President's Update - October 2024

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

President's Update - August 2024

Kia ora koutou, Aotearoa Handball whanau!

 All systems go this month as we hit the business end of the NZ Handball calendar.

Club Champs 6-8 September

Not long to go now until one of the largest senior handball tournaments ever held on New Zealand soil. This year we have 17 teams competing - 10 men’s teams and 7 women, with an unprecedented 5 teams joining us from Australia - fantastic to be able to welcome them to Wellington. 

 It is going to be massive, with a major juggle to squeeze in as much handball as possible over the three days for those taking part, without overloading players. It is a huge logistical exercise to pull this off, big thanks to the organising group for all their efforts. For those attending, please don’t be shy in offering to help out, and ensure your team does its bit when on duty, including assisting with the livestreaming and set up and pack down. This is your tournament, and its success relies on everyone playing their part, on and off the court.

 This will be the first tournament operated under our new Inclusion & Respect Policy. For those taking part, please take time to familiarise yourselves with expectations.

 For those unable to make it, all games are expected to be livestreamed on the Handball Live Youtube channel. The draw is available in our Event webpage.

Safe travels to those attending the event from out of town, and thanks to our partners for this event – WCC Sports Event Partnership Fund, The Goethe Institut, Brentwood Hotel and Trinity Group.

Youth Development - Wellington Inter-School Handball Champs

What a fantastic event New Zealand Handball hosted at Wellington’s fabulous Ākau Tangi Sports Centre on 16 August! Feeding off the success of the Auckland Inter School Champs held in June, for the Wellington equivalent we had over 140 budding Handball enthusiasts from 7 different schools making up 14 teams in total. Despite most of the players being new to Handball, just as we experienced in Auckland, the quality of the Handball was right up there, and all involved seemed to really enjoy the experience. Massive buzz.

 Huge thanks to Frank and the rest of our volunteers for making this happen and ensuring everyone had a good time, and thanks to the teachers and parents involved who threw themselves into the spirit of the occasion.

 The challenge for us will be how we ensure we are able to replicate that success next year, when we expect to have a significant jump in numbers in both Auckland and Wellington given the positivity with which these first tournaments have been received. Nice problem to have! Youth Handball Festivals are our future, encouraging to see our community supporting these events. Super exciting.

Calling all U16 female beach handball enthusiasts!

If you are keen to be part of the excitement of our girls campaign for the U17 Beach Handball World Champs in Tunisia in June next year, check out the Expression of Interest.

 The NZ team for the tournament will comprise female beach handball players with a New Zealand passport born on or after 1 January 2008. If you meet that criteria, your country wants YOU! A team selection process will take place over the coming summer.

AGM

And of course, continuing with the excitement theme of Club Champs and youth Handball events, we have the AGM coming up on Sunday 29 September. Formal notice of that has now gone out to all the Clubs. 

 The door is still open to those keen on being nominated for election to the NZHF Executive Committee - if you want to know more about what is involved, please reach out to any of the current Exec. If you have a thirst for making Handball in Aotearoa as good as it can be and feel you can make a difference, we would love to have you on board. 

 Ngā mihi

David Ireland

President, New Zealand Handball Federation

President's Update - July 2024

Tēnā koutou, Aotearoa Handball Whānau

We are now heading towards the business end of the New Zealand Handball calendar, with plenty on offer over the next few months for everyone with a thirst for Handball.  In this month’s update I wanted to take a sneak peak at what we have to look forward to, and confirm a special opportunity for our female youth beach players that has been locked in for mid-next year. But first, let’s recap on a what has gone on since my May update.

Auckland Open

Another great tournament was successfully hosted by Auckland Handball on 8-9 June. Numbers were down a little on past years with travel costs proving an increasing challenge for many, but the competition was just as fierce and the camaraderie off the court just as strong – always a great environment for our community to get together. Congratulations to Auckland Handball for making it happen, and we look forward to next year’s edition.

Regional connect + new Inclusion & Respect Policy

A forum was held with representatives of our Regions at the end of June to exchange news and views from around the nation. Thanks to those who were able to take part. These forums help inform the strategies we need to put in place to continue to develop Handball in New Zealand, and ensure initiatives and events are coordinated. Much of the conversation centred around the logistics for Handball League Aotearoa, and it is pleasing to see the buy-in to that initiative and ongoing support from the Regions. The key message we have heard is the need for certainty in planning for next year’s running of the League, and we will be doing our best to lock in timings for 2025 as early as we are able to.

