About – Play Handball

PLAY HANDBALL FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE!

PLAY HANDBALL is a Sport & Youth Development Non-for-Profit Organisation which focuses on the team-sport handball. We are a kick-starter organisation and promoter of education and social development with handball – not only in Africa, but worldwide as well. We started as an South African based organisation in 2013. In 2014, PLAY HANDBALL established an office in Germany and has an affiliated office in Kenya since 2016. We drive social change through innovative approaches and working directly in the targeted communities or through partnerships with grassroots organizations. We support community-based organisations and schools with knowledge, equipment and volunteers. By building capacity in community-based organisations and training coaches/teachers as multipliers of PH’s methodology, we follow the train-the-trainer principle to ensure sustainable development.

We drive POSITIVE SOCIAL CHANGE & create new PERSPECTIVES.

PLAY HANDBALL envisages the use of handball as a tool for personal development of the individuals as well as socio-economic and community development in the broader context, while also ensuring the sustainable development of the sport. Through handball, we are able to give young people the opportunity to experience team spirit and healthy competition. We reinforce their self-esteem through positive experiences, generate enthusiasm and impart valuable life skills.

We impart KNOWLEDGE and create AWARENESS FOR SIGNIFICANT SOCIO-CULTURAL ISSUES.

PLAY HANDBALL is an educational partner for handball (for) development. We develop educational programmes for handball and life skills to enable young people to positively impact their future. Handball is the tool to create learning experiences around valuable life skills and important socio-political topics such as environmental conservation, social cohesion, (gender) equity, inclusion, as well as health.

OUR HISTORY - So far

PLAY HANDBALL started with a vision. Nicola Scholl, former player in the German National Handball League, saw the potential and benefit that handball could bring to the youth, and especially to girls, in South Africa.

In 2009, Nicola worked as a volunteer herself at a school in a Cape Town township, in Hanover Park. Through volunteering, she became aware of the various challenges young people have to face in disadvantaged areas in South Africa, and the general lack of sport education and social activities. Thus, she was motivated to return to South Africa and at the end of 2013, when she officially founded PLAY HANDBALL ZA.

Since then, the German sponsorship association was established in order to support activities and events under PLAY HANDBALL in South Africa and worldwide. As of 2017, PLAY HANDBALL runs activities in Kenya as well.

OUR VISION & MISSION - What drives us

OUR VISION

PLAY HANDBALL for a SUSTAINABLE FUTURE.

Handball is our tool to empower the youth. We envision supporting a diverse and multi-inclusive sports environment through playing the team-sport of handball, and to impart self-esteem, skills and knowledge to the next generation.

In doing so, we would like to contribute to a world where young people grow-up in peace and have hope for a positive future. We encourage respecting oneself, respecting others, and respecting the environment, which serve as the main tenets of our call-to-action.

We want to use handball to empower the youth – especially young girls – and create an open-minded society without cultural, gendered or racial boundaries. We want to hold high the pillars of respect, mutual support, and unity!

OUR MISSION STATEMENT

We are a trusted kick-starter for SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT with Handball.

PLAY HANDBALL supports community-based developmental organisations with capacity-building and skill-development by offering knowledge, resources and volunteers. Our programmes are adaptable, easy-to-implement, and compatible with different cultural and social environments. We help local organisations to help themselves.

As a kick-starter organisation partnered with the promotion of handball globally, we support community-based organisations through:

1. Knowledge is the key: we develop integrated training methods and educational programs based on handball specific fundamental skills and social topics such as environmental protection, and teach the associated life skills.
2. Equipment creates the possibility: We donate handball equipment
3. Volunteers support & inspire: We place volunteers
We promote handball as a tool for development.
We create awareness for important socio-political issues – PLAY HANDBALL Supercup – educational handball tournament series to raise awareness for climate change
We support and advise on the development of local sports structures and create a platform for professional exchange with our PLAY HANDBALL network partners
We connect people and create cultural exchange opportunities:
1. scholarship programmes (www.weltwaerts.de) – apply via our partner Jugend im Ausland
2. BoraBola (www.bora-bola.com

OUR VALUES - What guides us

Our work is driven by our core values: Sustainability, Quality & Expertise, Diversity & Equity, and Enjoyment.

Sustainability

Our approach is based on sustainability. We believe the result of social development work should lead to self-sustaining practices. We help kick-start the handball movement, and lay the foundation for further structures which enable us to provide support where we are most needed. As a result, we work with the education sector and build partnerships on grassroots level to establish long-term, mutual growth.

Quality & Expertise

We believe in quality and expertise. Maintaining high standards in terms of our services, our partnerships, and our volunteers is critical to ensure a sustainable impact. We reach out in order to find the most qualified institutions to partnering with for our programme development. We believe that further change and employment opportunities through handball are only possible if the development work focuses on the proper transfer of skills and the proper implementation there-of.

Diversity & Equity

We embrace diversity and promote equity. A sports team is a melting-pot of different individuals with a diverse set of skills, cultural influences, and social backgrounds. Each member contributes to diversity, and it crucial that we encourage respect for each other’s backgrounds, and acknowledge individual strengths. Working towards unity fosters an open-minded society without cultural, social or gendered boundaries.

Enjoyment

Sport can be fun and exciting, provided it is managed correctly. In all our work, we place enjoyment at the heart of our aim, in order to create exciting experiences for all. We are passionate about our mission, and have a strong love for sport. We truly believe this will hold us in good stead in realising our vision.

OUR NETWORK PARTNER - Where we assist

Benefits for our network partners:

Skill-Development. Get access to skilled volunteers to assist your local programmes.
Resources. By using our methodology and being part of the network gain access to partnership opportunities that generate resources for your cause.
Capacity. Get to know how to use handball as a tool for development by using our methodologies and training manuals.
Exchange & Education. Get access to education and scholarship programmes for your young peer leaders.
Visibility. Leverage our network of like-minded development organisations to increase the visibility of your work.

Create positive experience with handball in your community as well and join our network. Apply via info@play-handball.org to register your organisation with us.