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2009 'Rethink Drink' Senior Championship Schedule

‘Rethink Drink’ Men's Final Match - 18 October 2009

Pics to come

After a thrilling final match between Victoria and New South Wales women’s teams, it was over to their male counterparts to be on centre court for the men’s final match.  Victoria had the throw-off but its first attempt at goal was not successful.  Defence of both teams was tight from the start. It was two minutes into the game that Kenneth Toerlan [NSW] scored the first goal of the match, from a penalty shot.  Then after two minutes Mladen Turanjanin equalised for Victoria.  This was immediately replied by Kenneth with two successive goals from fastbreaks. Another two minutes into the game, Rajan Pavlovic’s strong shot from the back added one goal for Victoria.

Fabian Synneby scored one back for NSW, followed by two goals by team mate Sebastian Traverso.  Victoria had great help from its Goalkeeper, Robert Comme who has played handball for only three weeks before the tournament.  Robert performed two brilliant saves from the shooting of Christoph Neibel. Then it was Victoria’s turn to score three successive goals made by Nick Kodrick, Vella Vujaklija and Rajan Pavlovic.

For the remainder of the first half, both teams took turns in furthering their score balance, using combination of strong defence of 6-0 and fastbreaks.  Near the end of the first half, Vella Vujaklija scored one goal to reduce Victoria’s deficit by one goal and just before the buzzer, Victoria was awarded a penalty shot.  Mladen Turanjanin shot low around the NSW wall to bring the first half at a draw.

Half time score:  Victoria 13 – New South Wales 13. 

The second half started off with a brilliant save by an attempt at goal by Vella Vujaklija by NSW Goalkeeper Pascal Winkler.  This was immediately followed by a goal for NSW by Kenneth Toerlan.  Two successive goals from the back by Rajan Pavlovic and Vella Vujaklija got Victoria back in the game.  Fabian Synneby took one back for NSW.  For the remainder of second half, strong shooting from the back by Vella Vujaklija and Rajan Pavlovic was consistently doing damage to NSW.  At 18.58 to the finish of the match, Victoria was leading by three goals; score was Victoria 20 – NSW 17.

Sebastian Traverso started NSW’s campaign to get back in the game.  His goal was first of the six goals successively scored by NSW [Sebastian, Luka Kranj, Kenneth Toerlan, Luka, Kenneth].  The last goal by Kenneth was from a seven-metre throw.  Pascal Winkler had a couple of brilliant saves in this set.   Score at this stage was Victoria 20 – NSW 23.

From this point, it was goal for goal from both teams.  NSW deployed 3-2-1 defence part of the time, with Victoria doing likewise. Vella Vujaklija shots from the back added three goals for Victoria. His team mates Joseph So and Ante Manenica contributing one each. Mladen Turanjanin missed a penalty throw but was successful at 4.27 left of the game. Another fastbreak converted to goal by Kenneth Toerlan and determined play by Felipe Narciso also added three more goals to NSW.  The second half closed with a successful penalty throw by Mladen Turanjanin of Victoria.

Full Time Score:   Victoria 28 – New South Wales 32 

Victoria:  Vella Vukjaklia [11]; Mladen Turanjanin [7 (5)]; Rajan Pavlovic [5]; Joseph So [2]; Ante Manenica [2]; Nick Kodrick [1]
Coach:  Georgie McMenzie

NSW:    Kenneth Toerlan [11 (3)]; Sebastian Traverso [6]; Fabian Synneby [5]; Luka Kranj [4]; Felipe Narciso [3]; Christoph Neibel [2]
Coach:  Russell Garnett

‘Rethink Drink’ Women's Final Match - 18 October 2009

Pics to come

The much-awaited final match was between New South Wales and Victoria teams.  Last year, New South Wales narrowly won the championship by one goal.  This year’s re-match between the two teams was as an exciting game. 

