Handball history, rules, and championship

First of all I will talk about the history of handball, and then I will talk about the rules. After that the world champion and top national teams and top clubs. Finally I will talk about this sport in the United Arab Emirates.

Handball is a game that been played in many cultures in the past like ancient Greek and Roman. Also it was in Inuit Greenland. By the 19^th century handball was played in some European countries like Germany (torball), Ukraine (gandbol) and Denmark (handbold).

The game was developed in northern Europe in 1800 and it was popular in Denmark, Sweden, and Germany during this period. A Danish gym teacher called Holger Nielsen drew up the game rules in 1898 and published them in 1906. But in Germany the rules were published by Max Heiser, Karl Schelenz and Erich Konigh in 1917. The congress of the International Amateur Athletic Federation put a committee to draw international rules for the game in 1926. Handball World Championship was started in 1938; after the World War II it was played every four years sometimes three years. In 1995 the event has been biannual. The first Women’s World Championship was in 1957. International Handball Federation IHF was formed in 1949 and there were only two members Denmark and Sweden. Nowadays there are about 170 members and about 795000 teams.

Lets talk about the field of the court. In the past hand ball was played on a football field with 10 players in each team and the goal was seven meters long. But now it is different. The field is 40 meter and the width is 20 meter. There are also two lines surrounding the targets. The first line is solid and the second is dashed; in between there is a line parallel to the center line. the first solid line surrounding the target is known as 6 meter line. This area is only for the goalkeeper. The second line is the dashed line called the 9 meter line. This line is for free throw. The parallel line between 9 meter and 6 meter is for the penalty.

 The substitution area is in both sides of the middle line for each team. In this area there are three main things substitution line, timekeeper or score keeper, and bench substitution in both sides of time keeper area. The substitution line is 9 meter long, and the time keeper area is half meter away from the side line of the court. And between two benches it is about 7 meter.  

The goal target is 3 meters in width and 2 meters in height. It should be fixed with the wall behind it or with the ground. The posts and the crossbar should be made from the same material and the cross section area of it should be 8 centimeter. The targets should be painted with the same color and mustn't be like the floor or the wall. The net must be fastened to not let the ball pass.

 The ball size depends on the gander and the age and it is like this

size            ,     class             ,                             circumference          ,     weight g

III, men and male above 16 ball,                            58-60,                        425-475

II, women and male over 12 female over 14,          54-56,                      325-375

I, over 8 years,                                                          50-52,                      290-330

So let us talk about the game itself. The game has two periods, each period is 30 minutes  for all teams above 16 years. And for the teams between 16-12 it is 25 minutes. For the teams between 12-8 it is 20 minute. There are 10-15 minute intervals. In a league it is fine if the match is drawn. But if it’s a tournament which there should be a winner there are two overtime periods for five minutes per period. If it is still draw then the referee give them penalty shootout best of five then they continue until one of the teams win.

There are five types of throws, throw off, throw in, goalkeeper throw, free throw, and seven meter throw. When the game started or when any team score a goal or when the other period started the ball played from the center, this throw known as throw off. It must be done in the middle line of the court. If the ball crosses the side line then it is a throw in. the team which didn’t touch the ball when it cross the side line take the throw. The third throw is the goalkeeper throw. If the ball crosses the outer line of the goal and the attacking team of the goalkeeper touch the ball then it is a goalkeeper throw. If there is a foul or an interruption by the referee, then the free throw restarts the play from the place where the game has been stopped, as long as the spot is outside the 9 meter line. If there is a clear chance to score anywhere on the court and it is illegally prevented, then the referee gives the team which had the chance to score a 7 meter throw. It is like a penalty in football. The player puts one foot on the 7 meter line and throws the ball when he hears the referee whistle.

Each team has 12 players, 7 in the court and 5 in the substitution area. The players of the same team should wear the same clothes, only the goalkeeper should wear different. Each team should have a maximum four officials seated. A field player is allowed to touch the ball from their knee to their head. Only the goalkeeper is allowed to touch the ball anywhere. In this game there a is different between catching the ball and bouncing it. If the player has the ball he can stay in his position only for 3 sec, and he can take 3 steps only. Then he must either shoot, pass, or dribble the ball. I mentioned that in goal perimeter of 6 meter area only the goalkeeper can move freely there. Attacking player can score in the goal perimeter by a volley ball by the player who must jump before the 6 meter line. Also I mentioned that only the goalkeeper can touch the ball anywhere.

Let’s talk about the penalties; penalties are given to players for fouls that require more punishment than just a free throw such as reaching around, holding, pushing, hitting, tripping, and jumping into an opponent. The referee gives a yellow card for illegal action. If the action was a little bit dangerous then the referee stops the player for 2 min. The player may get one warning before the 2 min suspension and he can get only two 2 min suspensions; after that the player gets a red card. Sometimes the player gets a red card directly for a dangerous move like contact from behind during a fast break. If the player gets the red card then he must leave the game directly. Actually the penalties are a very big subject and I can’t talk about it in this brief report so you can go and search in the internet. 

  

As I mentioned before the word championship took place in 1938 and it was organized by the International Handball Federation, IHF. It was in Germany and only four teams were involved. Germany was the first national team who won the tournament. The teams who won the tournament most are the French in 1995, 2001, 2009, and 2011, Romania in 1961, 1964, 1970, and 1974, and Sweden in 1954, 1958, 1990, and 1999. This is for male champions. The world womens handball championship was started in 1957 and it was in Yugoslavia; the winner was Czechoslovakia. Russia is the team which won the tournament most and it was in 2001, 2005, 2007, and 2009. The largest winning score was 66–21            Sweden and Australia.

Finally I will talk about handball in my country the United Arab Emirates. I didn't get much information about handball in Emirates, so I think this sport is not popular there. The UAE Handball Federation was established in 1975. The national team got 2^nd in Arabian Gulf Tournament in 1991, and 3^rd in 2007, and 2009. In the Arabian tournament they got 2^nd 1998 and 3^rd in 2010.In Asian tournament they get 5^th two times in 1998 and 2007. The under 21 team won the Asian tournament in 1996.  

Our trip to ALSHAHAMA EQESTRIAN CLUB. the video's link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8o19z72qdh5m6uc/iCloudHD.mp4?dl=0 The club was founded in 2003, at first it was a breeding farm and then in 2005 they established it as a club to train people how to treat and take care of horses and how to ride horses in a safe way. They got encouraged by HH Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed leading the stables. Then the manager took us on a tour to explain and show us what they do in the club and how they treat the horses. He showed us different types of equipment: the racing saddles (seat) and the Arabian saddle, and the western saddle. The western saddle is the most famous one because we always see it at the movies. But we can’t use the western saddle in very hot weather. Horses’ life: in the club they normally have the Arabian horses. The Arabian horses have two categories: 1- Show horses 2- Racing horses The show horses they show them when they are 6 months old, but the racing horses they take care of the father and mother as a brief and when they get the best brief they want they just take care of their child until the age of 3 years old when they start training them; if the horse will do some good things in races they continue but if not they take for endurance then if it was not good for endurance then they send them for the club as a riding horse. This is the normal cycle of the Arabian horses. this is a snapshot of the map, showing the direction from Abu Dhabi - Dubai road:

Walter Payton

Walter Payton known as sweetness. He was playing a running back role in the NFL (national Football League) with Jackson state university. he like to help other people so he worked with deaf. he won NFL twice in 1977 and 1985, also made nine pro-bowl appearances. he also played with Black College. he had some restaurants and interested in car races. in his last life he died by cancer and he was 45 years.