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Shout Out to the NZ Under 19 Mens World Championship Delegation

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With the NZ youth team busy training and preparing for the 2023 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, we would like to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of the delegation behind the team.

Please continue supporting the team by going to NZ Youth Handball.

TIM RAYNER

High Performance Director

Tim is the current High Performance Director of NZHF. He coordinates and coaches the NZ representative teams. He has coached the youth team that won the 2018 IHF Trophy Oceania and at the IHF Intercontinental Trophy. He has also coached the New Zealand Men’s and Women’s Beach Handball Team. The men’s beach handball team played at the 2018 World Beach Handball Championship in Russia as a wildcard. And followed that up with winning the Oceania qualifiers to represent the region for the 2022 World Beach Handball Championship in Greece.

 

THOMAS SCHMIDER

Head of Delegation

Thomas was the president of Auckland Handball from 2019 to 2022. During that time they have setup the foundation for a youth team in Auckland. He took over the management of the national youth teams last year with the successful campaign at the 2022 IHF Trophy Oceania were the Youth team placed 2nd and the Junior Team 3rd. He looks at his main responsibility as the Head of Delegation is to “enable the management team to make choices that create the future for the National Youth Handball Team. The goal is to establish an environment where the players feel well looked after, can train and perform like professionals and are inspired to connect with other players”.

 

OLLY DONALDSON

Manager

A relatively newcomer to the handball community, he has a Sports Management and Psychology degree. He was part of the team delegation at the 2022 IHF Trophy Oceania were the Youth team placed 2nd and the Junior Team 3rd. He is currently part of the NZ Men’s Beach Handball team and played at the 2022 World Beach Handball Championship in Greece and the 2023 Oceania Beach Handball Championship in Australia.

 

HAYDEN JURANOVICH

Head Coach

Hayden coached the youth teams at the 2022 IHF Trophy Oceania were the Youth team placed 2nd and the Junior Team 3rd. He has also the coached the Canterbury Women’s team. As coach he is “looking forward to helping (the) guys grow as players and see where this sport can take (them) as many opportunities have opened up recently for our players”

 

ROLAND NEMES

Coaching Advisor

Roland is an IHF Lecturer and has been involved in handball coaching including national teams, top-tier club teams and young players at grassroots level. He brings a wealth of coaching knowledge and expertise.

Oceania Beach Handball Championships Day 2 Summary

Willy Silcock, Beach Handball Coordinator, summarised day 1 for the New Zealand teams.

“The Beach Handball New Zealand Team’s put together some solid performances on day two of the Oceania Qualifiers!

The Women's team put on a dominant display in their last pool match against American Samoa and secured the second seed going into the Semi-Finals!

The Men's team may have suffered a tough loss against Australia in their opening game, but they bounced back with a gritty win over Cook Islands to earn themselves a rematch in the final!

We are so incredibly proud of our New Zealand Beach Handball players and all that they have accomplished thus far in the tournament! Keep up the outstanding work and give it everything you've got in the final!”

For more details, results and links go to Event Page

Oceania Beach Handball Championships Day 1 Summary

Willy Silcock, Beach Handball Coordinator, summarised day 1 for the New Zealand teams.

"Our national teams played two games each today. The men won their matches against both Australia and Cook Islands. The women started off with a good win versus Cook Islands, and came up short against Australia in pool play. Great job, everyone!

While it's an impressive start, our coaches think the teams still have a lot more to give in the final two days of the Oceania Qualifying Championship. Let's keep pushing and striving for excellence, as we know that there is always room for improvement and we want to continue to challenge ourselves to reach our full potential. With dedication, hard work, and a focus on teamwork, we can elevate our performance to even greater heights. Congratulations to our teams on a great start, and let's keep up the momentum!"

For links and results go to Event Page

President's Update - April 2023

Tēnā Koutou, Aotearoa Handball supporters

 A busy past month for New Zealand Handball. Much mahi has been put in on multiple fronts off the court, as well as on court success in the form of another successful annual Queenstown Social Tournament to kick off the indoor season. Congrats to Leo and the Queenstown Handball team for pulling that off, great to see the camaraderie that is New Zealand Handball on display once again. Next national tournament cab off the rank is the Auckland Open on May 20-21, which is shaping up to be another goodie.

 The big ticket item for your Exec has been progressing our strategic plan to ensure we are focusing our efforts for maximum impact. Our vision, purpose and values remain the same – the key objective remains to grow New Zealand Handball to its full potential and deliver great Handball opportunities for all. It’s the paths we follow to get there where you will see some changes.

