How exchange of ideas and transfer of knowledge push handball along

“Personally, my most important highlight during the conference was the opportunity that researchers and coaches could share and discuss their ideas – in the official parts or more relaxed at coffee breaks or at the dinner,” says Sequeira.

“Coaches can learn from doctors and scientists and vice versa. They might have a different approach, but having this base of handball knowledge they know what they are talking about. Nowadays coaches need data and they need to have a medical perspective, while doctors get more knowledge on training and preparation, which helps them in their job for example, in terms of injury prevention. It is the task of the Methods Commission to start this transfer of knowledge in the handball community,” adds Sequeira.

“I really have to say that I learned from all the topics at the Scientific Conference. Even in those topics where I thought I had more knowledge I learned new things. The good thing about this conference is the diversity of lectures and topics and the different approaches.”

The range of topics on the agenda was huge, from sustainable handball, the use and analysis of data, and the EHF “Circle of a handball life” project, to very specific medical and scientific subjects such as injury prevention.

“From what I heard from the participants they were very pleased with the quality of the lecturers and the results of the different studies presented,” says Sequeira.

As one of the authors of the “Circle of a handball life” book, all topics related to handball for all age groups were in Sequeira’s focus.

“For me, the circle of handball life should be the ‘bible’ of the EHF because everything we are doing and organising at the EHF is linked with it. Education, competitions, social responsibility, sustainability, really everything is connected with the circle of handball life. Many presentations gave examples and inputs for the different stages. That was really useful to validate and improve the concept,” Sequeira explains.

Several presentations at the Scientific Conference were about new forms of handball to attract and activate more children.

“Handball must find a way to be simplified maybe with less players, simple rules, a smaller court to offer easy access for children. You can play basketball with only one basket, you can play football with four stones as goal posts in the school yard. All handball formats such as Mini handball or five-a-side have one aim: to allow children to play. Skills are important but playing the game and having fun playing it is the best way to captivate kids to handball,” believes Sequeira.

Another session focused on technology, including artificial intelligence (AI) and the use of data in handball – both topics which Sequeira says are key for the years to come.

“The use of technology and AI is absolutely crucial for the future of all sports, including handball. By using technology, you can improve the performance of the athletes. The more data you can access to as a coach, the more certain you can be in your decisions,” he says.

“We need specialised technology, adapted to handball or even made only for handball. The game is improving and developing in such a way that all the needs tend to be specialised. The EHF, with its expertise in handball, shall cooperate with technology companies to guarantee that technologies like AI, VR (virtual reality) and software are synchronised to our sport.”

After the Scientific Conference the Men’s EHF EURO 2024 in Germany in January is fast-approaching, when the EHF Methods Commission holds some spectacular side events – like the Grassroots Convention in Munich.

“The aim is to provide best practice examples in grassroots, different approaches, different tools to teach handball to all the handball community and to give  participants access to specialised tools,” says Sequeira. “It will also give the opportunity to participants to share and exchange ideas and experience with the lecturers. The grassroots topic is very important for the circle of handball life because it concerns an important stage to increase the number of handball players all around Europe.”

The EHF EURO 2024 will also be the throw-off for the next generation of EHF Master Coaches, as the renewed and adapted course will start with the first phase in Hamburg, during the main round. “It's always very important to link our education programmes to our top events – in this case future top coaches and the EHF EURO. Education must have a balance between theory and practice and this is the best way, in our opinion,” says Sequeira.

The EHF Methods Commission has a long agenda for 2024, including updating the EHF RINCK CONVENTION. For Sequeira, “it will be an important milestone for the next years. This includes, for instance, the first Level 1 Coach Course organised by the EHF. This is the best way to assure quality and understand immediately its impact”.

In 2024, the series of webinars on different topics will continue, new technical documents for the different stages and topics of the circle of handball life will be published, and the data analysis of the different EHF competitions will be improved. Therefore, the EHF Methods Commission is looking for new partners for different technology topics like VR, data analysis and video tools.

The Commission will involve the new staff of the department at the EHF Office in the different tasks and topics. Sequeira concludes: “Elected members of the methods commission and the professional staff of the EHF must continue to work in a symbiotic relationship.”

Photos © Sasa Pahic Szabo / kolektiff