Following the successful introduction of the International Hockey Federation (IHF) Virtual Academy by way of the 1st IHF Live Online Symposium, the federation introduced the second programme forming part of the Virtual Academy: the 1st IHF Children’s Handball Week, which is set to run from 17th to 22nd August 2020.

The 1st IHF Children’s Handball Week is designed to promote handball activities across all member federations, particularly those working with players aged between 5 and 12 years. The IHF, therefore, encourage all Member Federations to take part and to invite participation from schools and universities in order to address as many educational channels in each country as possible.

As with the 1st IHF Live Online Symposium, the 1st IHF Children’s Handball Week is open for all. The topics explored in the six lectures, with one presentation per day, will be of particular interest for coaches, referees, delegates, PE teachers, parents and children, however, all handball enthusiasts will draw value from the lectures.

All presentations will be from lecturers who form part of the federation’s Handball at School programme, which has been in operation driving the development of children’s handball and encouraging youngsters to participate in the game and stay active across the globe since 2011. The lecturers will use practical examples to show how handball can be a complex yet suitable tool to help develop physiological, physical, psychological and social skills and important unconscious knowledge for children in the future.

The Children’s Handball Week sessions will be streamed live on Zoom and the federation’s Facebook page. Participation on Zoom is encouraged, as this is where participants are able to ask questions directly to the lecturers through the session moderator.

The lectures will be presented in English with simultaneous translation available in French, Russian, Spanish and Arabic.

The full programme of the 1st IHF Children’s Handball Week can be found here