NSW had the throw-off but was unsuccessful at their first attempt at goal.  Nadege Franz scored the first goal for Victoria at 28.52 to game time.  This was immediately equalised by NSW Daniella dos Santos.  Victoria responded with three successive goals - with Caitlin scoring one and Nadege adding two more.  At 17.16 to game time, New South Wales was down by three goals; the score being 1 – 4.

Gizelle van der Merwe reduced the gap with a goal from centre back.  After that, however, Victoria added five successive goals scored by Nadege, Caitlin, Alexandra Vuckovic, Belinda Griffiths [penalty] and again by Nadege.  Score at this point was NSW 2 – Victoria 9.

NSW re-grouped to hold off its opponent to the end of the first half. Elisabeth Clausen and Marita Gudmundsen converted two goals from brilliant passes.   Victoria was desperate to widen its margin before the finish of the first half but its intense defence drew fouls which Vanja Smiljanic successfully converting to two goals for NSW. 

Half Time Score:  New South Wales 6 – Victoria 9.

The second half saw the two teams go goal for goal, see-sawing all the way to the finish. With three points already in the bank and successfully equalising each goal made by NSW, this lead was preserved by Victoria. Just before the close of the match, Belinda Griffiths’ conversion of two penalties added one more to its score margin. 

Full Time Score:  New South Wales 14 – Victoria 18. 

NSW: Daniella dos Santos, Vanja Smiljanic [3 (3)]; Aminta Thomas, Marita Gudmundsen, Gizellen van der Merwe [2]; Allira Hudson-Gofers, Elisebeth Clausen [1].
Coach:    Janne Lilleeng

Victoria:  Nadege Franz [6]; Belinda Griffiths [4 (3)]; Nanna Hedberg, Caitlin Wynne [3]; Alexandra Vuckovic [2]
Coach:  Vella Vujaklija

DAY 3 – ‘Rethink Drink’ Senior National Championships - 18 October 2009

Today was the last day of the competition.  An exciting day was had by everyone.  To recap, the semi-final match held yesterday between Victoria and ACT men’s teams was won by Victoria, with the score being Victoria 25 [13] – ACT 20 [10].  The semi-final match played by the Queensland and NSW women’s teams was won by NSW with a score of Qld 17 [8] – NSW 33 [14].  

Despite everyone enjoying socialising during the teams’ dinner last night, it was early to bed for today’s matches. This was especially so for Western Australia and Victoria women’s teams playing at 7.30 a.m. Victoria was the stronger team throughout the game. WA players gave all what they had and did not give up to the finish.  However WA was not able to recover from its score deficit in the first half, with Victoria pushed on with its campaign to win.  WA top scorers were Linea Marie Marisson 3, Linn Elde 2.  Victoria: Belinda Griffiths 6, Nanna Hedberg & Nadeje Frantz each with 4.  

Half Time Score:  WA 3 – Victoria 11.  Full Time:  WA 8 – Victoria 21. 

Next match was semi-final between Queensland and New South Wales men’s teams.  Queensland had throw-off but its attempt at goal was blocked.  NSW was first to score but Queensland equalised the goal and led for first part of the half. However, NSW had several fastbreaks which were converted to goals to take control of the game.  When Queensland called time out with 8.51 left in the half, the score was Queensland 7 – NSW 11.   Queensland defence tightened but NSW was able to increase their lead at half time. During the second half, the crowd was entertained by Queensland Goalkeeper who saved four successive NSW’s attempts at goal.  Queensland called time out at 46 seconds left in the game, but no goal was made by either team when play resumed.  Queensland two top scorers:  Ivan Cmoglavac 7, Caleb Gahan 4.   NSW:  Kenneth Toerlan 14, Christoph Neibel 7.

Half Time Score:  Qld 8 – NSW 14. Full Time:  Qld 17 – NSW 33. 

