What is Handball?

Handball is one of the fastest indoor sports. It is an Olympic sport played in over 150 countries. It is a sport where players are encouraged to be athletic, be flamboyant and inventive, and above all you work together as a team. It helps you keep fit and healthy.
It is a team game where you:

and it is very, very fast.

How do you play?

Click Here

Played with 6 court players and 1 goal keeper per side, the object of the game is to throw the ball into the opponent's goal.

With physical contact, unlimited substitutions and shots at goal that can reach over 100 km/hour, there are always something exciting happening on the field of play.
 

Who can play?

Virtually anyone. You don't have to be a towering giant. The rules are virtually the same for men's and women's handball. Only the size of the ball is different. For children the ball is smaller again. As a guide the ball sizes are as follows:

• for under 8 year olds the circumference of the ball is 48 cm and the weight is at least 290 grams (size 0)
• for male youth (8-12 years) and female youth (8-14 years) the circumference of the ball is 50-52 cm and the weight is at least 315 grams (size 1)
• for women, male youth (12-16 years) and female youth (over 14 years) the circumference of the ball is 54-56 cm and the weight is at least 325-400 grams (size 2)
• for men or male youth (over 16 years) the circumference of the ball is 58-60 cm and the weight is at least 425-475 grams (size 3)

Players

Each team has 12 players. However, only 7 players take the court at any one time and one of these must be the goal keeper. The reminding players are substitutions during the game. They enter and leave from the substitution area of the court. Players alternate between an attacking position and a defending position, depending on who has possession of the ball. The goal keeper of each team wears a different colour from the rest of the team.

Officials

Generally there are 4 officials: 2 referees, 1 time keeper and 1 score keeper. Two referees are required because of the fast nature of the game. One referee is on the outer goal line and watches for any goal are violations and verifies if the ball completely crossed the goal line for a goal. The other referee is behind the attacking team, watching for any defensive or offensive fouls by the court players or any possession violations. The time keeper looks after the time and notes the time when a player may renter the court after a suspension or disqualification. The score keeper keeps the score and statistics of the match. The time keeper and score keeper also assist the referees if any illegal substitutions occur.
 

Duration

For adults, the game lasts for two 30 minute halves. For children of different age groups, the halves are of shorter lengths. The emphasis of children's games is not winning or tactics, but rather to establish friendships, develop skills and confidence.
 

Penalties

Penalties for fouls are as follows:

• First foul - A player is warned by the referee by displaying a yellow card.
• Second foul - A 2 minute suspension will be enforced on the player. During that time the team plays will one less player. Player may return only after serving the suspension and enters through the substitution area of the court.

A team can have a maximum of 3 yellow cards. After that the remaining fouls are punished with 2 minute suspensions. If a player receives three 2 minute suspensions, the player is shown a red card by the referee and is disqualified from the game and can not participate for the rest of the game. After the 2 minutes has elapsed that player can be replaced by another player.