The
Australian Women’s Team has completed stage 1 of its
final preparation for the XIX Women’s Handball World
Championship being held in China. At the invitation and
sponsorship by the Korean Handball Federation, the Team
was in Seoul, Korea during 16 November – 1 December 2009
to undertake a training camp and to participate in the
2009 Seoul Cup. The arrangements were facilitated by
Hyung Kyun Chung [KHF Vice President] and Jong Hwan Park
[KHF Liaison Officer], with Sebastien Louis [formerly in
Oceania and now based in Korea] liaising on behalf of
the Australian Handball Federation.
Australian Women’s Team,
with
Sebastien Louis, back, far
right]
Head Coach, Katsu Kinoshita put the Team through a
stringent program of court training to blend the skills
of the experienced players with the dynamic play of the
younger players. He was helped by Assistant Coach,
Vernon Cheung who travelled from China to join the Team
in Korea.
The 2009 Seoul Cup participants were Korea,
Angola, Australia and Brazil, all of which are
participating in the XIX Women’s World Championship.
Katsu Kinoshita
At the close of the 2009 Seoul Cup, Head Coach Katsu
commented:
“’Prepare for the World Championships’ was the goal for
this tournament. The girls played well and executed
moves well during the games. Of course, we have to take
into account that we have a young team in comparison
with the other teams and that there were a number of
things to improve for our world championship
participation. On this basis, I am quite happy with the
Team’s performance.”
Vernon Cheung
Assistant Coach Vernon echoed Katsu’s sentiments, with
these comments:
“The tournament was a great experience for this young
Australian team, giving the players a taste of what's to
come in China. The Goalkeepers especially had a hard
task in coping with three very capable teams in Angola,
Brazil and Korea. However, I was very happy with their
improvement. Overall, it's a learning curve for the Team
and an invaluable experience that will benefit them for
the World Championships and their future development. I
look forward to starting the World Championships.”
Cathy Kent
The Team’s Captain, Cathy Kent, who plays for
Cergy-Pontoise in France, is one of the experienced
players in the Australian Team. She offered the
following comments:
"Overall I was impressed with how the Team performed
during the tournament. All the girls fought for
everything and never gave up. Our defence has improved
and we reduced many technical mistakes. All the girls
are of great spirits and are ready to take on all the
other challenges we have ahead facing us".
Solveig Soerensen
Comments from Solveig Soerensen, Team’s Vice Captain,
who plays for Team Haderslev
KFUM
in Denmark.
“It is winter in Seoul. It is cold not only outside but
inside the training venue as well. We were surprised
that it was that cold inside the venue but eventually
we acclimatised or put some extra clothes on.
We have trained twice a day nearly everyday and as a
result we have improved our defence and learned new
moves in attack. Everyone seems to be on the same page
and now we have played three matches against some of the
best international teams, we have gathered valuable
experience on what we can do and where our limit is. It
has been a good learning experience especially for the
young girls who have never played internationally
before. They now have a sense of what it is going to be
like at the World Championships in China”.
The results of the 2009 Seoul Cup games are as follows:
Australia vs Angola 8 -26 [3 - 16]
Australia vs Korea 9 - 37 [5 – 19]
Australia vs Brazil 9 -49 [3 –
21]
For Cathy Kent, the tournament once again recognised her
superb skills as a Goalkeeper. As it was in the 2007
World Championship where she received the Best Player -
Goalkeeper award, Cathy was named in the Best 7 in the
2009 Seoul Cup, as Best Goalkeeper of the tournament.
Cathy
Kent with her award for Best Goalkeeper in Tournament
The Team takes away valuable experience from the
tournament and the training camp in Korea.
Unfortunately, two of the Team’s young dynamic players
sustained some injuries. Gizelle van der Merwe had
Achilles tendonitis during training so she was not able
to play during the 2009 Seoul Cup. With rest and
treatment, Gizelle is optimistic that she will be able
to participate in the world championship. However, this
is not the case with Melissa Mellor who was also
sidelined from participating in the latter part of the
camp and the 2009 Seoul Cup. Melissa will also miss out
in playing in the world championship due to a fractured
wrist. Despite this sad turn of events, Melissa has
remained positive and assists the Team in other ways in
their preparation for the world championship.
Solveig Soerensen in action
The Team leaves Korea and travels to China on 2 December 2009.
