95 participants were part of three Handball at School (H@S) courses held in Honduras from 26 June to 7 July, with the cities of São Pedro Sula, La Ceiba and capital Tegucigalpa the site for delivery of the educational programme designed for teachers, coaches and others involved in children’s handball. 41 of the participants earned their IHF D licence at the conclusion of their course. 

H@S courses involve both practical and theoretical parts, with a wide variety of topics such as history of handball, rules of mini handball, phases of the game, philosophy of H@S, technical and tactical elements, organisation of mini handball festivals and much more covered over the three days of each course conducted in Honduras. 200 children took part in the practical elements, giving course participants the chance to practice their skills and simultaneously giving the group of children a great experience of the game.  

“The participants were able to acquire concrete experiences of the handball game and games aimed at expanding tactical experiences as well as activities aimed at developing perceptive-motor skills, especially coordination training,” said course lecturer Dr Pablo Juan Greco.

More than 20 initiation games were presented by course lecturer Greco, plus different forms of match play, such as three versus three, five versus five and numerical superiority. 

Greco noted the interest from participants in continuing to advance their knowledge and that that interest was encouraged and mirrored by the representatives of the Honduran Handball Federation. 

“A lot of enthusiasm from the participants was observed — predisposition, curiosity (which was reflected in many questions during the classes), willingness to learn. Many physical education students and teachers were doing the course, but also athletes interested in knowing the modality to incorporate it in their institutions,” said Greco. 

Handball is a small sport in Honduras, with roughly 200 open-age players registered, but courses such as H@S have been shown to be a highly effective way to help development. The senior competitions in Honduras currently include a pre-season tournament, a national-level tournament, a league and then a cup conducted each season. Two additional tournaments are organised each year for youth and junior-age teams. 

The course in Honduras was the first of (so far) five planned for 2023, with the next confirmed courses taking place in Nicaragua, Palestine, Syria and Albania. 

More information on the H@S programme, including how to apply to have courses in your country, can be found on the IHF website.