“Having so many of our Oceania family come gather to celebrate handball in Wellington, the capital city of Aotearoa New Zealand, will be something else,” says New Zealand Handball Federation (NZHF) President David Ireland to ihf.info ahead of the inaugural Oceania Continent Handball Federation (OCHF) IHF Nations Trophy which takes place this week (10 to 14 September).

“It’s a fantastic opportunity to put our money where our mouth is in supporting women’s handball,” he adds. “We jumped at the chance to provide our senior women with this opportunity and to do our bit for Oceania handball.”

Joining the hosts in making history at the event will be Australia, Fiji, Cook Islands, New Caledonia, Kiribati and Tahiti in the seven-nation competition which will take place at the Ākau Tangi Sports Centre.

“We’re super-excited to have the honour of hosting the inaugural event and to have seven nations involved is fantastic,” explains Ireland. “It’s the first time that so many nations from across Oceania have come together to compete for regional honours at a senior level. This shows there is depth and enthusiasm for high performance women’s handball across the region and it’s really encouraging.”

For New Zealand co-captain, Rowan Moloughney, the event is extra-special as she will not only be playing on court, but will be involved in the running of the event in her role as NZHF Secretary General.

Moloughney discovered handball in 2011 when she was 15-years-old and went to a taster session at Wellington Girls’ College and has not looked back since. “I went along and absolutely loved it,” she says. “I didn't expect that 15 years later I’d still be playing.”

That playing career started at the college before she moved into club handball in the Oceania nation with Spartanz Handball Club. A spell in the New Zealand Army broke up her playing career which also saw stints back at Spartanz as well as at Auckland Handball Club and, currently, Canterbury Quakes. She has also represented Australian side University of Technology Sydney HC.

While her club career has seen numerous national individual awards and titles, her pride is evident when talking about her national team appearances. These started at junior level, Moloughney taking silver at the Oceania Handball Challenge Trophy in Samoa in 2012 and then gold at home in 2014 to qualify the team through to the IHF Trophy Intercontinental Phase in Bulgaria in 2015. 

At senior, national team level, she has represented her nation at the 2018 AHF Women’s Asian Championship and the 2022 IHF Women’s Beach Handball World Championship, and is now preparing to take to the court for another IHF Trophy experience.

“I came through the NZHF youth pathway which is part of why this tournament means so much to me now,” she explained. “I was 17 when I first represented Aotearoa New Zealand in 2012 in Samoa. My first match was against Vanuatu and we went on to lose the final to Australia, but won when we faced off in the final again in 2014 in Wellington, so, hopefully, we can repeat the feat of winning the tournament on our home turf.

 

“We are so excited to host this tournament and I really hope it becomes an important part of the women's pathway in Oceania. International opportunities can be pretty limited for us simply because of where we are in the world. Personally, I’ve only played about 25 international indoor matches across the 14 years I’ve been playing for New Zealand so having it happen here at home makes it even better. I've travelled overseas to represent New Zealand, so getting the chance to do it at home again, in front of our own handball community, is really special.

“Travel is expensive as we're all so geographically spread out, so getting seven women's national teams together is actually a massive thing; it’s super-positive and it shows that there are women across our region who really want to play this sport and represent their countries,” she adds.

“When I first played for New Zealand in 2012, it was hard to see what the next step was for women's handball without having to venture outside Oceania so having this pathway for our senior women is huge. There's a huge amount of pride in putting on the Aotearoa New Zealand shirt – there always has been.

“Handball is still a small sport here and people probably don't see all the ‘mahi’ (work) that goes into getting a team onto that court. Our players are balancing training with jobs, study, ‘whānau’ (family group) and often helping run or develop handball in their own regions as well. Everything is self-funded too. We do a lot of fundraising to make it all happen so when you finally get to walk onto court together it means a lot because you know how much ‘mahi’ everyone has put in to get there.”

