The Vancouver Handball team recently participated in the 2023 US National tournament in Spokane, Washington. They were able to finish 7th as the only Canadian team represented. They also had one of their players finish as the third leading scorer of the tournament.
Handball is a sport that often needs a bit further explaining before people realize what you’re talking about. Handball can refer to a sport resembling squash, except while using your hands instead of with a racket. However, what I’m talking about here is team handball, a game combining elements of soccer and basketball.
Players can pass the ball to their teammates with their hands, with the ultimate goal being to throw the ball past a goalie into a net. The game is typically played in a gym, and is particularly popular throughout Europe.
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I had the opportunity to attend the European Men’s Handball Championships in Budapest, Hungary in January 2022. I had played the sport a bit in high school and university intramurals, but it was my first time seeing the game played by professional players.
Seeing an international tournament is always cool, because you can see the passion when players are representing their countries. I went to a matchup between Iceland and Portugal, which was a group stage game. The game is fast-paced, with a lot of continuous action. After enjoying it, I ended up seeing some of the 2nd round games as well.
Upon returning to Vancouver last summer, I was immediately on the lookout for handball locally. I stumbled upon the Vancouver Handball community, which runs workouts weekly throughout the fall and winter. There isn’t exactly a league, per se, as the community is pretty small. However, they workout and practice with the goal of going to tournaments in the United States.
Sweden are the winners of the 2022 EHF European Men's Handball Championship.
Sweden defeated the defending champions Spain in Budapest after a very narrow and thrilling game, which was decided on the last second of the game.
🇸🇪 27-26 🇪🇸 | #EHFEURO22 pic.twitter.com/TYaA684KZO
— Salamander Sport (@SMDRSport) January 30, 2022
Since I was inquiring about handball in the summer, I was in luck. They were running free weekly handball games outdoors, on Kitsilano Beach. I ended up going to about 6 or 7, as it was a lot of fun to throw your body around with the benefit of landing on sand. I enjoyed the sport a lot, but realized it would be tough to continue playing with school approaching.
The Vancouver Handball club is small, yet includes many devoted players. A lot of them come from European countries, as I met German, Slovakian, Spanish, and Dutch players during the beach sessions. It’s a sport that definitely hasn’t taken off in Canada, but there’s signs that it could be improving.
If you’re interested in trying your hand at handball, feel free to show up to one of their beach sessions, which will be starting up again within the next month.