Another topic of discussion was the new Inclusion & Respect Policy that the NZHF Executive Committee has developed. That Policy is intended to provide all our stakeholders with a touchstone to ensure everyone is on the same page when it comes to matters of player safety and respect for our match officials, and ensuring everyone sees Handball in New Zealand as a safe space in which they can participate and contribute.

That Policy has now been adopted by the Executive Committee and appears on our website. You can access it here. We encourage all our stakeholders to take the time to go through it and put it into practice. Please let us know if you have any queries or feedback to share.

Youth Handball update

It was exciting to see two intermediate school-age tournaments successfully conducted in Auckland in June. There will be a similar-aged festival taking place in Wellington on 16 August. We are delighted to be able to support the future of Handball in this way, and look forward to assisting with similar initiatives in other centres. As always, if you would like a hand with any Handball development initiative aimed at our younger players, or want to contribute, please do not hesitate to get in touch with Frank at play@handball.org.nz

Moving up the youth age grades, the men’s Under 18 and Under 20 campaign is gathering steam as the boys look to book themselves a spot in next year’s Intercontinental Championships. The first leg of that journey is the Oceania IHF Trophy qualifiers booked in for Tahiti in mid-December, with a busy few months ahead for the squad as they prepare themselves. To find out more, and how you can support the team, contact Thomas and Olly at youth@handball.org.nz.

To round out the excitement for our youth players in this month’s update, we have just received confirmation that our Under 17 female beach handball players have been nominated to join the American Samoan girls in representing Oceania at the Under 17 Beach Handball World Champs in Tunisia in June 2025. This is an amazing opportunity for the rising stars of our female game, and provides them with a real focus for their training over the summer ahead.

Club Champs & Regional Champs

We are getting down to the wire on the registrations deadline for Clubs to participate in Club Champs in Wellington on 6-8 September. We are expecting a bumper turnout this year, with five Australian club teams expected to join in to add a distinct international flavour to this year’s competition. If your Club has yet to do so, please ensure you register here by 31 July to guarantee your place.

Tracking forward another month and we have the Regional Champs taking place in Christchurch  on the weekend of 12-13 October. This year the event will double as the finals weekend for Handball League Aotearoa, providing a fitting climax to the 2024 Indoor Handball calendar. We hope to see good numbers front up both on and off the court to support their Region take home the silverware.

Referee course

We have another referee training course scheduled to take place over the course of August, as part of the lead up to Club Champs. This is an essential refresher for those likely to find themselves on the end of a whistle on a Handball court – but is also highly valuable for all players to provide you with a better understanding of the rules and expectations. Please contact Antoine at referees@handball.org.nz for further details.

Handball at the Olympics

Before our own annual Handball tournaments take place, there is of course the small matter of Olympic Handball dominance to be settled, now underway with preliminary round games already appearing on Sky Sport. There is also a beach handball showcase Olympic satellite event available to be viewed. Check out our Facebook page for further details – we will keep that updated as further information becomes available, and do our best to keep our supporters informed as to what is available to be viewed.

AGM 29 September

To finish this update on a real highlight, we are currently looking at holding this year’s NZHF AGM online on 29 September. As always, there will be spots available on the Executive Committee for individuals who feel they have something to contribute. If that’s you, please liaise with your Club to get yourself nominated. As part of the lead up to that, we are also hoping to find a space in the schedule for Club Champs to hold a rare in-person forum for our community to exchange views. Further details on that will follow once the Club Champs schedule has been finalised.

That’s it for this month. All the best for your Handball endeavours, whatever they may be, and thanks for your ongoing interest in New Zealand Handball.

David Ireland

President, New Zealand Handball Federation

President's Update - February 2024

Greetings, Aotearoa Handball Whānau

A belated welcome to 2024, Kiwi Handball style. It’s only the end of February, but already plenty has happened in 2024 on the New Zealand Handball front, and we are really excited about what the rest of the year holds in store.

Our Men’s Team doing New Zealand proud In the Middle East

What a fantastic way to finish an international tournament!

Our Senior Men’s Team knew they would be up against it when they headed to Bahrain in January for the 21st Asian Men’s Handball Championships. Our previous campaigns to the Asian Champs – Men and Women – have failed to produce a win, despite a couple of close results and periods of footing it with the best Asia had to offer.  After four years in the international wilderness, the Men kicked off the 2024 Championships with a lot of ground to make up.

That gap in the level of play we were used to certainly showed in the early games. By the final game of the Championships against India we were staring down the barrel of another winless campaign. But never count a Kiwi out! Superbly led by the ever-green Jimmy Cochrane and a player of the match performance from Paul Ireland, New Zealand powered to a five goal win to finally get the monkey off our back. With a mounting casualty list, it was a massive effort from our men and just reward for all the years of effort that got the team to that point. Congratulations to coach Roland Van Den Tillaar and all the squad for what they achieved. And thanks to our new-found supporters in Bahrain for getting behind the team!

