With Stage 2 of the 2023 IHF Beach Handball Global Tour coming next week, followed by the second edition of the African Beach Games and the debut of beach handball at the European Games later this month, it is certainly a busy period for beach handball across the globe.

IHF.info takes a quick look around what else is happening on the sand around the world at the moment.

Austrian tour to commence
After its debut edition last year, the second ‘Beach Handball Tour Austria’ gets underway in Bisamberg this weekend, the first of five events, having expanded from two events in 2022.

The tour will take place in five venues across June, July and September:

17 – 18 June: Bisamberg (Beach Handball Korneuburg)
24 June: Beach Trophy Tulln 2023 
24 – 25 June: Vorarlberg Beachhandball Trophy (BHC Lauterach)
30 June – 1 July: Carinthia – Strandbad St. Kanzian/Klopeinersee
September: Vienna Beach Handball Championships

Entry is available for all events with women, men, mixed and youth teams available.

“We are pleased that we have almost reached the number of entries we had planned for this year. Every Vorarlberg handball club has at least one team, but friendly clubs from Germany and Switzerland have also provided teams,” said Jonas Gorbach from Lauteracher Handball Club which is organising the third stage, to local media.

For more information on the tour, visit HERE.

Saudi men’s champions crowned
Al-Safa won the men’s ‘Kingdom Beach Handball Championship’ in Saudi Arabia earlier this week, beating Mudar in the final.

The 2023 event was the fourth edition of the championship and saw 12 clubs compete for the title at the Al-Safa Club stadium in Safwa (Safa Al-Orouba). Al-Nour won the second edition of the men’s junior championship which featured 14 teams.

On the sidelines of the event a coaches course was held with 33 male coaches covering a variety of topics across seven days. The course was organised by the Saudi Handball Federation in cooperation with the Arab Federation, and under the supervision of the IHF.

For more information, visit: http://sahf.org.sa/news

Detroit host beach championship
‘The American Handball Championship’ (TAHC) was held across three days from June 9 to 11 in Holland, Michigan, in the USA and incorporated both indoor and beach handball tournaments.

A wide range of teams were involved, including the Canadian national team.

“There wasn’t a national beach handball championship in North America and we thought it’d be fun to combine it with an indoor championship,” said Joey Williams, President of Detroit Handball Club who organised the event, to ihf.info.

“We had more than 20 teams across the continent participate and the feedback has been amazing. Clubs from Minnesota, Milwaukee, Detroit, Chicago, Miami, Orlando, Ohio, Washington DC, and Kentucky participated, along with a dozen of the top referees in North America, who were led by coordinators Michi Mensing and Anahita Pirnia.

“Our hope for the future is to grow our participation every year," he added. "This was the first event of its kind on the continent, so we’re happy that it started, and we’re excited to keep growing it."

For more information, visit: https://americanhandballcompany.com/2023-tahc-championship

Norway recruiting future talent
This weekend (16 to 18 June) will see the Norwegian Handball Federation organise a ‘Regional Talent Gathering’ in Rakkestad for players born in 2008.

The weekend is set to be ‘an inspiring weekend where the focus is on individual development of handball skills, both technical, tactical, physical and mental’, with all those involved taking part in three handball session including physical training, beach handball and theory.

The Norwegian national teams will be in action this weekend (16 to 18 June) at the ‘NM Beach 2023’ event in Sandefjord which will feature U16, U18, senior and open classes.

Arena Tour returning to Spain for 2023
The Royal Spanish Handball Federation (RFEBM) held a media conference this week to launch the ‘Arena Handball Tour 2023’ – the official Spanish beach handball tour.

2023 marks the eighth edition of the tour, which will start this weekend (16 to 18 June) on the Playa del Carmen in Barbate, which is located in the province of Cadiz, Andalucia.

“It is a land to which I have special affection,” said RFEBM President Francisco V. Blázquez Cádiz at the launch. “This is where our beach handball was born, with that Spanish Championship in 1996 and we are going to enjoy the place where it started, grew up and has now become a world reference.”

The tour will visit five locations, including Nazaré in Portugal – home of the recent European Championships. It will return to Andalucia for its conclusion, with the Spanish Club Championship where 12,000 people are expected.

Arena Handball Tour 2023
16 – 18 June: Barbate
23 – 25 June: Nazaré (Portugal)
14 – 16 July: Cadiz
21 – 23 July: Orihuela
27 – 30 July: Almeria – The Spanish Club Championship

For more information, visit: https://arenahandballtour.com/

Andalucia also recently hosted the Fuengirola Cup beach handball tournament, which saw over 400 players from 28 teams across the region compete.

Interamnia Beach Cup announced
Beach Handball will be part of the ‘Interamnia World Cup’ in Italy this July. The event, which is celebrating its 50th edition, features a variety of age tournaments for indoor, beach and wheelchair handball with teams coming from all over the world.

The organisers are expecting 70 nations, from 190 cities across 220 teams and 7,000 participants to be represented at the event which will take place from 4 to 15 July.

For more information, visit: https://interamniaworldcup.com/

Dutch end season, start a new one
The Netherlands Handball Federation have announced details about their beach handball calendar.

The Dutch Championship from this season will take place from 24 - 25 June, with the new Beach Handball Tour (2023-2024) starting soon and featuring Amsterdam (1 -2 July) and Eindhoven (9 July) amongst others.

For more information, visit: https://beachhandball.nl/

France and Germany camp
As part of the ‘Festi'Beach’ event in Châteauroux, France, the men’s and women’s national teams of France and Germany will play a number of preparatory friendly matches to inaugurate the new, 6,000m2 dedicated beach sports space.

“This course is part of a partnership with Germany that we would like to stabilise and perpetuate, like the collaboration that has already existed for many years between the two countries in 7-a-Side handball,” said Patrick Teyssier, France men's coach to the FFHB.

All games will be streamed live, further information can be found HERE.

Germany beach open tour underway
The ‘2023 German Beach Open’ tour is well underway, with the best teams from the tour qualifying for the season-ending German championships in Cuxhaven.

Run independently from the German Handball Federation (DHB), the tour takes in 13 events:

9 – 11 June: Grosslangheim 2023
9 – 11 June: Karakho Beach Cup 2023
9 – 11 June: Aldner Beach Days 2023
23 – 25 June: Barten Beach 2023
23 – 25 June: Travemünde Beach Cup 2023
30 June – 2 July: Oberlübber Beach Open
7 – 9 July: Damp Beach Open 2023
7 – 9 July: HVSA Sparkassen BeachMasters
7 – 9 July: Beach Open Geislingen
14 – 16 July: Rankbach Beach Cup Renningen
14 – 16 July: Herrenhäuser Beach Cup
15 July: Nuremberg Beach Open
21 – 23 July: Isar Beach Cup 2023

28 – 30 July: DHB German Beach Handball Championships – Cuxhaven

For more information, visit: https://www.german-beach-open.com/

Sweden’s club champions to be known
The Swedish Beach Handball Championships will take place in Kalmar this weekend (17 – 18 June).

Four beach handball courts at the Långviken arena will host the competition, with further activities at the weekend and in the lead-up, including try-it-yourself activities, training, para and wheelchair handball. The Swedish youth national teams will also be there in preparation for the upcoming European Championships.

The winners of the senior event will represent Sweden in the EHF Beach Handball Champions Cup. 

For more information visit HERE.