Soon children will be able to enjoy handball beyond the bounds of the court, with the IHF Handball at School (H@S) Working Group closing in on the end of a long-term project to create the IHF ABC Handball Cards. The IHF ABC Handball Cards are another element of the accessible programmes designed by the H@S Working Group, which aim to provide free and fun handball resources for kids to play with independently or in groups, such as with teammates, in clubs or a school environment. 

The first of such resources was the IHF Youngsters’ Training Diary, which was published in 2021 with the goal of providing a fun, motivating and challenging guide to handball training for kids. In 2022, a Training Diary Contest was held, with a small girls’ group from Sierra Leone declared the winners after completing the tasks within the Diary. The H@S Working Group are also developing a 2nd IHF Youngsters’ Training Diary. 

The IHF ABC Handball Cards offer both physical and mental challenges for groups of two or more children, with up to seven different card games to play while learning handball terms in different languages and rules. The Cards will also be incorporated into exercises in the upcoming 2nd IHF Youngsters Training Diary and will be available in different language combinations: 

• English/German
• English/French
• English/Spanish
• English/Czech

The games available include Quick Match, Matching Pairs, I Spy, ABC Match, Categories, ABC Hop Scotch and Slap the Card. 

The cards will be available on the IHF website free of charge — all that will be required to make use of the cards will be a printer. 

About the H@S Working Group

The H@S Working Group is responsible for not only the IHF H@S programme, launched in 2011, but the development of children’s handball the world over in general. Led by Chairwoman Dr Ilona Hapkova, the H@S Working Group actively guide global education related to children’s handball and have been a key part of other educational initiatives such as the IHF Virtual Academy. 

The resources provided by the H@S Working Group enable anyone to start playing, teaching or coaching children’s handball right now. Find resources such as the Teacher Guidelines, Youngsters’ Training Diary and promotional materials on the IHF website, as well as information on how to apply to be part of the H@S programme.