HANDBALL NEWSEnglish edition 38, June 24 2008

ST COLUMBA SECURE SHIELD

IN MINI HANDBALL FESTIVAL

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AROUND 150

youngsters took part in

the 13th National Mini

Handball Festival at

Haslingden Sports

Centre, Lancashire, last

weekend.

With 16 teams

competing the

tournament took place

on two indoor courts

and two outside, and

there was some great

handballing action on

show.

After the group

stages the top eight

teams went forward to

compete for the BJ

Rowland Shield, while

the remainder took part

in a plate competition.

The battle for the BJ

Rowland Shield was

hotly contested, but

after gruelling group

stages and knockouts

St Columba RC Primary

School from Bolton

emerged victorious after

beating rivals

Crawshawbooth Primary

5-3.

St Columba were

unbeaten through the

group stages, topping

their group with five

wins and two draws

from their seven

matches, while

Crawshawbooth also

had an impressive

Culcheth Primary School handball players collect the

Plate in their first year at the Mini Festival.

Name: Lynn McCafferty

Age: 29

Born: Bellshill, Scotland

Career before handball: Heath and fitness co-

ordinator and fitness instructor at North

Lanarkshire Council.

How did you get into Handball? My friend’s

sister played in the local sports centre at Tryst,

and I gave it a try.

Other sports played: Only school sports,

netball and hockey, etc…

Hobbies: Handball was my hobby, and now it’s

pretty much taken over my life.

Ambitions: To improve my handball skills and

be the best I can be, and be able to play at the

highest level I can over here in Denmark. And

obviously to be in the 2012 squad - and it would

be a bonus to win a medal.

Random fact: I have a real fear of lifts, but tell

everyone I’m taking the stairs because it’s

healthier.

Action from the Mini Handball Festival at Haslingden, Lancashire.

Inside the Games features HandballPOPULAR online Olympic

magazine Inside The Games

featured handball in an edition

last week, highlighting the

sport’s popularity across the

world and efforts to increase

it’s profile in Britain.

Specialist sports journalist

David Owen, who has worked

for 20 years countries such as

America, Canada, France and

the UK as the Financial

Times’ sports editor, spoke at

length the vice-president of

the European Handball

Federation, Jean Brihault, as

well as the British Handball

Association’s director of

communications, Paul Bray.

His article highlighted the

fact that the final of the men’s

handball World Championship

attracted an average global

live audience of around 23

million people.

In terms of audience, it was

the seventh most-watched

sporting event in 2007,

placing it above both the final

day of the US Masters golf

tournament and the

Wimbledon men’s singles

final.

To view the article, go to

http://www.insidethegames.com/

show-news.php?id=2583

record, winning five and

narrowly losing the other

two.

In the plate competition

it was Culcheth Primary

School from Warrington

who ran out winners,

beating Shadsworth

Primary School from

Blackburn 8-3.

Their victory was all the

more impressive because

it was their first time of

entering the competition,

which is now in it’s 13th

year.