National League

What the latest Asian Championships has taught us is that if we want to be competitive on the international stage, we have to increase the number of competitive games our players are exposed to. There is no substitute for game-time.

With the above in mind, and in response to feedback from around the regions of players hungry for more opportunities to flex their muscles, we are now putting the final touches on the National League concept floated last year. Keep an eye out for further updates over the next few weeks as we lock down the final logistics following consultation with the Regional Associations.

Meantime, we have a calendar of upcoming events. More details will be posted in our event page - https://handball.org.nz/events. Unfortunately, the Trans-Tasman  clash we had previously hoped to take place at the start of May has fallen through, but there’s still plenty coming up for everyone!

BEACH

2024 National Beach Womens Champion - Dirty Pigeons

2024 National Beach Mens Champion - Barad-dur Beach Bros

At this time of year, of course, Beach Handball dominates the domestic scene. Another superb programme on the sand has been put together, with the National Beach Championships having just successfully concluded in Christchurch. Congratulations to the Dirty Pigeons from Australia and the Barad-dûr Beach Bros for taking out the Women’s and Men’s titles respectively, and to all who took part. Fantastic to have a team from across the ditch taking part. We have a couple of teams looking to reciprocate for the Aussie Beach Club Champs in April – great to see the Trans-Tasman rivalry and Handball camaraderie thriving. Also pleasing to see the strong uptick in the number of female Beach players coming through, encouraging signs for the future of the Women’s game.

Next up on the Beach calendar is the North v South Championships taking place at the end of March. If you haven’t experienced the excitement of Beach Handball live, that should be a great event to get along to. 

Volunteers and admin

Now that we have got the NZ Exec organisational restructure bolted down - Organisation Structure, we are looking out for volunteers to help out with the various portfolio areas. The idea is that many hands make light work – and a heck of a lot more fun!

You can find the EOI details here EOI Form. No prior experience necessary, with each portfolio overseen by one of the Executive Committee. All we are after is people passionate about helping New Zealand Handball become the best that it can be. And there is no shortage of work to be done.

The other volunteer initiative underway at present is the appointment of coaches for our various high performance sides. EOIs are currently in circulation, and we hope to be in a position to make some announcements on that front later in March, with the immediate focus being the launch of the Junior and Youth Men’s campaign for the IHF Trophy later this year.

Of course, Handball in New Zealand is built on the backs of our wonderful volunteers all around the country, outside of the national Exec roles. It is great to hear news of various initiatives kicking off in our Handball centres to set up the year ahead. All the work you do to support grass roots Handball and keeping it going throughout the country is greatly appreciated. You are the life blood of our sport.

Last, and sorry to end on a negative note – we have been plagued by fake Facebook accounts of late, with various unfortunates trying to pass themselves off as NZ Handball. All we can ask is that you be wary, and check that any posting you are following or sharing is the real deal. Our official social media accounts can be found on the top right of our website - CONNECT WITH US. And remember, our livestream YouTube account is NZ Handball Live,we will not ask you to create an account nor pay subscription to view livestream games.

All the best for your Handball in the year ahead

David Ireland

President

President's Update - December 2023

Meri Kirihimete, Aotearoa Handball Whānau

Well here we are at the end of another year, with a host of great handball memories to tuck away. There’s lots to celebrate and much to look forward to next year, as well as some admin developments to help it all hang together.

2023 in the rear-view mirror

I thought I’d start off this final update of the year by reflecting on some highlights from 2023. Apologies if I miss out anyone’s favourite New Zealand Handball memory from the year – to avoid writing a novel, this is just a selection of what has gone on.

Beach – ome uncharacteristic inclement weather for Christchurch put a bit of a dampener on the summer’s beach programme to start the year, but we still managed to put on a great beach series and camps in the Garden City, with a new league successfully established in Wellington as well. The programme culminated in the Oceania Champs in Coolangatta in April. Both the New Zealand Men’s and Women’s teams finished runners up at that event, with the Men’s team coming agonisingly close in an extended penalty shoot out for the decider. New Zealand Beach Handball continues to go from strength to strength, with plenty to build on for the future.

Youth high performance – two great campaigns during 2023 saw our youth men take on the world in Croatia, and our junior and youth women take on the best Oceania had to offer in New Caledonia. While we didn’t come away with the results we had hoped for, the depth of teenage talent on display is super encouraging for the future. Plenty has been learned from those campaigns, and we will build on that experience in the years ahead.

