The seventh edition of the Confederación Argentina de Handball (CAH) ‘Copa Argentina’ Beach Handball tournament took place between 8 and 11 January. The event took place at the Balneario Horizonte in Mar del Plata, with 23 men’s and women’s youth and senior teams involved and was part of the wider ‘Olympic Beach Experience’ programme of the Argentine Olympic Committee, as part of their ‘Road to the South American Games in Santa Fe’ event. 

In the men's senior category, nine teams participated, including: Los Buitres (Buenos Aires), Sol de Mayo (Río Negro), IFES (Neuquén), Only Beach (Río Negro), Unión Argentina (Rosario), Onkel (Rosario), Club Eucalipto Blanco (Neuquén), Municipalidad de Quilmes (Buenos Aires) and Alianza San Juan.

Los Buitres took the championship after defeating four-time gold medallists and current champions, Sol de Mayo 2-1 (20:24, 19:18, SO 7:4) in a hard-fought final. IFES completed the podium, beating Only Beach 2-0 (14:6, 11:10) in the third-place match, to take their second, consecutive bronze.

“Los Buitres invited me to participate and the guys were super cool,” said Felipe González Rivero, who also played for Argentina at the 2025 IHF Men’s Youth Beach Handball World Championship, to local media.

“In the group stage, we won all our matches and then we played against Only Beach from the south of the country in the semi-final and beat them, and then we played the final against Sol de Mayo in a shoot-out, becoming champions of Argentina.”

Four teams competed in the women's senior category with Municipalidad de la Costa (Buenos Aires), Deportivo Mitre (Río Negro), Mariano Acosta Brutus (Buenos Aires) and Municipalidad de Quilmes (Buenos Aires) doing battle.

Municipalidad de la Costa took the women’s title after defeating Deportivo Mitre 2-1 in an exact repeat of the 2025 final, while Mariano Acosta Brutus secured third place with a 2-0 victory over Municipalidad de Quilmes, who had won bronze in 2025.

The men’s youth category featured seven teams: Sol de Mayo (Río Negro), IFES (Neuquén), Only Beach (Río Negro), Municipality of Quilmes (Buenos Aires), Club Eucalipto Blanco (Neuquén), Club Río Negro Azul (Río Negro), San Francisco Handball (Formosa), and the Rosario Handball Association, with three in the women's youth category; Municipality of Quilmes (Buenos Aires), IFES Río Grande (Neuquén), and the Rosario Handball Association.

IFES took the title in the men's division after defeating 2025 champions Sol de Mayo 2-1 in the final,  while Municipalidad de Quilmes were crowned champions in the women's youth category for the second year running, ahead of IFES Río Grande in second place, and Asociación Rosarina in third.

The finals of the 2026 Copa Argentina were broadcast live on FOX Sports.

Teams taking part in the Copa Argentina had qualified due to their performances on the Argentina Beach Handball Circuit (Circuito Argentino de Beach Handball).

The first edition of the Copa Argentina was held back in 2020 and since then, it has gone on to become a mainstay in not only the Argentina or South America Beach Handball calendar, but the global one.

For more information, visit handballargentina.org.

 

Road to Santa Fe

The Copa Argentina was part of the ‘Olympic Beach Experience’ programme which came under the umbrella of the ‘Road to the Santa Fe 2026 South American Games’, which took place over three consecutive weekends from 10 to 24 January, a total of six playing days.

Over 1,340 athletes competed in beach handball as well as a variety of other sports, including beach volleyball, wrestling, rugby sevens, beach soccer, padel, chess, canoeing, sand hockey, sailing regattas, kitesurfing, windsurfing, wushu kung fu and adapted sports.

The initiative, promoted by the Argentine Olympic Committee (COA), aimed to promote community participation, physical activity, the values of Olympism in addition to beach cleaning actions and environmental awareness.

“We are very pleased with the Olympic Beach Experience leading up to the Santa Fe 2026 South American Games in Concepción del Uruguay,” said Mario Moccia, COA President to www.coarg.org.ar. 

“I want to congratulate the organizers, Mayor Lauritto, and his entire team for the excellent staging of these sporting, recreational, and cultural activities, which allow people to enjoy their vacations by engaging in physical activity and sports, while also participating in beach clean-up efforts.”

2025-26 Argentina Beach Handball Circuit underway

After registration opened last November, the 2025-26 Argentina Beach Handball Circuit started in December in Neuquen, before moving to Necochea (Buenos Aires) and Viedma (Rio Negro) in January, ahead of Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Misiones – for the third time – and Chaco in February. 

All six stages, known as ‘Arena 1000’ events due to the points available for the national ranking, will be classification events for the 2027 Copa Argentina with the winners of each stage qualifying directly and runners-up of each moving into a ranking system for qualification.

The circuit is open to teams who are affiliates of the Argentine Handball Confederation, as well as ‘fantasy’ teams, both national and foreign.

For more information on the stages and results, visit here. 

Patagonia Arena Games 2026 
Puerto Madryn in norther Patagonia is getting set to host the ‘Patagonia Arena Games 2026’ with beach handball included as one of a number of sand sports taking place from 27 February to 1 March.

Beach handball will feature alongside footvolley, beach hockey, beach basketball, athletics, wrestling, touch volleyball, 4x4 volleyball, beach soccer and beach tennis, all played in Under 16 and Under 18 categories.

Passing on knowledge

After a residency in Neuquén last October and November where the Argentina national teams hosted open clinic, the continued outreach work continues in Argentinean beach handball.

The World Games’ gold medal-winning coach for Argentina women’s side Leticia Brunati, along with national team player Giuliana Gamba, will be holding a ‘Beach Handball Clinic’ as part of the ‘Summer in the Community’ programme in the Municipality of Villa Gesell at the end of January, while in early February, former national team player and coach of the women’s youth team, Celeste Meccia will hold a clinic in El Calafate as part of the National Lake Festival 2026.

From 30 January to 1 February, Aluminé city in the west-central part of the Neuquén Province will host a number of sporting activities, including men’s and women’s beach handball tournaments as part of its ‘Beach Newcom’ event.

The following weekend, Club Atlético Talleres in the city of Córdoba will host a beach handball tournament for children and adults.

Credit photo: Handball Argentina