The next game was a play-off between South Australia and ACT women’s teams.  SA won the toss of the coin to have the throw-off. There was not much between the two teams early in the match.  However, the persistence and faster play by ACT paid off in the end. ACT player Renilde Van Roost scored top score with 10 goals, SA Ingebjorg Gill 4 goals. 

Half Time Score:  SA 7 – ACT 12.   Full Time:  SA 12 – ACT 18. 

The last play off game was between Western Australia and South Australia men’s teams.  South Australia won the throw-off but missed goal. The first half of the match was very tight, with both teams scoring goal for goal, with the first half ending in a draw.  During the second half, WA was able to convert a number of fastbreaks and created several gaps in their oppenent's defence. Top Scorers:  WA- Michael Sigrist, Andrew Mill & Beat Rothlisberger [4 each]. SA: Fabian Cordts [5]; Rainier Haberberger.  

Half Time Score:  WA 9 – SA 9.  Full time:  WA 24 – SA 16. 

The much-awaited final matches came next.  First was the women’s title contested by New South Wales and Victoria, with Victoria emerging as 2009 Women’s Champion. Half Time Score:  NSW 6 – Victoria 9.  Full Time:  NSW 14 – Victoria 18.   This was followed by the final men’s match played by of Victoria and NSW men’s teams.  For the third consecutive years, NSW won and added the 2009 Men’s Championship to its titles.

Half Time Score:  Victoria 13 – NSW 13.  Full Time:  Victoria 28 – NSW 32. 
[See separate reports on Final Matches].

At the close of the games, the presentation of trophies and medals took place. First of all, AHF President Paul Smith thanked and congratulated Handball West for hosting the championship and all the States for participating and assisting in the event.  In particular, acknowledgement was given to Daniel Svensson [HW President and Competition Manager], Rikke Petersen [HW Vice President and Assistant Competition Manager] and the rest of the WA Competition Committee for the success of the tournament.  AHF President also thanked 'Healthway' and the WA Government for the partnership in this significant handball event, as well as for the sponsorship by the City of Joondalup and the WA Department of Sport and Recreation.

Trophies were presented to the champions and medals to individual players and officials by AHF President Paul Smith and Cr Tom McLean, Deputy Mayor City of Joondalup.

The trophy for Female Best & Fairest Player was awarded to Linea Marie Mannson from Western Australia, with the Male Best & Fairest Player awarded to Kenneth Toerlan from New South Wales.  Medals were also presented to the Referees for the final matches – Melanie Batten and Kristine Jovanovic of South Australia; Jacob Reimerson and Daniel Svennson of Western Australia.

One of the highlights of ‘Rethink Drink Senior National Championships’ was the announcement of the players who will comprise the Australian Women’s Team to represent Australia in the upcoming World Championship to be held in China in December 2009.   Similarly, the male players invited to join the Men’s Squad preparing for the 2011 Men’s World Championship to be held in Malmo, Sweden was announced and presented to the crowd.  [See separate article on announcement]. 

Another successful senior national championship concluded.  This was the biggest tournament with six State associations having a women’s and men’s team participating.  The teams battled it out intensely on court to contest the titles but at the end of the day, the overall winner was handball.  Everyone is looking forward to next year’s tournament which will be hosted by Handball Victoria.

DAY 2 – ‘Rethink Drink’ Senior National Championships - 17 October 2009

Another successful day of handball matches, capped by teams’ dinner held at the venue.  It was an earlier start to accommodate ten games and the social get together. 

So far, there had only been few injuries. The competition has been running well and overall everyone is happy.  However, it had been commented a few times that there is something lacking.  The presence of Sasha Dimitric, Father of Australia’s handball and Alex Gavrilovic, past AHF President and ‘competitions organiser’ has been sorely missed.

The first match was between NSW and South Australia men’s teams.  NSW was the favourite to win.  NSW was first to score, which was responded to by SA.  However, after that there were up to eight successive goals put away by NSW before SA got one back.  Although SA was tentative in the first half, it played a much stronger game in the second half and scored a goal on the buzzer. Kenneth Toerlen and Christoph Niebel  contributed 10 and 8 goals respectively to NSW’s win.  Half time:  NSW 12  SA 5.  Full Time:  NSW 27  SA 13.