 Youth development – some great work has been done in all the main centres to grow the youth base, with various school leagues in play and multiple exposures across a wide range of Schools. Special thanks to our good friends from our key strategic partner the Goethe Institut for supplying starter handball kits that have been deployed across the country, which makes a huge difference in ensuring our great sport gets the exposure it deserves.

New partnership – Earlier this year we were delighted to ink a deal with Select NZ/Freedom2Play to supply clothing and other kit for our representative teams. Not only is the Select gear top quality, we have a supplier that is super responsive and committed to supporting New Zealand Handball look as good as it possibly can on the international stage. It’s a highly valued partnership for us, and we encourage you all to check out their great range and kit yourself out in some NZHF-branded Select merch.

Tournaments – Fantastic to have all four of the regular national tournaments on the New Zealand Handball calendar (Queenstown Open, Auckland Open, Club Champs in Wellington, and Regional Champs in Christchurch) take place with solid numbers attending. Particularly pleasing was having over 200 players take part in Club Champs, and a team come over from Sydney to take part. Exciting times. Big thanks to the WCC Sports Event Partnership Fund for once again coming to the party with funding to support our Club Champs to help keep the attendance fees down

Strategic review – Yes, we can’t ignore the admin achievements! Throughout the year the NZHF has been working through a review of its strategic priorities, ensuring the organisation is focused on what matters to move New Zealand Handball forward in the right direction. There are lots of challenges to overcome, but if we can get everyone pulling together to support the plan I am confident we can get there.

Congratulations to all those who had a hand in the above, and those who contributed to all the other great handball work that hasn’t been mentioned

Looking ahead to 2024

Another action-packed handball year lies ahead. We are currently pulling together a calendar of known events that will be published on the website shortly, as we try to give everyone as much time as possible to plan their lives around what is in store. Here’s a snapshot of what’s coming up:

21st Asian Men’s Handball Champs – first up we have our Men’s Team head off to Bahrain for the Asian Champs (11-25 January) for our first taste of senior international handball outside Beach Handball in 4 years. Keep an eye out for posts and links to livestreams as the action unfolds.

21st Asian Men’s Handball Championship

Beach – another great summer of Beach Handball is lined up, this time culminating in the Aussie Beach Club Champs in April – with the tantalising prospect of more international opportunities later in the year.

National League  - we are currently putting the finishing touches on plans for a new national league, to increase the opportunities for regional teams to play each other, as signalled at our regional forum in October. This is a major initiative that we hope the New Zealand Handball community will get behind, coming to a climax at the Regional Champs to be held in the new Christchurch Stadium in mid-October.

Tournaments – wrapped around the National League we are still aiming to support the traditional tournaments, with the hope remaining that a national representative teams Trans-Tasman clash will be able to be pulled off in early May

Olympics – July/August 2024 is our 4-yearly opportunity to see our great sport on mainstream TV, with the Olympics in Paris. Planning is already underway for how to maximise the potential exposure from that.

IHF Trophy – details to be confirmed, but it’s the boys’ turn again this year for the Oceania Men’s Junior and Youth IHF Trophy qualifiers, to give our aspiring stars of the future something to aim for.

Organisational restructure

As part of the strategic review and with a change in the composition of the NZHF Exec, we have re-shaped our portfolio responsibilities. We believe the new structure will provide us with a more coherent framework to help grow New Zealand Handball to become the best that it can be, as well as create a structure that opens the door for greater involvement and helps spread the load.

The new structure involves a number of broad areas of responsibility overseen by a member of the Executive Committee, with clearly defined roles and responsibilities for the various areas sitting within each portfolio. It is all part of the evolving professionalism with which a sports body needs to be organised, and we hope that it will help provide greater transparency and accountability for what we are trying to achieve. The broad portfolios of responsibility are as follows:

•  Beach – covering all aspects of Beach Handball (Exec responsibility - Willy Silcock)

•  Communications and Outreach – covering media, marketing, membership and overseas liaison (Exec responsibility – Rowan Moloughney)

•  Competitions and Events – covers what the label suggests (Exec responsibility – Karl Fitzpatrick and Rowan Moloughney)

•  Development and Programmes – covering high performance, youth development, women’s handball, coaching and refereeing (this is a big one! Exec responsibility will be split between Frank Stoltenberg, Julien Pringot, and Karl Fitzpatrick)

•  Financial – covers the treasurer role as well as sponsorship and funding (Exec responsibility – Willy Silcock)

•  Governance and Ethics – covers policies, stakeholder liaison, Diversity & Inclusion, Complaints & Integrity (Exec responsibility – David Ireland)

Role descriptions are still being fleshed out to underpin all that, but this should give you a taste of how we are looking to operate. When he gets a chance, our Media Officer star Jun will weave his pictorial magic wand over things to make it more accessible for all.

