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Olympic Handball

travoholic | Sep 2, 2009 |

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Most North Americans think of handball as a game you played as a child involving a ball, a wall and your hand. Europeans have come up with something far more interesting and handball is more than a child's game, it is a major world sport and an Olympic event.

Olympic handball was introduced during the Berlin Games in 1936 and back then it was only contested by men. It was played on a football (soccer) sized pitch with teams of eleven players. An indoor version of the game was originated in Scandinavia with seven players per team. This format for the game grew in popularity and it is this version that has been played at every Olympics since Munich 1972. The women's event was introduced at Montreal 1976.

Handball is big in Europe and most of the best teams come from there. Many countries have their own leagues and crowds of 20,000 often gather to watch matches. The International Handball Federation oversees a World Championship that takes place every two years. In 2009 it was held in Croatia and won by France. It is due to take place in Sweden in 2011.

There are few handball powers that come from non-European countries but the sport is played in Japan, Egypt, South Korea, Brazil and Tunisia, among others that participate in the World Championship on occasion. Great Britain has never had a handball team and, as the host country, they will be able to participate in the sport and they will participate in the London 2012 handball tournament. To fill the gap an open call was put out to British athletes of a minimum specified height to try out for the first ever team.

Handball isn't one of the most glamorous Olympic sports but it is one of the most underrated and exciting. I found myself with tickets to several handball matches and I was amazed each time by the speed, and especially the agility of the handball players. Some of these athletes are huge and yet they are fast and able to move around the co I was the same until I found myself with tickets to see several matches at the Beijing 2008 Games. What I experienced was one of the most fast-paced games I have ever seen live and despite it not getting much attention outside of Europe, I have become a handball fan.

If you get a chance to attend the Summer Olympics, give handball a shot. I promise you will be impressed by the pace and excitement of the game and tickets are usually cheap since it's not hugely popular.