Next on court was the Queensland and Western Australia men’s match. This was a much closer game, with both teams playing strong defence and attack.   It was a case of tit-for-tat scoring especially during the first half.  In the end, Queensland managed to edge its way to a win.  Highest scorer of the match was WA Davor Timkov with eight goals, with Ivan Crnoglavac contributing 6 to Qld score. Half Time:  Qld 10  WA 9.  Full Time:  Qld  21  -   WA  18.

The SA vs NSW women’s match was the third match of the day.  NSW asserted its strength from the start of the game by scoring the first three goals.   NSW had blocks of goals with no response from SA, the biggest of which was 8 goals.   Allira Hudson-Gofers and Daniella dos Santos scored 7 and 6 respectively for NSW.  Birte Biden was top scorer of SA with 5 goals.  Half time:  SA 5 – NSW 15.  Full Time:  SA 11 – NSW 28.

Next match was between Victoria and Queensland women’s teams.  This was another close match with both teams trying not to give an inch to the opponent.  Players from both sides showcased skills which would have been noted by selectors for the Australian women’s team.  However, the stellar performance of Goalkeeper of both teams was the highlight of the match.  The crowd appreciated the brilliant saves by Vera Ignatovic, of Victoria who was former Olympian Goalkeeper and by Jemima Harbort who debuted for Australia in the 2009 Pacific Cup.  It was also great to see fantastic play and assist to each other by Queensland wingers, twin sisters Mary and Veronica Kelly. Half time:  Vic 8 – Qld 9.  Full Time:  Vic 16 -  Qld 13.

Western Australia and Victoria men’s teams were next to take centre court.   Western Australia had throw-in but it was after seven minutes into play that Victoria scored the first goal of the match.  Victoria played stronger defence and wer more accurate at goal.  There were occasional fastbreaks by WA but not enough to stop Victoria from running away to a win especially in the second half.  Nick Kodrick and Vella Vujaklija again did most of the damage for Victoria, scoring 9 and 8 goals respectively.  Dragan Jerkov scored 4 for WA.

The next match was South Australia vs Queensland women’s teams.  SA had throw-in and scored the first two goals in the match.  There was not much between the two teams, with only 2 goals difference to half time.  However, the more experienced Queensland team tripled this difference at the close of the game.   Jemima Harbort, Queensland’s Goalkeeper once again made brilliant saves which made a difference to the team winning the game.  Half time:  SA 8 – Qld 10.   Full time:  SA 14 – Qld 20.

Then it was over to their male counterparts, South Australia and Queensland men’s teams.  SA likewise had the throw-in but unsuccessful in goal.  Early fastbreaks put Queensland in the lead by three goals during first half, but SA managed to pull that back by one at the close of half time.  SA tried to reverse the result but Queensland had a stronger game during the second half.   Standout performance of the match was by Ivan Cmoglavac, scoring 12 for Queensland.  Half time:  SA 9 – Qld 11.  Full time: SA 19 – Qld 27. 

Next match was between the Western Australia and ACT women’s teams.  ACT had throw-in but it was not till seven minutes into the match that it scored the first goal of the match. ACT continued to add to its goal account to finish in front at half time.  However, WA picked up its pace and consolidated to grab the game back.  Most of the second half, WA then led by three goals.  A successful penalty shot by WA at 3.9 seconds to finish sealed its victory.  Half time:  WA 4 – ACT 10.  Full time:  WA 19 – ACT 16.

The last of the men’s matches for the day was between Victoria and ACT.  This was another close game with both teams.  The first goal was scored by Victoria, which was responded by three successive goals by ACT with Victoria doing likewise.    The first half was a close match, with both teams  relentless in pursuing goals to the finish.  Top scorers for the match were Vella Vujaklija scoring 10 for Victoria and Xavier Orsatti scoring 7 goals for ACT.  Half time:  Vic 13 – ACT 10.  Full time:  Vic 25 – ACT 20. 