Xmas wrap

That’s more than enough for now – hopefully there is something in the above for everyone to feel good about what has been achieved over the year past, and excited about what the year ahead has in store for New Zealand Handball.

Thanks to all our wonderful Handball Whānau for all you have contributed to New Zealand Handball this year - and for all you are going to contribute in 2024!

Safe travels and best wishes for the festive season

David Ireland

President

President's Update - November 2023

Kia ora koutou, New Zealand Handball whānau!

A fairly brief update this month, as we focus on planning for the year ahead. Some admin as well as some international action to report on, plus one last high performance treat to squeeze in before Christmas for you all to mark in your calendars.

Women’s Junior and Youth teams do NZ proud in New Caledonia

The handballing highlight of the past month has to be the performance of our girls at the Oceania IHF Trophy qualifiers held in mid-October. For a couple of squads dominated by players with minimal competitive handball experience, and a new-look coaching unit, they performed with distinction.

A couple of major achievements to bookend the tournament – a stunning win for the Juniors (Under 19s) over the Australian Juniors to open their tournament, and a nail-biter for the Youth (Under 17) team to finish off their campaign against Tahiti. The official result was a controversial draw on the scoresheet, but the girls had a triumph on the court for them all to celebrate. Congratulations to all involved – New Zealand Handball is super-proud of you all! Encouraging to see the future of the female game in New Zealand looking so strong.

2023 IHF Trophy Oceania - Youth Womens, 3rd place

2023 IHF Trophy Oceania - Junior Womens, 3rd place

Regional Meet

Thanks to those who tuned into the regional stakeholders meeting held at the end of October. There’s some good stuff happening around the country, with a real focus on growing depth at a junior level.

We are currently gathering feedback on a proposed national league initiative we are looking at running in 2024. Hopefully we will be in a position to announce something definitive next month, as we look to finalise the national schedule for the year ahead as much as we can. A key piece of feedback we have taken on board is the importance of needing to get tournament dates locked in as early as possible to help people’s travel plans, and we will do our best to deliver on that.

Strategic restructure

As signalled last month, one of the early tasks of your Executive Committee after each AGM is the allocation of portfolio responsibilities. This year we have decided to revisit the way we structure things, to improve the effectiveness of our delivery and spread the load. I know you are all hanging out for the outcome of that process, but you will just have to wait until next month’s update!

Exhibition Game 10 December – NZ Men v Wellington Barbarians selection

The final piece of high performance action for the year is scheduled for Ākau Tangi sports stadium in Wellington on Sunday 10 December at 11am. The New Zealand Men’s team will take on an invitational selection in an Exhibition game, which will be the closest thing we have had to a test match on home soil for four years. We have booked seating to cater for an audience and media, so come along and show your support!

This will be the New Zealand team’s last hit out before heading to Bahrain as Oceania’s sole representative at the Asian Handball Championships. We have drawn two of Asian Handball powerhouses in our pool – Iran and Korea – as well as China, who are always hard to beat. It will be a mammoth challenge for our boys, but it will also be the most internationally experienced New Zealand squad ever assembled, so we are hopeful of pulling off an upset. The cost per player for the trip is well over $10,000, so if you would like to help them out, here is a link to their Givealittle page:

Support the New Zealand Men's National Handball Team at the Asia Champs 2024!

2020 Asian Mens Handball Championship, Kuwait

That’s it for this month. Great to see Beach Handball back underway as summer starts to threaten, but more on that next month.

Ngā mihi,

David Ireland

President
New Zealand Handball Federation

President's Update - October 2023

Kia ora koutou, New Zealand Handball whānau!

Hard to believe another season of the formal domestic Handball programme has come to an end, and a summer of beach handball is just around the corner. This month’s update has a focus on governance admin, with a bit of international Handball to keep it interesting

AGM and Executive Committee

Thanks to all those who tuned in to the AGM on 1 October. A solid turnout from around the country, with all Clubs represented and all going to plan.  

Draft minutes have been posted on the website https://handball.org.nz/annual-general-meetings-agm  and will be put to next year’s AGM for formal approval. You can also find the annual report covering the period between AGMs and the financial statements for the latest financial year in the same section of the website. Please get in touch if you have any queries. 

