When Senegal’s youth team throw-off their 2025 IHF Men’s Youth Beach Handball World Championship campaign against Brazil on Tuesday 17 June hey will make history as the first-ever men’s national side from the country to play at any IHF Men’s World Championship event in either discipline.

After receiving a place at Tunisia 2025 thanks to an IHF Executive Committee decision, the side, like their equivalent women’s team, have another clear milestone marker in their plan towards showing their best possible side at the 2026 Youth Olympic Games which they will host in Dakar next year.

As part of that preparation, the IHF have been supporting the Senegalese Handball Federation, with IHF Beach Handball Working Group (BHWG) Member, IHF Beach Handball Expert and globally-successful coach, Tamàs Neukum, present in Senegal, helping to deliver Beach Handball courses to coaches and referees as well as running training sessions for talent identification of potential national team players.

It has included on-the-ground coaching support from French coaches Mika Illes and the legendary indoor player, Valerie Nicolas who won the 2003 IHF Women’s World Championship winner with France.

Both former coaches of the French national beach handball teams, Illes and Nicolas have a vast amount of experience on the sand and have been working with the Senegalese teams in what could be a transformative 18-month period.

With the Youth Olympic Games still over a year away, coach Ousmane Drame’s immediate attention is with his preliminary group which features, by a quirk of the draw, all South American opponents in the strong Argentina and Brazil, plus the up-and-coming Uruguay.

Debutants at any level, and facing their first ever international beach handball competition, coach Drame knows his side will face an uphill battle to make it out of the group and into the main round as one of the top three teams.

His 10-man squad arrived in Hammamet a week ahead of the world championship for a final preparation camp.

“We will face many major beach handball nations, but we will face them with humility and ambition,” said Drame, whose motto is ‘Don't give up - to suffer now is to live like a champion forever’, to ihf.info.

“Our goal is to achieve a respectable participation and to learn, progress and rub shoulders with the best in the world, in preparation for the future. The experience is a stepping stone to an even bigger challenge: to build a competitive team for the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar.”

Three key players have been identified with pivot Ibrahima Seck described as a ‘versatile player’ who is ‘physically and technically ready for the top level’, along with centre-half Mamour Diop, described as ‘the brains of the team – a fine and intelligent player’, while defensive specialist Maïssa Laye Bèye is a ‘big plus when a squad of just 10 has to be chosen’.

Coach: Ousmane Drame
Key players: Ibrahima Seck (Pivot), Mamour Diop (Centre), Maïssa Laye Beye (Goalkeeper/Defensive Specialist)
Qualification information: IHF Executive Committee decision – hosts of Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games
History in tournament: 2017-2022: DNQ
Group at Tunisia 2025: Group D – Argentina (ARG), Brazil (BRA), Uruguay (URU), Senegal (SEN)