Closing match of the day was between the Queensland and NSW women’s teams.  Queensland took the early lead at 4 – 1 and won the first half by a goal.  At the second half, NSW regrouped and clawed its way back to the top.  Even with brilliant saves by Jemima Harbort, Queensland was not able to stop the determined NSW team from winning.  Top scorer for Queensland was Isa Pickenpack with 5 goals, with Daniella dos Santos’ 10 goals for NSW.  Half time:  Qld 9 – NSW 8,  Full time:  Qld 16 – NSW 27.

DAY 1 – ‘Rethink Drink’ Senior National Championships - 16 October 2009

This year’s Senior National Championships is a historic event in more ways than one.  This is the first time that all six state associations have teams participating in both men’s and women’s category.  It is also the first time that Western Australia is hosting a national championship competition.  In addition, it is the first time that a national event was successful to obtain a naming right sponsorship.  The Western Australian government department 'Healthway' has chosen the event as one of the avenues to further promote its ‘Rethink Drink’ program.

At the close of the first day of the tournament, it was evident that there had been much improvement of the level of competitiveness and performance level of the teams from the last national championships.  It was good to see the blending of the skills and experience of the ‘veteran’ players with the determination and enthusiasm of the young players.

History making Father - Daughter Referee Team, Scott & Jessica Fearnside - Photo Violi Calvert	Victoria and Western Australian State Women's Team battle it out - Photo Violi Calvert

There were a total of eight games on Day 1.  There had been fantastic display of skills on court and camaraderie off court.  Some of the highlights of the day included:

The first game of the event, between South Australia and Victoria men’s teams, was refereed by father-daughter team, Scott and Jessica Fearnside. Despite Victoria having more experienced players, South Australia held the goal difference to four goals at the end of first half with the score being South Australia 8 – Victoria 12.  However, Victoria doubled the goal margin during the second half, winning the game with the score being South Australia 15 – Victoria 24.

Just before half time of the previous game, Ashley Dover of Murdoch Radio rang to conduct a phone interview.  After I answered a few basic questions about handball in Australia, it was over to Daniel Svensson, Competition Manager to speak about the event and the future of handball in Western Australia.

The second match of the day which was between ACT and Queensland men’s teams was a much tighter game.  The biggest gap between two teams was no more than two goals throughout the game.  It was great to see the return of Jason Hoppner [who was in WC2005] to national competition. ACT Goalkeeper Curtis Eitzen who debuted in the 2009 WC in Croatia had a number of fantastic saves which helped his team to keep a bit of edge. Half time score was ACT 11 – Queensland 10.  ACT won the game with the score being 22 – 21.  Both teams played good defence and attack tactics.

The first women’s match in the tournament was between Western Australia and Victoria.   It was great to see two previous Australian Team members returned to national competition.  Rikke Petersen, Handball West Vice President and Assistant Competition Manager led the WA team in this match.  Victoria team was strengthened by Caitlin Wynne who is back in Australia after a year playing in Denmark.  It is also worth noting that there were three sisters in the Victoria team – Michelle, Stephanie and Kim Tennant.  Caitlin and Kim represented Australia in the 2007 WC in France.  Belinda Griffiths, Acting President, Handball Victoria opened and continued to add to the goal account for Victoria throughout the game.

The second women’s match was between NSW and ACT.   NSW team asserted its strength throughout the game with the good combination of world championship experience of Allira Hudson-Gofers, Milly Thomas and Vanja Smiljanic with the skills of young talent Gizelle van der Merwe, Jessica Fearnside and Tayler Darlington and the rest of the seasoned team.   ACT team led by Anke Winning, ACT President, helped by Tayler’s sister Paige and Claire Dennerley  kept the fight going but NSW decidedly won the match with the score at half time being NSW 10 – ACT 2; full time NSW 23 -  ACT 9.