Prior to the start of the World Championship on 5 December 2009,
Head Coach Katsu Kinoshita and Assistant Coach Venon
Cheung will hold the Team’s final training camp. The
Team has been provided valuable assistance by Michelle
Thomas [Team Manager] and Kristin Schuhknecht
[Physiotherapist].
Final
Preparation of Women’s Team for World Championship
Nov 23, 2009
The Australian Women’s Team has commenced its final
preparation for the XIX World Championship to be held in
China during 5th – 20th December 2009.
The Australian Handball Federation [AHF] wishes to thank
the Korean Handball Federation for hosting and inviting
the Women’s Team to participate in the Seoul Cup as part
of its preparation for the World Championship. AHF
appreciates the assistance provided by Sebastien Louis
[formerly Oceania-based but now in Korea] who liaised
between AHF and Hyung Kyun Chung [KHF Vice President]
and Jong Hwan Park [KHF Liaison Officer] to finalise
arrangements for the Australian Team’s participation in
the Seoul Cup.
The Seoul Cup will be held during 26th
- 30th November. At the Seoul Cup, Australia
will play against
Korea, Brazil and Angola. Arrangements are also being
made for the Team to play against a number of local
teams as part of its training camp prior to the Seoul
Cup.
National
Women's Team Coach and Players at Brisbane
Airport
On
16th November, members of the Team departed
from two locations. NSW players Milly Thomas, Jessica
Fearnside, Gizelle van der Merwe and Team Manager
Michelle Thomas departed from Sydney. On the other
hand, Head Coach Katsu Kinoshita, together with
Queensland players Jemima Harbort, Raelene Boulton,
Madeline McAfee, Mary & Veronica Kelly, Melissa Mellor
and Rosalie Boyd departed from Brisbane. Overseas-based
players Cathy Kent [France], Solveig Sorensen [Denmark]
and Tori Brunsberg [Sweden] traveled from their
locations to Seoul. Allira Hudson-Gofers and Kristin Schuhknecht were last to leave from
Sydney on 18th November to join the Team.
L-R
Milly Thomas, Jessica Fearnside, Gizelle van
der Merwe and Michelle Thomas
The second stage of the Team’s preparation is a training
camp during 2nd – 4th December in
Zhangjiagang, prior to the commencement of the
Preliminary Round matches. This part of the Team’s
preparation would consolidate the blending of the skills
of the players and fine-tuning of set moves.
Arrangements are being finalised for the Australian Team
to play against local teams. On the 5th
December, the Team will take centre court and show the
world their passion for handball.
Minister's
message of support
Nov 22, 2009
The Hon. Kate Ellis
The
Federal Minister For Sport and Youth, The Hon. Kate Ellis, has sent a message to the National
Women's Team
competing in the 2009 Women's World Championships Tournament, to be held in
China, from December 5 to December 20, 2009.
The
Australian Handball Federation is appreciative of the support from the Federal Minister. To view the Minister's Message of Support click the link below;
As part of the presentation ceremony at the close of the
‘Rethink Drink’ Senior National Championships held in
Perth during 16 – 18 October, 2009, the Australian
Handball Federation [AHF] President Paul Smith announced
the names of players selected to part of the Australian
Women’s Team to represent Australia and the Oceania
Region in the XIX Women’s Handball World Championship.
The World Championship will be held during 5 – 20
December, 2009 in China.
The players selected to be in the Australian Women’s
Team are:
Head Coach Katsu Kinoshita will be assisted by: Vernon
Cheung (Assistant Coach), Michelle Thomas (Team
Manager), and Violi Calvert (Media & Public Relations
Officer). Violi will be liaising with Peter Cama
[Webmaster] for publishing on the AHF website reports
and information about the Team’s participation in the
World Championship.
The selection has been based on the players’
participation in training camps, performance in the
‘Rethink Drink’ Senior National Championships and for
some players, performance in overseas handball league.
The Panel of Selectors who attended the last training
camp in Brisbane comprised of:
Anke Winnig [ACT], Michelle Thomas [Victoria] and Susan
Wilson-Gahan [Queensland]. The Selectors at the Senior
National Championships were: Anke Winnig [ACT], Mark
Dawson [Queensland] and Rikke Petersen [Western
Australia]. Head Coach Katsu Kinoshita also had input
in the selection process.
Schedule
of Women’s WC Games
Sep 30, 2009
The
Australian Handball Federation [AHF] congratulates the
members of the Women’s Squad on their successful
training camp held during 25th to 28th
September 2009.
