When you say the word ‘handball’ to a Scot, most people in this country will relate the term to a footballing offence, where a player will illegally touch the ball with their hand or arm. 

Handball means appeals to the ref, penalty claims and red cards.  Indeed for many football fans of a certain age, a ‘handball’ accounts for one of the most notorious and controversial moments in the sport’s history, when Argentina’s Diego Maradona tipped the ball over the flailing arms of Peter Shilton to score against England at the 1986 World Cup.  Indeed, if you Google ‘Maradona,’ the first words to follow in auto-complete are ‘Hand of God’.

However some of us know that, as well as the footy jargon, handball is also an Olympic discipline, and indeed one of the most popular sports in continental Europe.  31million people play the sport worldwide, and it is recognised officially in 159 countries.

Played indoors, in a court similar in size to a seven-a-side football pitch, 14 players (two teams of seven) compete to get a round ball past the goalie into the net.  General game-play is very similar to football, except the players throw and catch the ball, instead of kicking it.

This new definition of an oft-used word is slowly spreading its way into the vocabulary across Scotland.   Thousands of school children are now discovering the sport as its popularity grows.  Indeed, 6,000 Scottish youngsters had a go at handball in 2008, thanks to the work of the Scottish Handball Association, headed up by Technical Director, Jose Benavides.

Jose, now 38, was himself a top junior player in Spain, playing for one of their most successful high school teams, Maristas Malaga.  A professional career beckoned (yes, the sport is fully pro in many countries, Spain being one of them) before a knee injury ended his aspirations. 

Not content to play in the lower leagues, Jose took to coaching.  After some success in his native Spain, he came to the UK.  And now he is in Glasgow’s Radisson Hotel, speaking to In The Winning Zone, and explaining why his task of making handball ‘catch on’ (get it?) in Scotland is not an easy one.

“We have massive success in terms of going to schools and getting kids to try the sport, they love it, and want to play more,” explains Jose.

“But the challenge is having kids playing handball on a regular basis.  For example, we had the potential to develop three or four new junior clubs after visiting 14 or 15 primary schools and four secondary schools in South Ayshire, but the sad fact is that there are no venues or facilities for them to play at. 

“Any facilities that are available are booked out.  We have one place in near Ayr we can play at, but we only have one hour a week.  But that is the challenge we face.  It has been researched throughout the world, especially in Europe, that to develop a top player in any sport takes 10,000 hours – or about 500 hours a year.  But these guys will maybe only get 40 or 50 hours a year.”

So, with nowhere to play, handball in Scotland isn’t off to a great start, which is precisely the problem.  How can a sport survive, let alone flourish, if there is nowhere to play it? 

Consider the amount of football and rugby pitches and golf courses in Scotland.  Now consider the performances of our country’s top players in those sports, and do the maths.  If the sportsmen and women who have a wealth of playing and practice space on their hands often struggle on the international stage, what chance have those who have no such luxury?

The venue in Ayr that Jose is talking about isn’t even of sufficient size to play ‘official’ handball.  In fact, there is only one facility in the whole country, in Perth, that fits 40m x 20m indoor court requirements of the sport.

So, like football, rugby and golf, can’t we play outdoors?  There is certainly ample space to play the game on grass or astro-turf.  But no way, says Jose.

“Well it would be OK if we were in Spain! Every single school there has an outdoor handball pitch.  But here in Scotland that rarely happens. I remember last year one of the schools had decent outdoor facilities, but we could only use it once in 13 or 14 weeks because of the weather.  

“Unfortunately, all indoor sports are treated as second class in Scotland.  We do understand that are other sports ahead of us, but at some point there needs to be a valuation of the potential of certain initiatives.  Otherwise Scotland will always be only about football and sometimes rugby.

“It would make a huge difference for the likes of basketball and volleyball, as well as handball, to have proper facilities to run a programme and offer kids 500 hours a year.  That’s what we need to ever be at the same level as the major handball countries.”

With the London 2012 Olympics on the horizon, handball should have expected a boost in funding and support, seeing that it is one of the sports in which Britain aims to compete.  (Several Scots in contention for the GB Olympic squad have been featured in ITWZ.)  But, with the recession impacting heavily on sport in the UK, handball, alongside several other sports, has been marginalised.

Not only this, says Jose, but what little cash there is goes directly into the development of the elite GB squad, and rarely does even a trickle make it down to nurture the grass roots.

“We don’t receive any benefits because Olympic handball is handled by the British Handball Association, and that money goes into to developing a team for the 2012 Olympics.  They have committed zero money to development for us at the grass roots level.  So at the end of the Olympics, the whole thing will make no difference.”

Jose’s vision for Scotland is focused on growing the game, not winning at the top level.  Thinking logically, if Britain crash and burn in handball at the 2012 Olympics, it will be money wasted and a lesson learned.  If they succeed, and a new generation of youngsters are inspired to take up the sport and emulate their Olympic heroes, where will they play?

Well, hopefully, eventually, in Scotland, says Jose.

“From my very first meeting with the Scottish Handball Association, I could see there was a long-term plan.  And there was a commitment to develop the sport properly.  My fears have always been that because of London 2012, all people were interested in is developing a team for the Olympics, rather than thinking longer term.”

Jose’s role however, as technical director, isn’t only to grow the game from the bottom up.  He also looks after the Scottish national teams and national leagues.  There are nearly 400 registered senior players in Scotland.  But that figures can literally be cut in half when considering those available for national duty.  50-60% of the players in the Scottish leagues are foreign students, keen to continue their love of handball acquired elsewhere.

But the game, at all levels, is genuinely growing in Scotland.  In many ways, it fits perfectly into the middle ground between rugby and football, making handball an ideal sport for many Scots.

“The intention of our taster sessions in schools is to show kids the basic skills in a simple in fun way.  The objective is for the children to enjoy themselves and want to take it further.  Scots like the physical aspect of the game.”

Handball has a similar level of physicality to Gaelic football or Aussie rules.  While players can’t tackle each other’s bodies like in rugby, they can ‘tackle the ball’ as long as they are facing the attacker.

“In the early stages we don’t allow contact as it could be dangerous and put some young players off, especially girls.  But it starts becoming very physical at the age of 16 or 17.  But all the contact is very controlled and you won’t endanger the other player.  I would say it is like NBA basketball, but with an extra gear!”

So how strong are Scotland on the international stage? 

“Well we wouldn’t dare play against Spain!  But last season we played in the European Challenge Trophy in Luxembourg.  It’s a competition for developing handball nations.  It is a good opportunity to see where you are compared to similar countries.  Last season was our second time in the competition.  We played in the Western Europe group, against England, Ireland, Malta, the Faroe Islands and Luxembourg. 

“We beat Malta, but struggled with England and Ireland, but I would say we are at a similar level.  We struggled against the Faroe Islands and Luxembourg.  We played with a full crowd against Luxembourg, which was a great experience.  They hammered every other team, but we really challenged them.”

So handball Jose has his work cut out.  But he keeps doing it.  It’s doubtful that we’ll ever be a major force on the international stage in handball, but it would be nice to at least give our youngsters the option to play it.

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