The Oceania Continental Phase is the first Youth and Junior IHF Trophy continental event confirmed on the 2018 calendar, with both age category competitions taking place in Nouméa, New Caledonia from June 11 to 15. The winners of the two titles available will qualify for the Intercontinental Phase, to be contested between the champions of each Continental Phase.

Tahiti won the two previous junior-age IHF Trophy events in Oceania (2014 and 2017), while the youth category will be played in the region for the first time.

IHF Trophy competition updated

The IHF Trophy was previously contested only between junior category teams with the goal of developing national squads, coaches and referees.

After careful evaluation, an updated concept was presented in January 2018. The updates included the provision of financial support for the winner of the continental phase to participate in IHF Youth and Junior World Championship continental qualification, and automatic qualification for the winner of the junior’s Intercontinental Phase to proceed to the IHF Junior World Championship.

2018 will be a Men’s IHF Trophy year in view of the 2019 Youth (U19) and Junior (U21) World Championships, while the Women’s IHF Trophy will take place in 2019 on the path to the 2020 Youth (U18) and Junior (U20) World Championships.

IHF Trophy – 2018 men’s competitions

North American & Caribbean Zone

Host City/Nation: West Dundee, Illinois/United States of America (USA)

Dates: 7-12 May 2018

Invited teams: Barbados (BAR), Canada (CAN), Dominican Republic (DOM), Haiti (HAI), Martinique (MTN), United States of America (USA)

CAHB Africa: Zone II

Host City/Nation: Nouakchott, Mauritania (MTN)

Dates: 24-29 March 2018

Invited teams: Cape Verde (CPV), Gambia (GAM), Guinea-Bissau (GBS), Guinea (GUI), Mali (MLI), Mauritania (MTN), Senegal (SEN), Sierra Leone (SLE)

CAHB Africa: Zone III

Host City/Nation: Niamey, Niger (NIG)

Dates: 9-14 April 2018

Invited teams: Benin (BEN), Burkina Faso (BUR), Cote d’Ivoire (CIV), Ghana (GHA), Liberia (LBR), Nigeria (NGR), Niger (NIG), Togo (TOG)

CAHB Africa: Zone IV

Host City/Nation: Kinshasa, DR Congo

Dates: 6-10 June 2018

Invited teams: Central African Republic (CAF), Congo (CGO), Chad (CHA), Cameroon (CMR), DR Congo (COD), Gabon (GAB), Equatorial Guinea (GEQ), Sao Tome and Principe (STP)

CAHB Africa: Zone V

Host City/Nation: Kampala, Uganda (UGA)

Dates: 14-20 May 2018

Invited teams: Burundi (BDI), Djibouti (DJI), Ethiopia (ETH), Kenya (KEN), Rwanda (RWA), Somalia (SOM), South Sudan (SSD), Sudan (SUD), Tanzania (TAN), Uganda (UGA)

CAHB Africa: Zone VI and Zone VII

Host City/Nation: Lusaka, Zambia (ZAM)

Dates: 24-28 April 2018

Invited teams: Zambia (ZAM), Botswana (BOT), Lesotho (LES), Malawi (MAW), Mozambique (MOZ), Namibia (NAM), Swaziland (SWZ), Zimbabwe (ZIM), Seychelles (SEY) and Madagascar (MAD).

AHF Asia: Zone IB (East and South East Asia)

Host City/Nation: Shah Alam Selangor, Malaysia (MAS)

Dates: 17-21 April 2018

Invited teams: Brunei (BRU), Cambodia (CAM), Laos (LAO), Indonesia (INA), Malaysia (MAS), Philippines (PHI), Singapore (SIN), Thailand (THA)

AHF Asia: Zone II (South and Central Asia)

Host City/Nation: Faisalabad, Pakistan (PAK)

Dates: 10-15 March 2018

Invited teams: Afghanistan (AFG), Bangladesh (BAN), India (IND), Nepal (NEP), Maldives (MDV), Sri Lanka (SRI), Yemen (YEM), Pakistan (PAK)

OCHF Oceania: Continental Phase

Host City/Nation: Nouméa, New Caledonia (NCL)

Dates: 11-15 June 2018

Invited teams: American Samoa (ASA), Australia (AUS), Cooks Islands (COK), Fiji (FIJ), New Caledonia (NCL), New Zealand (NZL), Papua New Guinea (PNG), Tahiti (TAH)