This training camp is part of the
preparation of the Australian Women’s Team in the XIX
Women’s Handball World Championship to be held in
Jiangsu, China
during 5th – 20th December 2009.
Jiangsu
is a province in the east part of China, near Shanghai,
the biggest city of China. The six host cities for the
Championship are as follows: Nanjing, Changzhou,
Suzhou, Wuxi, Yangzhou, Zhangjiagang.
The
official draw held in July 2009 placed Australia in
Group B, which will be competing in Zhangjiagang.
The
schedule of the World Championship games had been
finalised. The matches to be played by Australia are as
follows:
Date
Team
05-DEC-2009
vs
Angola
06-DEC-2009
vs
Austria
07-DEC-2009
vs
Russia
08-DEC-2009
Rest Day
09-DEC-2009
vs
Ukraine
10-DEC-2009
vs
Thailand
11-DEC-2009
Rest Day
12-DEC-2009
vs
President's Cup
13-DEC-2009
vs
President's Cup
14-DEC-2009
vs
President's Cup
15-DEC-2009
vs
Placement Game
Women’s Team in Final Stages of WC Preparation
Sep 06,
2009
The
XIX Women’s Handball World Championship will be held in
Jiangsu, China during 5th – 20th
December 2009. Jiangsu
is a province in the east part of China, near Shanghai,
the biggest city of China. The six host cities for the
Championship are as follows: Nanjing, Changzhou,
Suzhou, Wuxi, Yangzhou, Zhangjiagang.
The
official draw held in July 2009 placed Australia in
Group B, which will be competing in Zhangjiagang.
The Head Coach of the Australian Women’s
Team, Katsu Kinoshita, will be holding a training camp
during 25th to 28th September 2009
for players who are in the women’s development squad.
The first two days and the last day of the training camp
will be held in Beenleigh, with the third day being at
South Pine.
The following Australian-based players
will be attending the training camp:
Name
Home State
Rosa Boyd
Queensland
Tayler Darlington
New South Wales
Jessica Fearnside
New South Wales
Jemima Harbort
Queensland
Kim Higgins
New South Wales
Mary Kelly
Queensland
Veronica Kelly
Queensland
Brianna Keys
New South Wales
Madeline McAfee
Queensland
Tegan Poulton
New South Wales
Elle Redondo
New South Wales
Laura Ridley
New South Wales
Paulini Tawamacala
New South Wales
Kim Tennant
Victoria
Millie Thomas
New South Wales
Maddison Truesdale
Queensland
Gizelle VanderMerwe
New South Wales
The intensive training camp and the
players’ performance at the Seniors National
Championships to be held in Perth in October 2009 will
form part of the basis for possible selection to be part
of the Women’s Team.
As part of the Team’s preparation for the
World Championship, it will also be competing in a
tournament in New Caledonia on 13th – 15th
November. Currently, arrangements are being made for a
training camp for the Team to be held in either Japan or
China prior to the World Championship.
Head Coach Katsu will be supported by
Michelle Thomas, Team Manager and Nicky Rolls,
Physiotherapist.
2009 Women’s World
Championship Draw
Jul 19,2009
The Australian Handball Federation [AHF] is pleased to
announce that the official draw for the XIX Women's
World Championship had been finalised. The draw was
held on 15 July 2009 at the IHF Head Office in Basel,
Switzerland. COC president Leon Kalin carried out the
draw in the presence of representatives of the Chinese
Handball Association and a number of representatives
from the participating federations.
The World Championship will be held during 5 – 20
December 2009 in China.
The Australian Women’s Team Head Coach, Katsu Kinoshita,
will be conducting training camps in August and
September in Brisbane.
These camps will be open to women players who wish to
showcase their handball skills. Their performance at
these camps will form part of the criteria for possible
selection in the Team to participate in the World
Championship.
Results of the draw:
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
GER
RUS
NOR
ESP
FRA
ANG
ROU
KOR
SWE
AUT
HUN
CHN
DEN
UKR
JPN
CIV
CGO
THA
TUN
ARG
BRA
AUS
CHI
KAZ
At this stage, it is planned for the Team to leave for
China in mid-November, to undertake final preparation
for the tournament.
