An exciting International Handball Week concludes today

18 Jul. 2021

An exciting International Handball Week concludes today

The International Handball Federation’s (IHF) second International Handball Week comes to an end after a week of celebrations around the world.

Celebrating 75 years of existence, the IHF marked the occasion by diving into its past, its present and also into the future of handball, seeing the world unite in handball and celebrate.

Special messages from IHF President Dr Hassan Moustafa and the International Olympic Committee President Dr Thomas Bach were broadcasted on Monday, 12 July, highlighting the importance of the International Handball Week and inviting all the IHF Member Federation to join the celebration in such difficult times.

Throughout the week, each day was reserved for a special handball discipline, walking together through the evolution of handball, irrespective of the court or its history. Indoor handball, with its vivid popularity, was first, and we took a stroll to the past, by remembering its inception, while also highlighting the changes made in the last two decades.
 


Dietrich Späte, Chairman of the IHF Commission of Coaching and Methods (CCM), shared his vision regarding the future of handball and highlighted the importance of the continued monitoring of the rules, to create a better version of the game.

Wednesday was beach handball’s day, one of the handball disciplines that has seen tremendous development in the past 30 years. The Chairman of the IHF Beach Handball Working Group, Giampiero Masi, also shared the plans for the future, while taking a look back on how beach handball developed as well.

The future of handball is and always will be the children and Thursday was dedicated to children’s handball. The boom of children’s handball was analysed by Dr Ilona Hapkova, the Chairwoman of the IHF Handball at School Working Group and IHF Commission of Coaching and Methods Expert, who highlighted how future stars are encouraged to enjoy handball.

Wheelchair handball was Friday’s theme, as the Chairman of the IHF Wheelchair Handball Working Group, Dr Frantisek Taborsky, explained just how important the discipline is to handball.

IHF Member Federations and Continental Confederations also joined in with special messages from players and Presidents, respectively, and shared their own activities with the hashtag #handballweek, underlining their support for the International Handball Week and also striving to contribute to the evolution and future of handball and all its disciplines.
 


During the International Handball Week, the IHF also joined forces with the German Handball Federation to attract fans to a special edition of the ‘Be A Manager’ game, where they could select their dream team and win special prizes.

During the three-nation tournament held in Nuremberg between 9 July and 11 July, the fans could select their favourite players from the German, Brazilian and Egyptian sides. The top-two placed managers won CHF 5,000 each.

The future also looks bright, as the latest developments in the digital world were also embraced by the IHF, which constantly looks to improve the landscape of handball, with an eye on the future. Several plans are already in motion, to help players, coaches, referees and fans, all the important stakeholders of the sport, to enjoy handball even more.