Italy's Master Plan: From school level to national teams

FIGH are roughly midway through their Master Plan agreement.

Key facts

• FIGH’s Master Plan agreement with the EHF was signed in September 2023 and the project will conclude in August 2026
• the key target of the project is to increase the number of handball players in Italy, namely through growth of the youth handball base, especially children
• the education of teachers forms another important arm of the Master Plan project, aiming to ensure handball is a regular part of school activities and thereby encouraging participation outside of school
• the development of high-level competition areas is another core concentration, involving improved results of the national teams, the ongoing presence of Italian clubs in European cup competitions, and strengthening of organisational skills through the organisation of major events
• lastly, FIGH aims to increase the visibility of handball and promotion through media, including presence of the sport on TV

Creation of the concept

To begin, FIGH outlined both short-term and mid- to long-term strategic objectives.

“The Master Plan of the Italian Federation took into consideration some of the main areas of weakness of the handball movement in Italy, starting from an analysis of the current situation and identifying the points on which to intervene. The final objective of the project is represented by the expansion of the player base and therefore the increase in the number of practicing athletes, intervening in particular on the very young generations,” says Project Development Manager Professor Domenico Tassinari.

Specifically, FIGH named growth of 18 per cent in the number of clubs, 27 per cent in number of young athletes, 25 per cent in number of schools involved, and 30 per cent in number of social media followers as core focuses.

The mid- to long-term goals also included the creation of a national technical school alongside the already established Handball House in Chieti, improving the results of the national teams to ensure permanent representation in major championships on both a youth and senior level, strengthening organisational skills through the hosting of international events, and generating opportunities to increase the visibility and promotion of handball in the media.

“The work has developed through the technical centre ‘La Casa della Pallamano’ in Chieti, a specific academy, for male players, aimed at the main Italian talents between 16 and 18 years old, which, in the 2024/25 season, was joined by an important talent selection project, both for male and female. This involved all of Italy and contributed to monitoring over 800 athletes under 15, with the aim of caring for talents and improving the results of the youth and senior national teams,” says Tassinari.

“Furthermore, a great effort by the Federation is to be increasingly attractive among the younger generations with a specific communication plan that speaks to Gen Z — also with events and digital products dedicated to them.”

Naturally, much of the work towards the achievement of the mid- and long-term objectives involves short-term steps, and many of the long-term aims were also included as short-term goals.

“The Federation has planned its short-term objectives, choosing to start from schools — the first place in Italy where sports are practiced — focusing on the training of new physical education teachers,” says Tassinari.

The additional steps specific to the short-term work of the FIGH included increasing the number of handball players in Italy through a developing school project, which involves close cooperation with the Ministry of Education and supporting sports associations through the provision of economic concessions for those that are newly formed.

Further short-term goals identified were reinserting handball in the national-level Students Sports Games, supporting clubs to ensure the ongoing presence of Italian sides in European cup competitions, and identifying economic resources for television production of FIGH elements such as the Italian championship and Cup.

School handball growth in focus in phase 1

Following the signing of the agreement in September 2023, phase 1 began in October of that year and concluded in September 2024. The focus in this period was on curricular school handball activities in primary and secondary schools, targeting children aged six to 14 years. Additionally, efforts were concentrated on the further education of PE teachers, aiming to increase the number of schools and athletes participating in school competitions and the Student Sports Games. Motivating young athletes to join after school handball activities and clubs was a key objective.

“In the first phase of the project implementation, the Federation dedicated itself to handball activities integrated into the school programs of primary and secondary schools, carrying out a close collaboration both with the Ministry of Education and Sport and with the local clubs,” says Tassinari.

“There was an important phase of training for physical education teachers, with the aim of starting participation in school competitions and creating new handball ‘basins’ in Italy. In this sense, the Federation contributed to training almost a thousand school teachers and obtained, last year, after many years, the inclusion of handball in the national phase of the Student Sports Games promoted by the Ministry of Education. The event involved, between regional qualification phases and the final one that took place in Sicily, over 4,500 children.

“The great attention to the world of school was also confirmed this season, where, through a special commission established by the Federation and dedicated to training activities, a new path dedicated specifically to school instructors and promotional activities was structured.”

Equipment such as goals, soft balls and bibs was provided to schools, with a distribution totalling approximately 1,000 “handball kits.” The education of PE teachers included concentration on the four-against-four mode of handball, to enable more widespread and regular practice. The education of teachers occurred both on site, with delivery by 12 national and regional trainers, and online. Teachers were also provided with additional materials to assist their learning. More than 1,800 booklets outlining the basic rules of handball and exercises for children were distributed, including to teachers who did not attend the courses in person.

