News & Events

1^st May 2013

EnglandHandball secures first major partner

England Handball has followed up the announcement last December of an increase in its funding from Sport England by securing its first major partner to support the delivery of its new four year plan.

A multi-year agreement has been reached with AirStructures International (ASI) to become England Handball’s official schools development partner.  At the heart of this is the provision of ASI’s inflatable i-Goal product, which will form part of an offer aimed at growing participation in handball by youngsters aged 5-16.

Last summer’s London Olympics provided a huge showcase for the sport, which captured the imagination of spectators who attended matches at the Copper Box.  This led to a surge in interest from people wanting to play handball, especially within the education sector where teachers saw it as an alternative to more traditional sports.

At the signing of the deal, David Meli, CEO of England Handball, commented; “Introducing more young people to the sport is going to be a key part of our plans over the next four years.  Offering them opportunities to try handball within their education setting will help to grow the next generation of players.  The i-Goal is the perfect product to help deliver small-sided versions of the game in schools.  We are delighted to have AirStructures International on board as our official partner and look forward to working with them to spread the availability of handball across the country.

England Handball is currently finalising the development of “The Box That Rocks” – a package of training, materials and resources aimed at schools, colleges and universities.  This will help to develop a sustainable delivery system of coaches and leaders as well as providing age appropriate equipment for young people to be able to experience handball.

Bob Rae, Group Managing Director, said: “We are very much looking forward to the benefits that working in partnership with England Handball will bring and helping them to increase participation in the sport particularly within the education sector”. He went on to say “London 2012 created a great window for handball and we wish to work alongside England Handball to make the sport available to more youngsters. We believe that increasing numbers in the UK will start to enjoy playing the sport and benefit from the fitness aspects of this fast paced game which is the second most popular team sport across Europe.”

Anyone interested in finding out more about England Handball’s plans for the education sector should contact John Thomason (Participation Manager North) on 07530 946763, Tom Smith (Participation Manager South) on 07794 498122 or visit www.englandhandball.com.