 Feeding off the very constructive Club and Regional Associations strategy session last December, there are three broad strategic pillars to our go forward strategy:

  • Governance: The framework within which New Zealand Handball operates needs to be effective

  • Lifting the Standard: Everything we do is of a high standard and professionally run.

  • Growing the Base: Player and administrator numbers are increasing with good retention and all regions thriving.

 All three pillars are important and all are interconnected, but the main focus for now is on Growing the Base. To that end we have identified our top ten priority initiatives to deliver on the strategic pillars. They include the newly formed Women’s Working Group, development of a player pathway, regular regional meetings to be kicked off by an engagement survey coming your way next month, clearer processes for appointing our coaches, and coach and referee development. We will post this up on the website in the coming weeks.

 A key component of our overall strategy is fostering strong relationships with our strategic partners. We already have enduring relationships in place with Sport NZ, the Goethe Institut, and TAB NZ. Last month we were delighted to announce last month our signing of Select New Zealand as our preferred supplier of Handball kit for our indoor Handball representative teams moving forward. You can check out their great range of clothing here https://www.freedom2play.co.nz/collections/nz-handball.  We encourage all our community to take advantage of what is on offer. If any of our Clubs or Regions are thinking of re-kitting their teams, please consider Select as an option. Use the code NZHF1 when ordering from the website to unlock a 20% discount across the SELECT range, excluding clothing.

 Fostering the next generation of senior players is a critical part of the strategy, and it is really encouraging to see the momentum of our Men’s Youth Team being maintained as they work towards the World Youth Champs in August. They have received great support from the local and international community in their fundraising efforts to date, for which they are extremely grateful – but there is still a long way to go! If you think you might be able to help out, check out their fundraising page https://nzyouthhandball.raisely.com.

 While we are on the subject of Youth Handball, the call is out for female players born on 1 January 2004 or younger to join our Women’s Youth and Junior Teams to compete in the IHF Trophy Oceania Qualifiers later this year. That’s the pathway our Youth Men took last year to qualify for this year’s World Champs, and it would be fantastic if one or both of their equivalent Women’s teams could follow in their footsteps. Links to the EOIs can be found on our March 23 post, with applications closing on 30 April. If you know of any budding young female stars who have yet to register their interest, please encourage them to do so.

On the High Performance front, we are in the full swing of preparing our indoor Handball squads to target international tournaments. The High performance organisers are running an ALL National teams camp on the 23rd June - 25th June in Christchurch. The vision for this camp is to reconnect with all programmes in the one place, utilising the skills and experience we have to help all levels of Handball.  If you are a player interesting in developing your skills in New Zealand please reach out through the NZHF social media – someone will be in touch.

 Calling out all foreign players and coaches based in New Zealand who want to be involved in the New Zealand handball journey – please sing out if you want to be involved in more handball! Contact high-performance@handball.org.nz for more details.

 Finally, the weekend of April 21-23 sees the Oceania Beach Handball Qualifiers take place in Coolangatta. It is going to be a stiff challenge for our Men’s and Women’s rep teams to get over the line, but they couldn’t be better prepared to take on that challenge. All the best guys, we know you will do the country proud!

 David Ireland

President

New Zealand Handball Federation

Queenstown Social Tournament Summary

Queenstown Social Tournament Summary

Queenstown Tournament 2023 kicked off this year's indoor calendar last weekend (1 - 2 April). A successful tournament with players from Auckland, Canterbury and Otago all participating. The annual social tournament had shorter games 25 minutes per half. On Saturday the first games were the most intense ones with only one point difference in both the men's and women's matches. The second ones were a test of fitness, which is always good and allowed the youth to really shine. The young lads had a lot of court time and built up their confidence and game as we encouraged them to take the lead on the plays and trust themselves. The women then mixed the teams and had a NZ vs other passports match which was neck and neck the whole way ending in epic last play goal to tie the match, 22-22 . The 18s men then played against a mixed men's team which was a tight match ending in 20-17 to the seniors. Sunday was all about fun, 4 teams mixed boys and girls all random were made up with 10 minutes fast paced games all the teams played each other. Everyone had a blast. Big thanks to all the volunteers, helpers, scorers and refs who keep the social tournament going.

