European Open Day of Handball

European Open Day of Handball
EHF involvement in the #BeActive European Week of Sport
Based on an EHF Executive Committee decision dated 19 June 2015 the European Handball Federation (EHF)
signed a promotional partnership agreement with the European Commission Directorate-General for Education
and Culture concerning “The European Week of Sport” http://ec.europa.eu/sport/week/
All EHF Member Federations and their clubs were invited to promote the idea of #BeActive (in EHF INFO 1-4) by
contributing and giving a signal to the public how attractive handball-related activities can be for everyone.
From mini handball, street handball, beach handball to handball at school, handball fitness and wheelchair
handball a great variety of activities is on offer for everyone on grassroots level.
Besides assisting the promotion of the EU #BeActive campaign the EHF also promoted the European Open Day
of Handball (within the #BeActive European Week of Sport 07 - 13 September 2015).
The EHF “European Open Day of Handball” campaign was launched by proposing handball related activities to
the 50 EHF member federations on national, regional and local level. More than 20 years after the most
successful EHF grassroot campaign, the “European Day of Mini handball” on the 1st of October 1994 the EHF
wanted to involve as many handball players, youngsters and school kids, parents and teachers as possible in
handball related activities with the help of the EHF member federations and their clubs.
The period 7 – 13 September fitted perfectly into the club calendar as teams all over Europe were preparing for
the new competition season or had already started it. That is why the handball halls and outdoor facilities
could be easily made accessible for the public, especially for school kids/youngsters, parents and teachers as an
“open handball house”.
In principle everybody had the chance to take part, “to touch the ball” and to become a member of an
enhanced handball community, committed to physical and social activities.
Despite the short amount of time available to organise activities and promote the campaign, 14 member
nations were involved in various ways.
-
Austria
Belgium
Cyprus
England
France
FYR Macedonia
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Serbia
Austria
The Austrian Handball Federation brought their promotion of the #BeActive campaign to the 15th annual
Austrian day of sports on 19 September. The federation set up and activity stand and an outdoor mini
handball court at the event in Vienna, which hosted a tournament for children and a speed gun for
participants to test how fast they could shoot a ball.
Belgium
The URBH published an article on the federation website promoting the campaign, in association with the
Wallonie-Bruxelles sports federation (http://www.handball.be/annonce/26-08-2015/participez-%C3%A0la-semaine-europ%C3%A9enne-du-sport). No further activity was communicated with the EHF.
Cyprus
European Week of Sports events were held in Nicosia between 7 – 13 September and The Cyprus Handball
Federation participated in the events of Agios Dometios.
During the events, children were the focus in Cyprus, as they took part in several outdoor exhibition
matches.
England
The England Handball Association activated people with the tagline #BeActive week: Give handball a go.
A number of open door handball sessions were organised across the country, including London, Newcastle
and Manchester, with training for children and adults as well as workshops and social events included in
the programme.
France
The Federation Francaise De Handball were involved in the “FeelSport” campaign from 12 to 20 September,
initiated by the French NOC. Handball was one of disciplines involved to activate the 42 per cent of the
population who do not participate in sport.
Many activities and conferences were organised throughout France, to educate as many of the benefits of
regular physical activity and sport.
The campaign was coupled with the European week of Sport and the activity promoted by the FFH was the
‘Scoremore challenge’ in which each participant must hit the crossbar as often as possible with six shots, twice
each from 6m, 9m and the halfway line.
FYR Macedonia
The Macedonian Handball Federation hosted ist promotional event within the European Week of Sport on 7
September 2015. It was promoted on the official web-site of the federation and on national television, and
took place at the Main Skopje Square in the center of the city.
More than 20 young handball players were there for the event, and by showing their handball skills they were
interacting with the audience, handing out gifts such as t-shirts, drinks and promotional materials. The whole
event was broadcasted live on Macedonian national television.
Germany
German regional federation ‘Bayerischer Handball-Verband‘ promoted the European Week of Sport on
their website http://www.bhvonline.de/Home/tabid/37/ctl/ViewItem/mid/1083/ItemId/2969/Default.aspx?SkinSrc=/Portals/_default/Sk
ins/BHVOnline/BHVHome as did German website Handball World http://www.handballworld.com/o.red.c/news-2-1-20-72358.html
Greece
(boys & girls) of Aniksis Handball Club took part in a charity handball tournament, organised by the Hellenic
Handball Association, Nea Ionia Municipality and Handball Clubs IEK and OFNI, on Sunday, 13th September in
Nea Ionia, Athens.
The charitable event themed “We play handball for the other human being” aimed at collecting food products
and medicine for the Social Food Bank and Social Pharmacy of the Municipality of Nea Ionia.
Top Greek female handball player, Lambrina Tsakalou, supported the event with her presence. At the follow-up
“Solidarity Handball Match” event (27th September), she was joined by a number of Greek athletes from
various disciplines. The latter tournament was organised by the Hellenic Handball Association and Aniksis
Handball Club. The event was also supported by Chef Constantinos Polichronopoulos and his Social Kitchen
Team, “The Other Human Being”, who prepared meals for the attendees. Instead of a ticket, the public were
asked to contribute by making food, medicine or money donations.
