Issue 135Sept 8 2010

Handball News is produced by Snowdon Sports Media Partners Ltd for the British Handball AssociationFor more details please contact 0845 230 0803 or log on to BritishHandball.com or EnglandHandball.com

GB Duo Aim For EliteLeague With New Club

GREAT Britain captain Ciaran Williams and team-mateSebastian Prieto have both signed for ambitiousNorwegian club TTIF Tophåndball Halden after successfultrials over the summer.

22-year-old playmakerWilliams, from Edenfield inLancashire, and 23-year-oldright winger Prieto, fromCrowborough in East Sussex,will form a key part of theteam who are pushing forpromotion to the NorwegianElite League this season.

Ambition “We both agreed that it wasa great opportunity to play ina young team who havesimilar ambition andaspirations as ourselves,” saidWilliams. “The team’s goal this seasonis to qualify for the play-offsfor the Elite League. This isgreat for us, as it means theintensity at every trainingsession and the commitmentof the players is of the highestlevel, and helps us as we lookto develop and help GB whenwe are on camp. “Our coach here Jonas Wille,will also be working closelywith us and our GB coaches toensure that our developmenthere is maximised.”

After battling back from anankle injury, Prieto is nowreturning to top form just intime for the beginning of theseason on Sunday, whileWilliams is still currently acouple of weeks away frombeing fit to play after havingsurgery on his foot eightweeks ago. “The average age of theteam is 22 which is great forme and Sebastian as we fitinto that perfectly, and canhopefully play pivotal roles inthe team’s success.

Develop “The team is bolstered by acouple of older moreexperienced players too, onebeing Jan-Thomas Lauritzen,Norway's most capped player. “To play with a player ofsuch experience is only goingto help myself and Sebdevelop further, and we can'twait for the season to start!”

Eager for Action - GB CaptainCiaran Williams.

Returning to Form - GB WingerSebastian Prieto.

THE development of handballin Scotland continued lastweek when top officials fromthe European HandballFederation visited Edinburgh(see picture below). EHF President Tor Lian,Vice-President Jean Brihault,Secretary General MichaelWiederer and Developmentand Education OfficialHelmut Hoeritsch held talkswith Scottish HandballChairman Stephen Neilson,SportScotland ChiefExecutive Stewart Harris andSportScotland PartnershipManager Megan Griffiths. Among other issues on theagenda was possible jointdevelopment projectsbetween the EHF SHA. *In other Scottish news,the Scottish HandballAssociation has opened anew office at the InverclydeNational Sports Centre,which is being staffed part-time by administrator AnneMcLaughlin. The office number is 01475687820, and Anne worksfrom 1-5pm on Wednesdaysand all day Thursday andFriday.

TICKETS are still availablefor the Women’s FourNations Tournament inLiverpool later this month,where Great Britain will takeon Italy, Switzerland andPortugal at the Echo Arena. Running from September23-25, Great Britain will behoping for a repeat of theresult last time they playedin Liverpool, when theybeat Finland to secure theirplace in the 2010 EuropeanChampionship qualificationround. Two matches a day willensure there is alwayssomething to watch, but GBwill be hoping to take victoryin the event having alreadybeaten Portugal this year in atournament in Spain in May. Tickets for the Four NationsTournament are on sale fromwww.amiando.com/britishhandball

Handball News is produced by Snowdon Sports Media Partners Ltd for the British Handball AssociationFor more details please contact 0845 230 0803 or log on to BritishHandball.com or EnglandHandball.com

Issue 135Sept 8 2010

Olympia Draw First Blood inNottingham Tournament

London Side Win Pre-Season Event as Euro Preparations Continue

Pictures by Michele Davison and Dan BennellMore Photos Here

OLYMPIA Handball Club drew first blood in the2010-11 season when they won last weekend’sNottingham Pre-Season Tournament. Fielding two teams, Olympiadominated so much that thefinal was an all-Olympia affair,with their A team winning 13-6over their B team counterparts. The Tournament proved agood workout for Olympia,who head to Croatia nextmonth to compete in theEuropean Challenge Trophy. Split into two groups, thecompetition was dominatedby Olympia whose two sidestopped each group. En-route to the knockoutstages Olympia’s A were madeto work hard by England Boys,who were using thecompetition as preparationfor the Home NationsTournament but, sufferingfrom some late withdrawals,lost out 6-7.

Second in their group,Nottingham finished thirdoverall after beating England9-5. Nottingham had two of thetop goalkeepers in thetournament, with No 1 DanaMohammed making hisEngland debut against his clubside. Aside from the action on thecourt, the event was also usedas a training weekend for thefirst group of TechnicalOfficials being trained up forthe London 2012 Olympics,who ensured the event ransmoothly. The event proved a big hit -so much so that next year’sevent on September 3-4 isbeing planned as a two-dayevent to allow for more teamsto take part.

Starting in November, thescheme will give 20 of the currentCounty Squad Athletes the chanceto be part of the scheme, whichlasts two years and is a Universityentry-level qualification.

Part of the EHA’s first HighPerformance Centre inWarrington, the scheme looks setto expand to London where asecond High Performance Centreis scheduled to open in September2011. England Handball Director ofPerformance, Mick Hegarty, said:

“The AASE programme has seenathletes like double Olympic gold

medallist Rebecca Adlingtonbenefit without compromising herstudies. “This qualification is, withoutdoubt,  a  significant step forEngland Handball to support ourbest young players in their studies,their career prospects and theirhandball destinies. “It must not be seen in isolationof the handball community and itis important that our current clubsget on board as they have avital partnership role to play. ” For more details of the scheme,please go towww.EnglandHandball.com

TALENTED young handball stars of the future are being offeredthe chance to study and train as professional athletes underEngland Handball’s new Advanced Apprenticeship in HandballExcellence.