It was much similar result for the match between Victoria and NSW men’s teams.  Even with the help of veteran players Vella Vujaklija, Mladen Turanjanin and Rajan Pavlovic  in the Victorian team, NSW dominated the game.  Half time score was Victoria 5 – NSW 21; full time score being Victoria 20 – NSW 32.

The match between Western Australia and ACT men’s teams was much closer game.  WA was led by Daniel Svensson, Handball West President;  helped by  experienced players such as Dragan Jerkov [in 2009 WC] and Davor Timkov [in 2007 WC Squad]. Both teams played a strong defence, resulting in a low scoring game.  Half time was won by ACT only by one goal; with the score WA 8 – ACT 7.  ACT clawed its way to a win in the second half with full time score being WA 13 – ACT 16.

The Queensland and Western Australia women’s match showed experience of players in the Queensland team who had been in World Championship ie Rosa Boyd, Raelene Boulton and Mary Kelly and those who have come up the ranks in the recent Pacific Cup - Mary’s twin sister Veronica, Madeline McAfee, Melissa Mellor to name a few.  In the first half, WA team was able to hold off their opponent with strong defence, half time score was Queensland 9 – WA 6.  Queensland progressively widened the goal to final score being Queensland 18 – WA 9.

The last match of the day between the ACT and South Australia women’s teams was very exciting throughout.  Both teams went toe to toe, equalising each other’s score,  Half time finished at 8 each way.  At 25 seconds to finish, ACT scored a vital goal to take the match at draw 19 all.

‘Rethink drink’ Australian National Senior Handball Championships

Click Poster To Enlarge

The Australian Handball Federation [AHF] is pleased to announce that arrangements had been finalised for the ‘Rethink drink’ Australian National Senior Handball Championships.  The event will be held during 16 – 18 October 2009 in Venueswest Arena Joondalup, Joondalup, Western Australia.  Entry to all the games is free of charge thanks to the generous support from sponsors, including the host City of Joondalup. 

In addition to this event further promoting handball and deciding the senior’s championship titles, it is also providing another avenue for the ‘Rethink drink’ campaign which is part of the Western Australian government’s Healthway programs.  The naming right arrangement with Healthway not only provides needed sponsorship for the event, but it also recognises handball as a healthy activity.   The Western Australian State Government, through the Department of Sport & Recreation and Lotterywest, is a major supporter of the ‘rethink drink’ Australian National Senior Handball Championships.  AHF wishes to thank Healthway and the WA Government for the partnership in this significant handball event.

The championships will also give the players an opportunity to showcase their handball skills. This event forms part of the selection process for the men’s and women’s national teams which will participate in upcoming international and world handball events.  AHF also congratulates and thanks all the associations for their participation and assistance which ensure the success of the event. In particular AHF thanks Handball West, Daniel Svensson (President Handball West) as the Competition Manager and Rikke Petersen (WA Director, AHF Board) as the Assistant Competition Manager.  

AHF is also pleased that the championships will be contested by senior men’s and women’s teams of handball associations from:

Australian Capital Territory
New South Wales
Queensland
South Australia
Victoria
Western Australia

Additional information
Handball West’s website:
http://www.handballwest.org.au/senior_nationals_2009.html
or contact Daniel Svensson
Mobile: 0407 929343
or Rikke Petersen
Mobile: 0412 177 657.

Media Enquiries;
Violi Calvert,
AHF Media & Public Relations Officer
public.relations@handballaustralia.org.au
Mobile : 0408 22 77 94.

Successful 2009 u16 National Championships

The Australian Handball Federation [AHF] congratulates all the teams which participated in the u16 National Championships held during 25-26 July 2009 at Sportz Central, Coffs Harbour [New South Wales].