Hungary
A diverse range of activities were organised by the Hungarian Handball Federation throughout the European
Week of Sport, including:
Open days
- 8 September: open coaching seminar
- 12 September: open referee seminar
- 11 September: open day at National Handball Academy
“BE ACTIVE” activities during 1st division matches – 12 men’s matches and 6 women’s matches
- Free entry for children below 14 years
- Handball activities for fans during half-time breaks
“Handball at School” programme on 7-13 September
- Handball sessionsduring physical education classes all over the country
“Handball at Nursery school” programme – 7-13 September
- Fun handball related games, activities for children at nursery schools all over the country
“KézilabdÁSZ” – tennis tournament for retired handball players – 12 September
- A tournament for children on 12-13 September
Ireland
Several handball clubs in the Dublin area opened their doors to prospective new members to try out the sport
of handball next week to mark EU Week of Sport.
- Defending national champions, Dublin International held two sessions on 7 and 9 September
- Astra HC held two sessions on 8 and 10 September
- Lughnasa Handball Club help sessions on 9 and 13 September
Netherlands
The Dutch Handball Association (NHV) was a strong supporter of this initiative and asked their clubs to
contribute their thoughts about how to fill in the European Sport week to stimulate more people to play
handball.
Clubs organising activities during the European sports week and who reported it to the NHV are also rewarded
with two free tickets for the World Championship Qualification match of the Netherlands men's team against
Luxembourg on Wednesday, 4 November, at Topsportcentrum Almere.
The NHV also promoted the campaign on their Facebook page by offering women’s national team shirts to
participants who sent in pictures of them taking part in the campaign.
Poland
The Polish Handball Federation engaged with a number of primary schools during the week. Within the
programme PHF organised special handball class for the pupils of the primary school nr 100 in Warsaw, with
the participation of the players of the Polish National Women Team and EHF EURO 2016 mascot High Five.
Polish Handball Federation also took a major part in organising five handball youth tournaments "#beactive our
road to Euro 2016":
1. Nationwide Youth and Junior Handball Tournament in Siemianowice Śląskie (11-13 September)
2. IX Nationwide Girls Handball Tournament „Gniezno Cup 2015” (11-13 September)
3. Nation Wide Handball Tournament in Zamość (11-13 September)
4. XIV Handball Festival in Zielona Góra (11-13 September)
5. Małopolskie Championship Finals in Tarnów (12 September)
Portugal
T the Portuguese Federation was present at the event “Portugal in Movement”, which was held on 11
September at the Centro Desportivo Nacional do Jamor.
The list of the activities included:
- “Portugal em Movimento” – Handball Open Day at Centro Desportivo Nacional do Jamor
- 2nd Round – National Senior Women Championships
- 1st phase – 3rd Division Senior Men Championships
- 1st phase – 2nd Division Men’s Youth Championships
- 1st phase - National Women’s Youth Championships
- Ginandebol 2015 Tournament – 9 September
- Autumn Tournament– Alto do Moinho – 9-12 September
- Juve Lis and Sismaria Tournament– 12 September
- Associação Atlética de Aguas Santas Tournament - 11-13 September
Serbia
In collaboration with local handball clubs, regional handball associations and regional project coordinators, the
Serbian Handball Federation organised 29 different promotional handball activities. Following recommendation
from EHF and in accordance with implementation of EHF SMART Program the activities included:
- 14 Elementary School promotions – “Open Days of Handball”
- 2 Elementary School promotions – “Scoremore challenge”
- 5 School Mini Handball Tournaments
- 2 Mini Handball Festivals
- 6 Mini Handball Tournaments
All promotional activities were organised on a voluntary basis and have involved huge amount of participants
all over Serbia. Involved were 103 clubs and 2,665 kids, mostly primary school students.
All activities were synchronised with the federation’s SMART programme schedule. All sport equipment (balls,
coloured bibs and mini handball goals) donated by EHF for implementation of 3rd phase of EHF SMART
Program has been used and delivered to local organisers. Approximately 300 balls and 300 coloured bibs were
donated during the week of sport to handball clubs and elementary schools in Serbia.
Next step
The EHF’s involvement in the European Week of Sport was viewed very much as a trial and given the short
amount of time and limited resources invested into the campaign, the participation of 14 member federations
can be deemed a relative success.
An evaluation survey was filled on 15 September with feedback for the European Commission with a view
towards continuing as a European Partner of the Week and strengthening handball’s presence in future
editions.
Ideally, the EHF would have more time to prepare for the 2016 edition of the European Week of Sport and
spread the core messages and ideas for activities to promote the sport.
February 2016 is seen as an ideal starting point to activate member federations and with a stronger
cooperation with the EWOS organisers and their partners as well as more investment of time and resources,
the EHF’s involvement would certainly make a larger impact than in 2015.