Can you turn your hand to handball?

If you don’t know anything about handball, don’t worry – you’re probably in the majority. Even though you may have played it in the odd P.E. session at school, the British handball team has never given cause for a mass patriotic rally behind the sport on this football, rugby and cricket obsessed island. In its 44-year-old history, it has only won 12 games out of 76, losing to the hegemons of handball such as Moldova, Faroe Islands and Sultanate of Oman. Frankly speaking, the only reason the British handball team still exists is because of the London Olympics, during which, unsurprisingly, they lost all of their games.

It’s a pity that the UK doesn’t have a big interest in handball, because it is, in my opinion, the most exciting team sport. It definitely is one of the fastest and the most unpredictable games ever created. Imagine a game where you take all the problems and frustrations of football which we gripe about on an almost daily basis, and get rid of them to leave a pure sporting experience.  

It can’t end 0-0, time-wasting is not possible, and the only benefit to diving is to make a spectacular catch. With an incredible average of 60 goals per game, the match will surely keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.

One of the best drinking games I’ve ever played was linked to the number of goals scored in a handball match – let’s just say that it would have been a much drier affair had we based the game on a football score…

It saddens me that St Andrews does not have a handball club. We have such a fantastic array of international students from Scandinavia, France, Spain and the Balkans where handball is particularly popular. I aim to change this. After all, if St Andrews can scrape together a quidditch team, I have no doubt that there is room for a handball team in The Bubble!

Handball is physical, skilful and fast-paced

The pathway through University’s bureaucracy and paperwork is a long one, but I aim to convince you that it’s worth the effort. All committee positions are currently open, so this is a great chance to get involved with a new sport, or one you’ve played before and enjoyed, and get another position of responsibility to add to that CV (It always comes back to CV building, doesn’t it – Ed)  

The team is mixed, you do not need any previous experience – although any experience would be very welcome! All that we require is the motivation to make this club work. Handball is exhilarating, action-packed and worth your time. Let’s get going and give this University another team it can be proud of.

For more information, or to register interest, you can e-mail Jacek on [email protected].

Images courtesy of brignewspaper.com and mensfitness.com