The AHF wishes all the players and Team Management all
the best in their participation in Towards China
2009 Program.
Australian Women's Team Participating in 2009 Pacific
Cup
May 13, 2009
The Australian Handball Federation [AHF] is pleased to
announce that Australian Women’s Team Head Coach Katsu
Kinoshita has finalised the selection of members of the
Australian Women’s Team which will participate in the
2009 Pacific Cup. This significant handball event will
be held in the Chandler Sleeman Sport Centre in Brisbane
during 25th – 30th May 2009.
2009
Pacific Cup Australian Women's Team
- Photo John Calvert
The four teams participating in competition are Australia,
Handball New Zealand, New Zealand Handball Federation
and Queensland.
The Queensland team was formed to fill in the gap
resulting from New Caledonia’s withdrawal from the
competition.
The competition also doubles up as the Oceania Region
Qualifying Tournament for the next Women’s World
Championship. The Australian Women’s Team has in its
sights representing the Oceania Region in the World
Championship to be held in China in December 2009. The
Team is hoping to capitalise from the valuable
experience it gained from its successful participation
in the 2007 World Championship held in France.
The Australian Women’s Team players
are:
PlayerNo.
Name
Surname
Position
State
1
Jemima
Harbort
Goalkeeper
Queensland
6
Veronica
Kelly
Left Wing
Queensland
7
Solveig
Sørensen
Right Wing/Right Back
Denmark
9
Mary
Kelly
Left Wing
Queensland
13
Kim
Higgins
Right Wing
New South Wales
14
Madeleine
McAfee
Utility
Queensland
15
Vanja
Smiljanic
Back
New South Wales
16
Rosa
Boyd
Back/Centre Back
Queensland
17
Tori
Brunsberg
Left Wing/Left Back
Sweden
19
Mellissa
Mellor
Left Back/Pivot
Queensland
21
Gizelle
Van der Merwe
Back/Pivot
New South Wales
22
Milly
Thomas
Left Wing/Centre Back
New South Wales
27
Jess
Fearnside
Pivot/Wing
New South Wales
33
Taylee
Lewis
Goalkeeper
New South Wales
The Team Management consists of:
Name
Position
State
Katsu Kinoshita
Head Coach
Queensland
Nicky Rolls
Physiotherapist
Queensland
John Calvert
Acting Team Manager
New South Wales
AHF wishes the Team all the best in its participation in
the 2009 Pacific Cup and its campaign towards the World
Championship in China in December 2009. AHF also wishes
to thank and congratulate the Queensland Team Handball
Association for hosting the event.
Members
of the Women’s Handball squad held a training camp on 14th-15th
March 2009 in Brisbane, as part of its preparation for
the Pacific Cup and the Oceania Region Qualifying
Tournament for the Women’s World Championship to be held
in China in December 2009.
This was
the third training camp conducted by Katsu Kinoshita
since his re-appointment in December 2008 as Head Coach
of the Australian Women’s Team. Katsu took on the role
of Head Coach of the Women’s Team which successfully won
the qualifying tournament to represent Australia and the
Oceania Region in the Women’s Handball World
Championship held in France during November 2007.
The
March training camp was attended by the following
players:
NSW - Gizelle van der
Merwe, Jessica Fearnside, Kim Higgins, Aminta Thomas,
Vanja Smiljanic
Qld -
Jemima Harbort, Mary Kent, Melissa Mellor, Rosa Boyd
Katsu
instructing a player during the camp
Players
training during camp
The training camp focused on defence; decision-making
(both in attack and defence} and effective execution of
fast breaks. The team was supported during the camp by
Nicky Rolls, Physiotherapist and by Mrs Linda Mellor has
helped the team for last three months with catering for
lunch at training camps.
The
women’s squad will have another camp on 18th-19th
April 2009. This will be Open Camp again before the
Pacific Cup Camp that is scheduled to start on 14th
of May.
FOCUS: Cathy Kent,
Goalkeeper, Women’s Team
Oct 12, 2008
Cathy Kent
Athletes’ success in their chosen sport is the result of
passion, hard work and skills. Passion drives them to
continually work hard at keeping fit, training and
improving their skills. Their passion for their sport
is manifested not just on their actual performance in
competitions but also in other things they do related to
it.
For instance, reporting on Australia’s participation in
the recent Junior Women’s World Championship held in
Macedonia was made possible with information submitted
by a handballer who has all the three attributes
referred to above. The athlete is none other than Cathy
Kent, who is the Goalkeeper of the Australian Women’s
Team. Cathy who was on a competition season break
attended the Junior Women’s World Championship to
support the Australian team and to double up as a member
of the Publicity Team. We received positive comments on
the Team’s collaborative effort as well as a number of
emails enquiring about Cathy. Hence, it is with
delight that we acquaint you with one of Australia’s
leading female handballers.
