SPORT: The history of handball?
July 20, 2008 – 12:23 pm
SPORT: Play Handball
Handball is one of the oldest ball games. What are the origins of handball? The origins of handball have still been debated. One view is that some similar versions of this game were played by different nations. These are “urania” (in old Greece), “harpaston” (in earliest Rome) and “fangballspiel” (in medieval Germany). According to the other theory on the origin of the game, handball started with the invention of the ball.
Modern handball has been developed from some similar games at the end of 19th century. These games were played by Central and Northern European people in 19th century. Denmark, Germany, Sweden and Norway began to dominate in the international sphere.
Chronology of Handball
- In 1890s Konrad Koch developed an outdoor game similar to modern team handball.
- In 1908 The first handball rule book was published.
- In 1912 Field Handball was spread in all over the world.
- In 1926 Standard International Rules were established.
- In 1928 International Amateur Handball Federation (IAHF) was established by the representative from 10 countries. This Federation became the resent International Handball Federation. The first president of International Handball Federation was Avery Brundage.
- In 1932 the game was a demonstration sport at the Olympics.
- In 1938 the first Handball Field Championship was played in Germany.
- In 1940s Indoor Handball was invented in Denmark.
- In 1946 eight founder nations; Denmark, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, and Switzerland established The International Handball Federation (IHF).
- In 1952 the Amateur Handball Union was established in USA.
- In 1953 U.S. Handball Association was established.
- In 1954 the first IHF Men’s Indoor World Championships were played.
- In 1957 the first Ladies Championships were won by Czechoslovakia.
- In 1959 the USHA (United States Handball Association) held its first handball tournament.
- In 1965 the Olympic Committee approved indoor handball for the Olympic Games.
- In the late1980s and early 1990s Algeria, Egypt, South Korea, China made an impact on the international competitions.
- 2008 Summer Olympics Handball Tournaments will be held from August 9 to August 24 at the Olympics Sport Centre Gymnasium.
These days, handball is an increasingly popular game all over the world. There are 1.130.000 handball teams and more than 31million handball players in the world.
How many types of handball do we have?
Irish Handball: It is the most popular handball of all. It is played with a hard handball and the court has four walls.
Beach Handball: This game is similar to team handball. However, it is not played in a hall. It is played on the sand. Two teams pass and bounce a ball trying to throw the ball in the goal of opposing team.
Team Handball: There are two teams and seven players in each team (six players and a goalkeeper) Throwing the ball in the goal of opposing team is the aim of the game.
Field Handball (outdoor handball or grass handball): It was the original form of team handball. The rules of the games are similar to team handball.
American Handball: Players hit a small rubber ball against a wall or more walls.