The Key governance development from the AGM was a change in a couple of the members on the Executive Committee, with Karl Fitzpatrick (Auckland Handball) and Julien Pringot (Canterbury Quakes) the newcomers elected to join me and Rowan Moloughney as the continuing Executive Committee members and Willy Silcock re-elected for a further two-year term. The incumbent Life Members’ appointee, Frank Stoltenberg, has been duly re-appointed by the Life Members as their rep to complete the make-up of the Executive Committee.  Tim Rayner and Maddie Stephen opted not to seek re-election at the end of their two-year term, and we thank them for the services to New Zealand Handball.

We have now had our first post-AGM Executive Committee meeting, with the existing office bearers and constitutional role-holders confirmed to carry on for the year ahead, as follows: 

• President – David Ireland

• Secretary-General – Rowan Moloughney

• Treasurer – Willy Silcock

• Complaints & Integrity – David Ireland

We are now going through a process of re-defining the various portfolios of interest the Executive Committee will oversee, ensuring those are properly aligned with our strategic plan. We will update you on those portfolios in next month’s update. The focus for the year ahead is on making sure we have an effective framework in place to implement the strategic priorities hammered out in the previous term. As always, we will be making several appointments from outside the Executive Committee to take responsibility for overseeing some of the portfolios. The door is open to anyone with a passion for improving the way New Zealand Handball works to put your hand up to assist with any area where you feel you can add value – just get in touch.

A Regional Associations and Club stakeholders’ meeting will be scheduled for later in the month to flesh out how people would like to see the year ahead playing out, as we once again tackle the challenging task of coordinating the national schedule. 

Regional Championship

The other big event to take place over the past month was the Regional Champs held in Christchurch on October 7 and 8. Another great effort from the Canterbury Quakes Handball organising committee who put on a fantastic tournament at Pioneer Stadium. Good numbers and a couple of great finals in each division, and some top quality handball on display throughout. Congratulations to the Otago Men for defending their title as the national Men’s regional champions, and to the Canterbury Women’s team for also defending their title. A big thank you to all those that made the effort to get to this pinnacle event to conclude the indoor season.

International

Our women’s Youth and Junior teams are currently competing in the IHF Trophy Oceania qualifiers in New Caledonia – look out for images and updates from that event on our usual social media channels, with the tireless Jun Tanlayco on the spot once more to ensure there will be no shortage of action shots from our girls. Our Youth girls have their jobs cut out, up against New Caledonia and Tahiti, while the Juniors have a bit more variety as their division has Australia and the Cook Islands added to the mix. There are unlikely to be any easy games, but tremendous for our girls to experience some international competition, and a real credit to our Youth Handball organisation that we have been able to field teams in both divisions. Regardless of the results, it bodes well for the future. The winner of each age division will go on to represent Oceania at the Intercontinental Championships next year.

The New Zealand Men’s Team has also committed to their next international experience, with tickets booked for the squad to make the trek to the 21st Asian Handball Championships in Bahrain in January. For New Zealand Indoor Handball, the Asian Championships is as good as it gets, and the men have been putting in some great mahi domestically and abroad to give themselves the best chance of chasing that elusive international win. As for our Junior and Youth Women it isn’t going to be easy, but massive to be able to compete on the international stage once more.

Tracking further ahead to next year, we are looking forward to a Trans-Tasman clash to be held in the Bruce Pullman Arena in early May. The hope is to have both a Men’s and Women’s senior and Under 20 competitions, with planning well underway to make this a memorable event.

Beach

Of course, as we try to do our best to shake off winter, it’s not all about Indoor. We also have the 2023-24 beach handball programme kicking off next month. It will be another action-packed summer of Beach Handball ahead, with the climax of the programme being another tilt at the Australian champs in April. Keep an eye out for further updates as the programme unfolds.

Ngā mihi,

David Ireland

President
New Zealand Handball Federation

President's Update - September 2023

Kia ora koutou, Aotearoa New Zealand Handball Whānau!

It has been an action-packed past couple of months on the Handball front, but with just a few sleeps to go now until the NZHF AGM, I’ll stick to the highlights.

Club Champs – Wellington’s Ākau Tangi Sports Centre, 8-10 September

What a fantastic advertisement for Handball!