And that court will be at one of New Zealand’s premier indoor sports complexes, the ‘Ākau Tangi Sports Centre’, at an event supported by the Wellington City Council Sports Event Partnership Fund, with numerous volunteers from within the handball and wider sporting community, plus partners, coming together to create handball history.

 

“The OCHF IHF Nations Trophy will take place at the wonderful multi-court Ākau Tangi venue with our national club championships running alongside, so the week will be a massive gathering of handball talent,” explains Ireland.

“The New Zealand Handball Federation is tiny on the international level, run by a handful of volunteers with no paid employees so we are leaning heavily on our wonderful local handball community and the traditional ‘Kiwi #8 wire’ (‘can-do’) mentality – whatever it takes we will make it work.

“The team at the Ākau Tangi Sports Centre have been amazing and have been great supporters of hosting handball events over the years, while the Trinity Group, who provide accommodation, could not have been more helpful. We also have to thank Wellington City Council who have been a huge support for handball events in the city for many years, and we are delighted to have the city Mayor join us to close the event.”

In Wellington, New Zealand will face New Caledonia, Cook Islands and Kiribati in their preliminary group as the Kiwis aim to go all the way, win the title and grab a qualification spot through to the 2026 AHF Women’s Asian Championship later this year.

“The funny thing about Oceania handball is that we're obviously competitors and once that whistle goes we want to beat each other, but we're also an Oceania handball ‘whānau’,” says Moloughney.

“Seeing any Oceania nation make it onto a bigger international stage is massive for all of us. We want it to be us, obviously, but growing the region and seeing Oceania handball succeed is something we all benefit from. With handball in Oceania we haven't had the opportunity to play each other often, so we won't necessarily know what the other teams are going to bring to the court, but we're definitely not going to underestimate anyone.

“Our big focus is always going to be on ourselves and playing our handball, while being able to adapt once we're out there,” she adds.

 

“The first game is really important, especially for our team. I'm the only player that has played for the New Zealand senior team before so we have a lot of debutants which is honestly so exciting but with that excitement obviously comes nerves – I’m hoping we can get as many of those nerves out as possible at our final training on Wednesday and then come out swinging against the Cook Islands on Thursday.”

And for Moloughney, she is looking to achieve multiple goals in Wellington: personal, playing, team and federation-wide.

“As a team, we want to win it,” she says. “Winning it gives us the opportunity to go on and represent Oceania at the Asian Championship, so there's a massive incentive there for us. But, regardless of the final result, I want us to walk off the court knowing that we played the kind of handball we're capable of playing and represented Aotearoa New Zealand in a way we're proud of.

“Personally, these opportunities [to play] aren't guaranteed so I'm going to do my best to soak it all in,” she continues. “I want to enjoy it. I want to do my team and my people proud. I want to leave absolutely everything I have on that court and if I can finish the tournament knowing I gave everything I had alongside my teammates, I'll be proud of that. I want my son to see how awesome handball is and how strong his mum is.

“I played at the Asian Championship back in 2018, so getting the chance to go back eight years later with this new group of ‘wāhine’ would mean a lot to me personally. Qualification would be a huge achievement. 

“For the team, it gives us something we don't get enough of; real international games against strong opposition, and with so many players making their senior debuts that experience would be massive for them – this would be much bigger than just this team, hopefully it makes the pathway a bit easier for the next group of ‘wāhine’ coming through – and, honestly, one of the best feelings for me is seeing young Kiwi girls pick up a handball and get into this awesome sport. If I can leave behind something that gives them a real pathway to follow, that would mean the world to me.

“But with my NZHF Secretary General hat on, qualification for the Asian Championship creates visibility. Visibility can mean more players, more sponsors and more recognition of handball as a real sporting pathway here. Instead of saying we're a sport with potential, it gives us something concrete, something to take to sponsors. We can say our women's team are Oceania champions and they're heading to the Asian Championships – and that's a different conversation.”

The 2026 Oceania Continent Handball Federation (OCHF) IHF Nations Trophy takes place from 10 to 14 September in Wellington, New Zealand. All games will be streamed live and free on the IHF Competitions YouTube channel.