunday.
That’s more than enough for this month. Thanks to those of you who hung in until the end, and more importantly, thank you to all our wonderful volunteers who do all the heavy lifting needed to keep the New Zealand Handball lights on.
Ngā mihi, nui
David Ireland
President, New Zealand Handball Federation