So you're new to Team Handball this year? What equipment do you need to play handball? Pretty much all you need is a pair of sturdy court shoes. There are European brand shoes that are built specifically for handball. Addidas, Kempa, & Hummel are the most popular brands. American style basketball shoes are also popular by American players and will do just fine. I don't recommend that you play in running shoes. You need a flatter, sturdier sole that will not easily roll side-to-side. The shoes made for handball have a good bit of lateral stability. Another item of gear that you may want to consider wearing are knee and/or elbow pads. Due to the physical nature of handball, there is a lot of falling down. Indoors on a wooden court, you just slide on the wood or get a bruise, but out on the concrete in the area, you could get nasty scrapes and cuts. You also must wear a mouthpiece. Last year in the club team we had a player get his front top teeth broken off. | The website of the national governing body for the sport here in the US. Headquartered out of Salt Lake City, this website has all the happenings of the sport here at home. Coaches If you go to the "Resources" link in the middle of the top row of links, you'll find links to workout programs, strategy guides, game basics, and a host other useful information. The Video Page has several recent national level championship matches, including the 2010 & 2009 Club national finals and the 2010 Collegiate national finals. | |
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 | An even better website, which highlights the top clubs from each major EHF member federations as they compete for the overall championship of Europe. The video library is top notch, with many full length matches commentated in English. | |
 | New York City Team Handball Club, the top club in the US for the last several years. They won the US National Club Championship in '08 and '09 and placed third last year. They won the Northeast Handball League title last year, with their only loss coming in the final contest of the season to West Point's senior (Black) squad in Chatham, MA on Cape Cod. | |
| Mister Handball is a French website dedicated to handball gear and clothing. Several of the men's club team players have ordered from them and they are an official sponsor of NYC Team Handball. | ||
| Team Handball News: A great resource for happenings in Team Handball, all in English. | ||
| DPE CSI Grade Sheet | The grading standards for company athletes, coaches, officials, and CICs. |
Pascal Hens, a big (6'9") Left Back from Germany, scoring a bunch of goals. If you're a big player who's game is going to be jump shots from outside, this is a good player to emulate. You cannot, however, emulate his haircut... | |
Nikola Karabatic', a Serbian-born French back who many consider to the best in the world right now (his French squad is the reigning world & Olympic champions), scoring a bunch of goals. His hairstyle is more "cadet friendly then Hens'... | |
One of the top Wing players in the world, the left-handed and aerobatic Luc Abalo of France. Coaches, this is a good example of how to use a shorter, yet quick and athletic player as a "wing", creating angles and getting out on the fast break. On the flip side, his diving, high-flying style isn't as easy to do on the asphalt of the area. If you're going to shoot like Luc, you might want to wear those elbow and kneepads... | |
Ivano Balic, a center back from Croatia. At ONLY 6'2", he's not as tall as Hens or Karabatic, but he makes up for it with speed, craftiness, and "closing with the enemy". You'll see that his style of shooting is more "low to the ground" and that he doesn't try to jump up & over the defense, rather he tries to get through them and shoot from closer in. | |
Bertrande Gille, a French Circle who's a big body who bangs around "inside" on the 6m line. Notice how he positions his body to receive a short dump pass from one of his backs, then wheels and fires off shots from inside the 6m while falling down & jumping forward, making his shots VERY difficult to stop. |