German club capture Guinness World Record

On 12 September, clubs across Germany competed for an unusual title: the Guinness World Record for most passes made by a handball team in one hour. As the record was not previously set, so long as the winning team passed the minimum standards set by Guinness, they would write their club name into the history books. With 5,392 passes in one hour, men’s side TSV Sieverstedt were the team to do it. 

The event was initiated by the Schleswig-Holstein Handball Association, with the motto ‘Germany is warming up– the world record’, aiming to mobilise the handball community after the particularly difficult months due to COVID-19 over the European spring and summer. 

“We’re slowly getting back to handball. The hunt for the record moves the handball family at all levels and creates publicity,” said German Handball Federation (DHB) CEO Mark Schober. 

Teams from the states of Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, Saxony and Baden-Württemberg registered for the challenge. 

Gestern am 12. September 2020 nahmen zwei Mannschaften des TSV an "Deutschland wirft sich warm - Der Weltrekord"...

Posted by TSV Sieverstedt Ev on Sunday, September 13, 2020

“Most of the participating teams come from Schleswig-Holstein. As the initiator and as the regional association, we are of course particularly pleased,” President of the Schleswig-Holstein Handball Association Dierk Petersen told the official website of the DHB. 

The rules were that the ball had to be passed by 10 players at a minimum distance of five metres, with a minimum of 1,500 passes within 60 minutes to be able to set the record. All attempts had to be documented in full with video, and the clips of the top three teams were then sent to the Guinness World Records headquarters in London for verification. 

There were no rules regarding age or gender. The youngest participating team was the female E-youth from JHSG Varel. Every team passed the minimum 1,500 passes with ease, and so all participants proved more than worthy for the record – but TSV Sieverstedt were the ultimate champion and the newest record holder.

PHOTO: Handballverband Schleswig-Holstein e.V.