A joint meeting was held at the IHF Head Office on Friday 22 September with representatives of the Czech, Slovakian, Italian, Romanian and Hungarian Handball Federations. The purpose of the meeting was for the various National Federations to outline their current development plans and identify possible future collaborations with the IHF, as well as to discuss the methods for realising that cooperation.

 
A particular programme of interest for all Federations was the IHF’s Handball at School (H@S), which sees IHF experts conduct courses for teachers of young children in alignment with the motto ‘Fun, passion and health.’ The Hungarian Federation already operate their own form of H@S.

“These courses should contribute to make handball an integral part of the curriculum in physical education also in early age, increase the commitment for our sport and pave the way for involvement in handball also in adult age,” says IHF President Dr Hassan Moustafa of the H@S programme.

 
Proposals made during the meeting include coaching courses for younger age category coaches with five different youth coaches per country participating; regular organisation of youth competitions – reinforcing the focus on introducing handball to children; referee courses conducted by both the IHF and European Handball Federation, with the possibility for local-run courses also; and beach handball courses. In addition, all countries expressed interest in the Former Players Project.

 
The meeting was attended by Czech Handball Federation President Mr Radek Bendl, Slovak Handball Federation President Mr Jaroslav Holesa and Vice-President Ernö Kelecsenyi, Italian Handball Federation President Mr Pasquale Loria, Romanian Handball Federation Vice-President Ms Steluta Luca, and Hungarian Handball Federation Vice-President Mr Laszlo Marosi and Deputy Secretary General – International Affairs Ms Gabriella Horvath.

The IHF was represented by President Dr Hassan Moustafa, Managing Director Mrs Amal Khalifa and Competitions Director Mr Patric Strub