Leo Gatti - Queenstown Handball

For details and scoresheets, go to Event Page

Support Our New Zealand Men's Youth Team

Mā te huruhuru ka rere te manu

Maori Proverb - Adorn the bird with feathers so it will fly

The New Zealand Men’s youth handball team qualifying to represent Oceania at the IHF Men’s Youth World Championships in Croatia is a fantastic opportunity - not just for the players involved, but for the future of New Zealand handball. Chances to play against the best in the world don’t come around that often, and seeing our guys perform on the world stage will help inspire the next generation to get amongst it. It’s a massive investment for all involved, in both time and costs, so we really hope the country will get behind the boys in their fundraising efforts to help ease some of that burden - SUPPORT THE TEAM

NZHF Partners with SELECT New Zealand

The New Zealand Handball Federation is delighted to announce the appointment of SELECT New Zealand as the new preferred supplier for New Zealand indoor handball representative teams.

“The SELECT brand is a great fit for New Zealand Handball. SELECT put forward a really strong proposal, and we are looking forward to a mutually beneficial strategic partnership with Pushkar and the Freedom2Play team over the years ahead.””
— David Ireland, President, New Zealand Handball Federation

SELECT’s offer includes special deal for kitting out our national teams, a supply of SELECT handballs for each campaign kitted out by SELECT, credits and discounts for the New Zealand handball community when purchasing SELECT gear. A dedicated page for New Zealand Handball on SELECT's website for easy access to a range of customised kit - Freedom@Play-NZHF

“SELECT is more than balls – we not only have a selection of quality balls for all levels, but we also have a large selection of clothing, training equipment, bags, sports supports etc. SELECT are delighted that New Zealand Handball Federation have trusted our capabilities and selected us to offer quality products to New Zealand players and the wider handball community.”
— Pushkar Kulkarni, Director, SELECT New Zealand

player’s choice by SELECT

Connect with SELECT:

Website: Freedom2Play

Instagram: SelectSportNZ and Freedom2PlaySports

Facebook: Freedom2PlaySports

Twitter: @Freedom2play_NZ

EOI for Women's Youth and Junior National Teams

Attention all young and talented women handball players! Here's an exciting opportunity for you to showcase your skills and represent your country on a global stage. The International Handball Federation is hosting the IHF Trophy in late 2023, and we are looking for new and current youth and junior women handball players to join our team.

This is your chance to compete against the best in the world, learn from experienced coaches and players, and make lifelong memories. Whether you're a seasoned player or just starting, we welcome all skill levels to try out.

Don't miss this incredible opportunity to take your handball game to the next level and make your mark on the international stage. Sign up now for a chance to be a part of our team and represent your country with pride.

You will receive an email response to confirm your EOI has been submitted. As we are currently seeking interest there is not a confirmed location for where trials will be held, Coaches and Managers announced shortly.

Deadline to register - 30 April 2023

Players born 1st of Jan 2006 or younger - https://forms.gle/eZKkhHC1bxLEWNyo9

Players born 1st of Jan 2004 or younger - https://forms.gle/7aiV3n1pMKYPoFXb6

Any questions please email high-performance@handball.org.nz

Welcome to Porirua Handball

We would like to welcome the newest handball organisation in New Zealand - Porirua Handball. It is founded by Ben Potaka, a previous national player who represented New Zealand in both indoor and beach handball. As President of Porirua Handball, here is what he has to say.

Porirua Handball Incorporated is built to develop handball in the Porirua region. Handball has existed in Wellington for many years and there have been teams from Porirua in the past. Yet there has never been a handball organisation fully focused on Porirua. Due to the nature of things, Wellington Central garners the most attention from the handball community. Typically, it is the outskirts of the region that gets less attention and therefore less development, less competition.

By creating this new organisation, we hope to give Porirua the attention it deserves. To develop all levels of handball in Porirua. This includes school handball right through to adult club handball.

It is written into Porirua Handballs constitution that our focus is the development of handball at a grass roots level. We are looking to take the long-term approach, instead of focusing on short term success, instead of focusing on our high-performance players, we are intend to focus on constantly developing our player base and growing the sport as much as we can in our area. With the hopes that this will filter through to the higher levels, high performance, over the long term.

Handball is a small sport in this country therefore most regions rely heavily on others for competition. Although Porirua Handball intends to compete as much as we can across the country, we also intend to be self-sufficient. We wish to create competition within our area that does not rely on another. Our focus is on people playing handball and would welcome anyone who would want to join our competitions, given they are a positive influence on our community.

Although Porirua is a small city population wise, we endeavour to punch above our weight. As our focus is on developing our player base, we wish to become the biggest centre for handball in the country. We intend to do that by focusing on our community and making our environment a great one, where our most newest members feel the most welcome.

We are new and starting from scratch, we are unapologetically ambitious. We are hopeful that we will provide real value to the New Zealand Handball Community in the coming years.

All the best to Ben and Porirua Handball.

Ben Potaka representing New Zealand in Indoor and Beach Handball