The first South and Central America Handball Confederation (SCAHC) University Congress took place last week from 21 to 23 October, with three daily online sessions totalling more than seven hours.

A number of speakers, lecturers and those involved in handball in the region took part as the SCAHC – known in Spanish as ‘COSCABAL (Confederación Sur y Centro Americana de Handball)’ – continue their commitment to learning and spreading the sport across the region.

The main objective of the congress was to provide a starting point for the ‘South and Central America Network for the Development of Handball’ and to continue the technical and social development of the sport in the region.

This was achieved through two approaches – sharing experiences on the teaching methodology of handball in the classroom by university teachers from the network, as well as opening spaces to present research topics in the areas of: Handball in Physical Education in America, University and School Scope, Handball and Women and Social Sciences applied to Handball.

Moderated by Dr Diego Soto García (Handball Professor at the University of León, Spain and Technical Director of the SCAHC Development Commission), all participants were able to hear from those involved in handball at university level, exchange information and ideas and learn from how a number of different countries are developing handball in the region including Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Costa Rica and Spain.

Coordinator of the network, Juan Carlos Gutiérrez, together with Immanuel Cruz Fuentes, presented an initial overview of the different realities and future actions of the network, which focusses on generating spaces and joint projects around teaching, university, training and research. 

The University of León in Spain, along with other universities in Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Costa Rica are already affiliated to the network with other universities and representatives also expressing their interest in joining.

Others in attendance and presenting at the congress included:

Cecilia Hernandez (President of the SCAHC Development Commission)
Claudio Cifuentes (Chilean Handball Federation)
Pamela Flores (Professor of Physical Education at the Institute of Sport, Universidad de Las Americas)
Dr Claudio Hinojosa Torres (Universidad de Playa Ancha, Chile)
Marcelo Hernandez
Hector Talpone (former coach Argentina women’s youth and junior)
Dr Tathyane Krahenbühl (Universidad Federal de Goiás)
Alejandro Acosta (Secretary General, Uruguayan Handball Federation)
Professor Pablo Sznitowski
Professor Dr Pablo Juan Greco (Universidad Federal Minas Gerais)
Vicente Gomez Encinas (Universidad Politechnica de Madrid, Spain – INEF)
Dr Juan Oliver Coronado, Sebastian Feu Molina (Universidad de Extremadura, Spain)
Dr Juan Garcia Lopez (Universidad de Leon)
Dr Antonio Antunez Medina (Universidad de Extremadura, Spain).

The three days were bought to a close by SCAHC President Marcel Mancilla with all sessions available to watch again on the SCAHC YouTube channel.

Day 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jT6N1mU6xaA (2hr 07mins)
Day 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3oQ6s0mpEI (2hr 22mins)
Day 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gDbScyt3Hw (2hr 47mins)

For more information, visit the SCAHC website.