Cathy, who hails from Queensland, has been with the
Australian Team since 2001. She has represented
Australia in a total of 39 matches, which included
international tours, tournaments and three World
Championships - Croatia in 2003, Russia in 2005 and
France in 2007. She relishes as her greatest moment
playing against Macedonia in the preliminary round at
the 2007 World Championship and receiving the ‘Best
Player’ award. This award is usually given to a player
from the winning team but was awarded to Cathy to
acknowledge the brilliant saves she made.
Cathy was first introduced to handball when she was
seventeen years old during a school sporting tour, while
she was playing touch football at the Australian
Institute of Sport in Canberra. Handball was something
she had never seen before and straight away she fell in
love with this relatively unknown sport to Australians.
What made it even more appealing to her besides the fact
that handball is incredibly fast and takes a lot of
talent to play, was that handball is an Olympic sport
and that it is a Professional sport for women in many
European countries.
Cathy Kent
in action 2007 World Championships
Cathy has two older sisters and one younger brother.
They do not play handball but they have represented
Australia in Ju-Jitsu. Before getting involved in
handball, Cathy also represented Australia in Ju-Jitsu
and was involved in other sports - enjoyed a stint in
Queensland Rugby, was Captain of u16 Brisbane
Basketball, MSN Cricket Captain, Regional Touch Football
and Brisbane Futsal.
It was after an Australian Women’s Handball tour of
Hungary in 2002 that Cathy was given the opportunity to
stay on and play with the u21 Junior Cornexi team in
Szekesfehervar. After only four months, she returned to
Australia to play in the Oceania World Championship
Qualifying Tournament which Australia won to compete in
the 2003 World Championship held in Croatia. She was
then contacted by a Hungarian/Danish lady, Hanna Menzi,
and asked if she would like to play in Denmark.
Cathy played handball in Denmark in 2003-2004 for GOG
Gudme. When she was not training nor playing, she was
studying Coaching at the Sports School,
Oure, and was Assistant Coach to an u15 junior Danish
girls team.
After difficulties with getting a Danish visa for her
second year, Cathy contacted a past Australian trainer,
Niklas Harris who coached and lived in Sweden. He
organized a trial for Cathy with a Swedish 1st
Division women’s team called H65, Höör. She lived and
played in Sweden for three years [2004 – 2007], part of that time was with two other Australian
players, Raelene Boulton and Katia Boyd. She worked for
the club as a cleaner before deciding that was not where
she wanted to be in her handball career.
Cathy was given the opportunity to trial with a
‘Professional Team’ in the French League in La
Rochelle. This was where Cathy signed her first fully
paid Professional contract. Cathy considers her firstyear in France [2007-2008] as the best season she
had ever had playing in Europe. She was named the Best
Keeper with the most number of saves in the Division 2
French League, saving over 304 balls for the season.
Cathy Kent
in action 2007 World Championships
Then in early 2008, Cathy signed up for a team in Paris
called Cergy-Pontoise. Out of a number of clubs which
offered her a contract, she accepted Cergy-Pontoise’s
offer as she felt it is a great team with lots of
potential and has an experienced Romanian/French Coach
to train her and the rest of the team. Cathy also enjoys
the excitement and the challenges in playing in the team
with four Romanian and three Junior French national team
player.
Since she was seventeen, Cathy had dreamt of playing
professional handball so she is ecstatic that this dream
had come true. She is also grateful that all her hard
work and determination got her at the level she is now.
These days, she loves the fact that when she wakes up in
the morning, her job is to train and to play handball.
When asked where she sees herself
in the next 5 years or so, Cathy
said she sees herself still playing handball overseas
and hopes to play for Australia in two more World
Championships. She thinks that she may stay overseas
and be a goalkeeper trainer for a European team after
her handball career. She also has a desire to come back
to Australia and help develop handball further as she
dreams that one day Australia would have a really strong
handball league. We are confident that in due time this
dream will come true as Cathy’s passion for handball and
strong determination are shared by many of the Aussie
handballers. We are also hopeful that Cathy’s stellar
handball story would inspire more girls to get involved
and excel in the sport.
-
Article by Violi Calvert
AHF Media & Public Relations