Specific courses were organised in almost all regions of Italy, with larger regions seeing several courses held. There were almost 1,000 participants across all courses conducted in phase 1, and 671 of those teachers achieved the first coaching level issued by the FIGH.

Through the provision of the expertise and equipment needed, schools were encouraged to organise local tournaments, leading towards the achievement of the objective for the Student Sports Games.

First national phase Student Sports Games in two decades

In January 2024, the Ministry of Education included handball on a list of sports sent to the regional school offices for the planning of national phases in the Student Sports Games. Handball has not been part of the final stages of the Student Sports Games for over 20 years.

The championship begins with provincial and regional tournaments, culminating in a final phase, specified by the Ministry of Education to take place by May 2024. From February to April 2024, FIGH organised the provincial and regional school tournaments in 67 out of 85 provinces and 19 out of 20 regions. 287 male and 230 female teams, amounting to 4,000 students, took part, with 547 matches played in the male competitions and 412 in the female.

The national phase took place over three days in Palermo, Sicily. 37 teams from 34 schools took part, representing 19 regions. Approximately 500 students were involved in the national phase of the competition, along with teachers and referees.

Alongside achieving the goals surrounding the growth of handball in Italy, FIGH hoped to contribute to the development of healthy lifestyles in the young athletes drawn into the handball activities and initiate a long-term journey that will follow a natural progression through life.

In terms of promotional activities, additional efforts have been targeted towards the FIGH website and social media platforms. Further, a video designed to raise awareness of the culture of handball among young people has been created and is shown in schools participating in the project.

“The exciting path of the senior men's national team at the recent World Championships, where it had been missing for 28 years, and on the other, the work carried out in events and communication towards the younger generations are helping us to promote our sport with ever greater strength,” says Tassinari.

Record Handball Festival in summer of 2024

In July 2024, FIGH organised the biggest Handball Festival (Festival della Pallamano) ever held in the country, with more than 2,000 participants across both the indoor and beach handball disciplines. The Festival, which marked its 22nd edition in 2024, targets children aged nine to 15 and includes competitive matches as well as promotional and social events.

“Last summer, the ‘Festival della Pallamano’ — the main youth event of the Federation for the youth categories — was a record edition. Over 2,000 participants with 147 clubs were involved for a week full not only of matches but also of positive vibrations that are part of the culture we want to create: Handball is a safe space with environmental awareness, fun, social inclusion and a healthy lifestyle.”

Altogether, including the children participating as well as organisers and families, around 6,000 people were present during the week, and five municipal administrations were involved. 15 competition fields were set up to house the matches, including two for beach handball.

Alongside the handball activities, the event participated in the Plastic Free project, with an estimated 25,000 plastic water bottles spared thanks to the installation of water dispensers. The Festival includes other initiatives to raise awareness for current issues such as environmental sustainability, social inclusion and healthy lifestyles.

The Festival began with an opening ceremony that included a parade, and was attended not only by the young athletes participating in the event but the men’s national team, who had just qualified for the 2025 World Championship. The festival closed with a prize giving ceremony, including the awarding of MVPs.

Looking ahead

With roughly 18 months still to go on the Master Plan project, FIGH are far from finished with their initiatives. Those initiatives already implemented will continue to develop, and new steps will be taken.

“What we are doing and what we’ll keep doing is to continue and implement the activities started with the first phase aimed at schools, with the training of physical education teachers with new courses and, as I said before, through the identification of a more targeted training path than in the past — more in line with the current world of Italian schools. For each course, manuals have been created to be used as a tool to guide the teacher in carrying out practical activities. Furthermore, a game regulation has been created aimed at schools to solve the problem of school facilities, which do not always have adequate measures for carrying out competitions with the basic formula of the game,” says Tassinari.

“The launch of the under-five project for nursery schools is also very important: This season, the ‘Baby Hand Project’ aimed at children aged four to five has been structured. The project includes two implementation phases. In its first phase, the project is being tested with 20 clubs that will carry out the activities with around 400 children and that will conclude the experimental phase with an event as part of the Handball Festival in July. The project will then be disseminated at a national level, so that clubs can expand their activities to this age group. In this second phase, the activity can be carried out both within the various clubs and also in nursery schools through targeted collaborations with schools.

“Another focus will be on the ‘school-work alternation project’ for young referees and technicians, which will lead to the development of a new base of coaches and referees through collaboration with schools for ‘school-work alternation’ activities.

Photos: Italian Handball Federation, Luigi Canu