Boys and girls teams of New South Wales [NSW] Handball Association and Australian Capital Territory [ACT] Handball Association, and girls team of Queensland Handball Association participated in the championships.

New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory Teams

All the teams put in spirited performance and each game was strongly fought. In the boys division, the New South Wales Boys Team decidedly won the championship by winning the three preliminary games and the final game against the ACT Boys Team.  The ACT Boys Team nevertheless showcased some impressive play in its first championship.  During the final game, the ACT Boys Team went goal-for-goal for most of the first half and in the second half its offensive play got within one goal of NSW.  However, the NSW Boys Team showed its strength by widening the goal margin, with the final score being NSW 21 – ACT 14.

Queensland Girls Team put in good performance however it lost its matches against the ACT Girls Team and the New South Wales Girls Team.  Its strongest play was at the opening game against the ACT Girls Team, losing only by two goals [12:14].  NSW Girls Team and the ACT Girls Team had equally good performance in the preliminary games and fought hard in the final game.

New South Wales vs Australian Capital Territory Girls Teams in Final

During a very thrilling final match, victory was within reach of the ACT Girls Team by dominating the final game and leading by four goals [8:4] in the first half.  However, this victory was snatched back by the NSW Girls Team in the dying seconds of the game, with the final score being NSW 12 ACT 11.

At the close of the championships, recognition was given to the fine performance of a number of players.  The top players were selected by opposing coaches for each game in the tournament.

AHF thanks Paul Smith [Competition Manager] and all the officials, players and supporters who contributed to the success of the championship.   This appreciation is also extended to the members of the local media, which include Radio 2MC, 2CS & StarFM, NBN TV News and Prime TV News.

Related Links;

http://canberrahandball.com.au/

2009 u16 National Championships Results

Successful 2009 Pacific Cup and Junior National Championship Events

The Australian Handball Federation [AHF] congratulates all the teams which participated in the 2009 Pacific Cup and the Junior National Championships held during 28th – 31st May 2009 at the Sleeman Sports Centre, Chandler [Brisbane, Queensland].

This year’s Pacific Cup had a ‘Tasman Cup’ touch with the tournament being contested by teams from Australia and New Zealand only.  The four teams which competed were:  Australian Senior Women’s Team, New Zealand Handball Federation, Handball New Zealand and Queensland.  The Queensland team was formed to fill the gap resulting from the withdrawal of New Caledonia.

The Australian Women’s team decidedly won the Pacific Cup which also doubled up as the qualifier for the Women’s World Championship to be held in China in December 2009.  The AHF congratulates the Women’s Team and the Team Management - Katsu Kinoshita [Head Coach], John Calvert [Acting Manager] and Nicky Rolls [Physiotherapist] and wishes them the best as they prepare for the World Championship.  Congratulations are also extended to Tori Brunsberg for her award as 2009 Pacific Cup’s Highest Goal Scorer.

The Junior National Championships likewise had a ‘State of Origin’ flavour with participating teams only from New South Wales and Queensland.  It was pleasing to note, however, that Queensland had two u18 men’s teams in the competition.

All the 2009 Junior Titles [u18 men’s, u18 women’s, u21men’s and u21 women’s] were won by the New South Wales teams.  With the exception of the u17 men’s title, NSW teams also won the 2008 Junior Championships. In 2007, NSW won both u21 men’s and women’s titles, with Victoria winning the u18 men’s and u18 women’s.  The AHF congratulates all the players who participated and also the respective team management.

The AHF thanks Queensland Team Handball Association for hosting the two events, in particular Stephen Harbort [Competition Manager], Kim Harbort [Venue Preparation & Tournament Operations] and all those who assisted in ensuring the success of these events.

