Local interest being shown in handball

By Morissa Lindsay

The Barbados Tennis Association held a handball summer camp session which has gained popularity among young campers, says national coach Andre Moore who conducted the six-week programme.

The team sport originated in Europe and is big in South America and comprises seven players inclusive of the goalkeeper and Moore said it is gaining attraction in places such as the Caribbean and North America.

During an interview with Barbados TODAY, Moore explained that handball is played on court and the sand and based on the numbers of campers this year taking part, he was surprised at their enthusiasm.

“I am surprise at the enthusiasm of the students because we all like to experience new things and it is quite welcoming,” he said, while noting that he expects it to become a major sporting discipline in Barbados.

“The thing about handball, it has what we call handball skills because a lot of what we do in handball is present in a lot of sports. So, handball is a mixture of basketball, hockey and netball. So, in terms of movements those movement principals are there, when it comes to throwing basically throwing or catching skills is stuff that we learn at the elementary level so that transfers throughout all sports,” Moore explained.

He added: “In terms of tennis it has benefits for tennis because it can actually help them with their serving as well as their general tennis with their forehand strength and stuff like that.”

The age group for the BTA handball camp ranges from ages three to 16 and Moore a certified handball coach in Barbados is also a sports scientist. He shared that the Barbados Handball Association is working on gaining traction once more after the Coronavirus pandemic because they had lost some following.

Barbados is known in the handball world as a local team last represented the island in 2019 when they competed in the Dominican Republic at the North American Championships. They came up against the United States of America, Dominica, Mexico and Puerto Rico.

Moore is looking forward to the national team being able to get back onto the international scene.