15 teams – five competing in the Women’s section and ten in the Men’s, including University of New South Wales to add an international flavour to things – with over 200 players taking the court over 42 games. Tremendous to see the New Zealand Handball community come together once again to enjoy some great competition and camaraderie over three action-packed days. Big thanks to the Bond Street Sports Bar for supporting the social event, the Brentwood Hotel for providing some great accommodation deals, Select NZ for chipping in a couple of backpacks for the tournament MVPs, Tom Paget & Habit Health for the physio support to keep everyone firing, and the Goethe Institut for supplying bags of Handballs for the winning teams and for its ongoing support for the development of New Zealand Handball. Great to have the Institut represented at prizegiving. And of course Jun Tanlayco for the amazing footage of the event, with livestreaming of all three courts beamed around the world! Thanks also to the WCC Sports Event Partnership Fund for the generous financial support that helped fund the event. 

Both finals were closely contested, and provided fine examples of quality Handball played in the best of competitive spirit. Congratulations to theHunters Handball Club, who dominated pool play and came out on top in the final after the Canterbury Quakes made them work hard for glory in the Women’s division. Even more evenly contested was the Men’s final, where the Otago Sheeps held their nerve and came out on top of the Purple Gounas.

Club Champs Womens Winner - Hunters Handball Club

Club Champs Mens Winner - Otago Sheeps

Congratulations also to the Canterbury Quakes Handball Club who were the inaugural winners of our brand new trophy, Kotahitanga – meaning Unity. This special award, kindly co-ordinated and gifted from the Hunters’ Tahndae Wyatt on behalf of her Ngāti Rangitihi iwi, celebrates being one with the community and the expression of selfless acts towards one another. There were many fine examples of the spirit of Handball on display over the course of the Championships, with no shortage of those taking part offering to help and coming together as one. But the unity, support and cohesion shown by the Canterbury Quakes made them worthy recipients of this special recognition.

Club Champs Kotahitanga award - Canterbury Handball

Referees

On a less positive note, we had a few instances of inappropriate challenging of referees’ decisions and dissent during the Club Championships, in some cases with that criticism carrying on after the final whistle. That sort of behaviour has no place in New Zealand Handball. Our referees are not hardened professionals. All do their best, but are never going to be perfect, despite the investment made in our referee training programme. We want to promote a Handball culture where all our referees feel supported and encouraged to pick up a whistle, without fear of abuse. It is the collective responsibility of the entire Handball community to call out poor treatment of referees, with zero tolerance for bad behaviour. Those who don’t get that message can expect to be on the receiving end of disciplinary processes.

Back to the positives, thanks again to Antoine Desnos for leading another round of our referee training programme. Congratulations to the 15 newly minted referees who worked through this year’s programme to earn the green shirt at Club Champs. As with last year, we are proud to have two of our cohort of qualified referees heading overseas next month to help officiate at the Oceania leg of the IHF Trophy. Congratulations Tahndae Wyatt and Langi Winitana.

NZ Youth Teams

On the subject of the IHF Trophy, our Women’s Junior and Youth squads are now all set to take on the best that Oceania has to offer in New Caledonia in October. It has been a mission getting everything organised for that, but exciting to see the two squads in action for an exhibition game at Club Champs. We wish them all the best for this qualifying event, with the winners going on to compete in the Intercontinental Championships next year.

U17 Team for 2023 IHF Trophy Oceania Womens

U19 Team for 2023 IHF Trophy Oceania Womens

U19 Men’s Team at the IHF Handball Youth World Championships in Croatia

And of course, we can’t overlook the efforts of our Men’s Under 19 Squad who took on the world at the Handball Youth World Championships in Croatia last month. While they didn’t come away with the results they had hoped for on the court, I am sure it was an incredible experience for all involved, and by all accounts they were fine ambassadors for New Zealand Handball off the court. It was a mammoth task to pull together, with plenty of lessons learned for next time. Thanks to all involved for your commitment to the cause. 

NZHF AGM 1 October

 All is set for the AGM being held online Sunday 1 October, commencing 7.30pm. Your Executive Committee is set for a bit of a shake up from that, with a couple of changes in our composition to take place. Please get in touch with your Club if you would like a link to the Zoom meeting – all members of the New Zealand Handball community are welcome (although only the Clubs and Life Members get to vote!). For those that can’t make it, details will be posted on our website after the event. But why would you miss it live??

Regional Champs – Christchurch’s Pioneer Stadium, 7-8 October

Hot on the heels of the AGM we have the clash of the Regions in Christchurch, as we gather together one last time for 2023 to finish off the regular domestic indoor season, before attention switches to Beach. Safe travels to everyone journeying to that.

The tournament and referees meeting will be held online on Thursday 5th October at 7 p.m.

That’ll do it for this month. As always, please don’t hesitate to get in touch if there are any Handball-related issues you would like to raise, ideas to share, or support to offer.

