It was a debut for the Schleswig-Holstein Handball Association to facilitate handball seminars in South Africa. Handball coach Frank Hamann was in South Africa from 29 July to 18 August for PLAY HANDBALL and the HVSH and was able to inspire many participants with his expertise and enthusiasm for handball.
The aim of PLAY HANDBALL is to make the sport of handball accessible to more children and youth, especially those growing up in disadvantaged circumstances. ‘We are focussing primarily on school sports, as schools already offer existing structures for integrating handball. The school is a safe place, there are rooms and courts, not handball courts, but we don’t need them either,’ says Nicola, founder of PLAY HANDBALL. The cooperation with the HVSH is primarily intended to support coaches educations. Frank, who works as a sport teacher in Hamburg after his time as a DHB coach, knew how to inspire the 70 teachers and coaches from Cape Town and Johannesburg who took part in the five seminars. The participants enjoyed learning the basic techniques of handball such as bouncing, catching, passing and throwing. The coaches from the 24 schools and six sports organisations were also introduced to the fundamental rules in a playful way. At the end of each workshop, everyone was able to play handball, not at an Olympic level, but with lots of fun, team spirit and enthusiasm.

Handball is also played at the German School in Johannesburg. Coach of the school team and coordinator Bongani was delighted with Frank’s visit and not only organised Frank’s programme in Johannesburg, but also took part in the seminars:

‘Having Frank here was a great learning experience. He’s very passionate and very experienced in terms of coaching and teaching handball. The coaches and teachers loved him, on and off the field we were breathing and eating handball and I learnt a lot from him.’

Frank also draws a positive final conclusion:

‘My stay in Cape Town and Johannesburg was characterised by many impressions and experiences. The conditions at the public schools are sometimes very basic, but the people involved make the most of it with great commitment. The volunteers exemplify the enthusiasm for handball and always put a smile on the faces of the school children with their commitment. Thanks to Nicola Scholl’s excellent organisation, the event left an outstanding impression and also intensified the cooperation between PLAY HANDBALL and the Schleswig-Holstein Handball Association.’

We would like to thank Frank for his excellent cooperation. We will work with the HVSH and Frank on further training topics to provide teachers and our coaches with more knowledge for their handball training.

Your PLAY HANDBALL team