History of Handball

Team Handball is also known as Olympic handball or European handball. There are various records that show that games similar to handball have been played in medieval France and in Greenland during the Middle Ages. The sport as we know it today was formed at the end of the 19th century in northern Europe. The rules for modern handball were formatted by a Danish gymnasium tutor and were published in 1906. A second set of rules were laid down by Max Heiser, Karl Schelenz and Erich Konigh from Germany. Later Karl Schelenz went on to augment these rules. Handball is a team sport consisting of two teams of seven players each. The first international game for men and women was played in 1925 and 1930 respectively.

Each team consists of seven players on court and seven substitute players on the bench. One of the outfield players on the court is nominated as the goalkeeper, who can be distinguished from the rest of the field players by his or her attire. Modern handball is generally played indoors, while different forms like field handball and beach handball are played outdoors. Handball is played by bouncing the ball and throwing it into the opposing team’s goal post to score a goal. The game is quite swift and the players try to stop the opposing players from coming within the reach of their goal. Only the goalkeeper is permitted to move within crease, which is the area that surrounds the goals.

Previous Handball season(s)

The International Handball Federation is the governing body for handball. Both men’s and women’s championships are organized by the IHF. The 2009 World Men’s Handball Championships are France while the 2007 World Women’s Handball Championships are Russia. The European Handball Federation (EHF) is the umbrella association for European handball, established in November 1991. Other federations are the Asian Handball Federation, the Confederation Africaine de Handball, the Pan-American Team Handball Federation and the Oceania Handball Federation. The Portuguese Handball SuperCup is played between the winner of the Portuguese Handball Cup and the winner of the Liga Portuguesa de Andebol. In Germany, the Handball-Bundesliga (HBL) is professional handball league. The German handball champions are the victors of the Handball-Bundesliga game.