Yours in Handball

David Ireland

President

New Zealand Handball Federation  

president@handball.org.nz

President's Update - July 2023

Mid-winter greetings, New Zealand Handball supporters!

July has dished up its usual fare of Handball activity around the country, with the senior men’s and `national youth squads holding training camps and each Region’s Handball programmes in full swing. In some ways it has been the calm before the storm, with an action-packed three months ahead.  Those three months are book-ended by two major international tournaments New Zealand is taking part in, with some high octane domestic competition and a dose of organisational admin thrown into the mix - there should be something in it for everyone!.

In this month’s updates I touch on a few of the highlights coming up, plus offer a sneak peek at something truly special in store for next year.

NZ Youth Men depart to take on the world

Hard to believe the day has finally come. After an intense six months of training and fundraising, our Men’s Under 19 Squad has now left the country for the Handball Youth World Championships in Croatia, 2-13 August, taking in a high performance training camp with other nations in Hungary en route.

It has been a massive undertaking for Delegation Head Thomas Schmider, coach Hayden Juranovich and the lads, and now their time has finally come. New Zealand is up against Hungary, Morocco, and Slovenia in pool play. It is not going to be easy over there, but it is fantastic for a New Zealand  team to be a part of it. Check out the NZHF Facebook page for details and how to access livestreams (hopefully!) of our games, or check out the details here https://handball.org.nz/u19-mens-handball-world-championship-2023 . Give ‘em a taste of Kiwi, boys!

And it’s not all about the boys. Closer to home, the Women’s Junior and Youth squads are taking shape as they prepare to take on the best Oceania has to offer in New Caledonia in October. Delegation Head Laura Macready has been working tirelessly to pull it all together in a hurry, and we are looking forward to seeing them in action.

And now for the REAL excitement –

NZHF AGM 1 October

Yes, everyone’s annual highlight of the Handball calendar, the New Zealand Handball Federation AGM, has been set down for Sunday 1 October, commencing 7.30pm. As with the last couple of editions, we will be running this year’s AGM virtually. Please email president@handball.org.nz no later than 16 September if there are any items of business you would like raised.

Other than presenting our annual report and financial statements, the key item of business for each AGM is usually the election of Executive Committee members. As per the constitution, this year Tim Rayner, Willy Silcock and Maddie Stephen stand down by rotation as they end their current two-year term, with me and Rowan Moloughney continuing, and the Life Members’ appointee for the year ahead (currently Frank Stoltenberg) to be confirmed following the AGM. That means there are four spots up for grabs to be elected at the AGM. If any of our Clubs have someone in mind they think could make a positive contribution to New Zealand Handball by serving on the Executive Committee, please encourage them to make themselves available and put their names forward.

The deadline for nominations for Executive Committee members is Saturday 16 September, and the confirmed agenda for the AGM will be circulated 17 September.

Referee course 2023

This year’s online referee training course has now concluded. Thanks to all those who invested their time to take part, and the Clubs who supported the programme – and to Antoine for running it. We look forward to announcing the newly minted crop of referees who have qualified to wear the green at September’s Club Champs. Speaking of which -  

Club Champs – Wellington’s Ākau Tangi Sports Centre, 8-10 September

We have had 15 teams register for this year’s Club Champs by the deadline – ten competing in the Men’s section and five in the Women’s, including one team coming over from Sydney to take part. That’s two more teams than last year, and we are looking forward to another fantastic tournament and opportunity for the entire New Zealand Handball community to get together.

Further details to follow closer to throw off time. Meantime, for any teams travelling from out of town who are yet to secure their accommodation, we have secured a special deal for the tournament with the Brentwood Hotel, just a short stroll from the Stadium - https://www.brentwoodhotel.co.nz/. Contact secretary@handball.org.nz for more information about how to access that deal.

Regional Champs – Christchurch’s Pioneer Stadium, 7-8 October

To round off the upcoming dosage of Handball action we have the clash of the Regions in Christchurch, as we look to finish the indoor season in style. Regional Associations, please ensure you are liaising with your affiliated players in plenty of time to be able to take part.

Trans-Tasman Clash – Auckland’s Bruce Pulman Park 3-5 May

To round off this month’s update, I am delighted to announce that we are scheduling a trans-Tasman clash in May, for what we hope will become a regular fixture on our respective Handball calendars. The plan is to stage a contest involving Senior and Under 20 Teams, Men and Women, for the first leg of a home and away series. This is the first time we have attempted such a clash on this scale, as we look to increase the level of competition between New Zealand and Australia. We are still in the early planning stages, but save the date!

Yours in Handball,

David Ireland

President

New Zealand Handball Federation  

President's Update - June 2023

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