New sport wants locals to try it out

 ATHLETES from sporting codes like rugby union, basketball, netball, and soccer have registered their interest to play in a latest sport to be  introduced in Papua New Guinea – handball.

“Handball is a complex and dynamic sport,” top level handball coach, Frantisek Taborski said. 

“The movements are natural movements of the body like running and jumping” 

The 71-year-old Czech has 58 years of experience in the sport and is accompanied by top level referee, Monika Hagen from Switzerland. 

Both are representatives from the International Handball Federation (IHF) based in Switzerland and are  in the country conducting a week-long handball coaching clinic at the Sir John Guise Stadium.

Participants went through attacking drills on Monday, while yesterday they were taught how to defend. 

Participant and teacher of 26 years, Albert Andrew, said handball  was in layman’s terms “a movement of the ball with hands to score from one goal to another by dribbling, throwing and passing”.

Concepta Wut, the sports mistress of Marianville Secondary School said it was a combination of sports like water polo, basketball, soccer and netball.

The ball is like a mini soccer ball and is passed by hands, as in netball, on a playing court similar to a basketball court to score in “water-polo” goalposts.  A team consists of up to 14 players with seven playing and seven on the bench. 

The game time for adults (16-30) is 30 minutes, while for youths (12-16) is 25 minutes.

Although exhausting, handball has not too much aggression and body contact and is a lot of fun as the delight on the faces of the participants showed.

The sport will have an exhibition match on Saturday and every one is welcome to attend and see what handball is all about. 

The sport in the country is headed by Robert Doko, who is better known for his involvement in rugby union. He is president of the PNG Handball Federation (PNGHF).