2009 AHF Junior National Championships Schedule & Results

2009 Pacific Cup Schedule & Results

New Caledonia Tour Results

Senior Men's National Team

Junior Girls National Team 

Junior Boys National Team 

Successful and Historic Senior Championships

The 2008 Seniors National Championships will go down as a historic event in Australian handball for several reasons.  In this national tournament, AHF welcomed the participation of the newly recognised Victorian handball association, “Handball Victoria”.  The HV teams provided strong competition narrowly missed winning the women’s title. In an intense women’s final game between Victoria and New South Wales the title was decided by one goal after extra time.

Secondly, it was at this event that the AHF and the whole Australian handball family paid tribute to Sasha Dimitric.  Sasha was duly acknowledged as the founder of Australian handball by introducing the sport in 1980 and continually nurturing it to the present time.  AHF President, Alex Gavrilovic announced at the presentation that from this year a trophy named the “The Sasha Dimitric Cup” will be awarded to the National Men’s Champions.  The crowd cheered and applauded as Sasha accepted the trophy and presented “The Sasha Dimitric Cup” to the New South Wales men’s team.

Sasha thanked the AHF for the recognition and expressed his appreciation to all the officials and the volunteers for their contribution over the years that enabled handball to be where it is now.  He gave special recognition to the players for embracing the sport and maintaining their passion for the sport despite some challenges.

Stephen Harbort, Event Director of the 2008 National Seniors Championships also congratulated all the players and thanked all the state associations for their participation and contribution to the success of the event.

Everyone agreed that putting the medals and trophies aside, the real winner of the event is handball.

Full Results 2008 Australian Open

QTHA Hosts Seniors National Championships 2008

The Australian Handball Federation [AHF] is pleased to announce that the next significant handball event, the Seniors National Championships will be held in the Sleeman Sporting Complex in Chandler, Brisbane during 24^th – 26^th October 2008.

The AHF is particularly pleased that the newly recognised Victorian handball association, “Handball Victoria” will be participating in the championships.  The championships will be contested by teams from the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia.  These state handball associations will be fielding men’s and women’s teams, with the exception of Western Australia which will not present a women’s team in 2008.

Aside from deciding the Australian titles, the championships will also provide another opportunity for the players to showcase their skills in front of National Selectors and Coaches.   

For more information about the Nationals, please contact

Susan Wilson-Gahan

Mobile 0418768022

sgahan@jpc.qld.edu.au

2008 Junior Championship 'Dream Team' and Final Rankings

The Australian Handball Federation [AHF] would like to congratulate all players, coaches, managers and game officials for making the 2008 Junior Championships a successful event. Below is the 'All Star Team' as voted by every referee after each game, followed by the final rankings of each team. Congratulations to all the players that made the 'All Star Team'.

2008 National Junior Handball Championships Results

2008 National Junior Handball Championships

The Australian Handball Federation [AHF] is pleased to announce that the 2008 National Junior Handball Championships will be held in Sydney during 27 – 29 June 2008 at the Valentine Park Sports Complex, Glenwood.

This year, the tournament will be have a “State of Origin” flavour with participants from New South Wales and Queensland only, due to the recent discontinuance of Victoria’s membership.  The teams will contest for titles in U18 Women, U21 Women, U18 Men and U21 Men divisions.  The AHF is also pleased to note that both states are fielding two teams in the U18 Men division. 

AHF President Alex Gavrilovic will take on the role of Competition Manager.  He will be supported by the Tournament Committee comprised of officers and members of the New South Wales Handball Association. 

The updated International Handball Federation rules will be applied during the competition.  

Apart from determining the Champion Handball State, the tournament is an important vehicle for players to showcase their handball skills as a basis for possible selection in national teams which will be participating in national and international tournaments during the 2008-09 handball season.

Letter From Hummel

Clean Sweep of the National Championships by New South Wales

The Australian Handball Federation [AHF] congratulates all the players, officials and supporters of the teams which participated in the National Handball Championships held during 19^th and 21^st October 2007 in Canberra.

The overall winner of the event is undoubtedly handball.  Nevertheless, the ranking of the teams at the completion of the tournament is as follows: