Women’s Handball Conference opens in Ljubljana
The Women’s Handball Conference is taking place in Ljubljana on the fringe of the final weekend of the EHF EURO 2022, with over 130 participants from 32 countries and all different areas of handball participating — former players and representatives from federations, clubs, competition boards, marketing experts and more.
The EHF, led by President Michael Wiederer, find conferences such as this one highly valuable for the development of the sport.
“The European Handball Federation really works hard and even harder within the last years to make sure that women’s handball is not losing its position in the international context,” said Wiederer in his opening words. “These conferences are producing valuable input for our activities.”
The Conference is held over two days — the final weekend of the EHF EURO 2022, and will conclude with viewing the finals on Sunday as Norway and Denmark fight for the title after Montenegro play France in the bronze-medal game.
The programme for the Conference includes a variety of presentations from experts in various fields related to the development and promotion of handball, as well as activities such as a tour of Arena Stozice on Saturday afternoon and attendance at the closing press conference for the EHF EURO 2022. The participants also attended the draw for the play-offs for the 2023 Women’s World Championship.
After the Conference was opened with the arena tour, the participants settled in for an afternoon of presentations, including the opening words from EHF President Wiederer, EHF Secretary General Martin Hausleitner and Women’s Handball Board Chair Marta Bon.
“I am really proud today of all the achievements and I am really grateful for the EHF and other federations who invest a lot,” said Bon.
This conference makes me proud that we are here together, that we can share ideas and go further in the development of women’s handball.
Following the opening, there was a special look at the next edition of the Women’s EHF EURO, which will be held in Hungary, Switzerland and Austria in December 2024.
The programme then turned to the more intricate details, with presentations on the preparation of national teams for qualification and final EHF EURO tournaments, the use of handball role models for the future, the EHF Respect Your Talent programme, the player development pathway and the ‘circle of a handball life’ to conclude the agenda for Saturday.
On Sunday, the day will open with a series of presentations on best practice, including the organisation of national teams, the development of handball academies and the presentation of women’s sport. Following that, the participants will hear about the role of clubs in strengthening women’s handball and of the leagues in strengthening women’s handball.
The presenters include representatives of EHF Champions League clubs Team Esbjerg and Krim Mercator, UEFA, a number of national federations and the EHF.
“We all feel that this is the right moment to do more. It’s the right moment because during the last two or three years, a lot of things happened in this field,” said Hausleitner in his opening statement. “Women’s sport is the basis of growth in the sports business.
“It was the women’s EURO two years ago, at the same time, in December 2020, when it really became dark around sport because Covid impacted us all. But it was the women’s teams who held up handball and played the full EURO under circumstances nobody could imagine. So there are a lot of things women’s handball can be proud of and should be proud of.
“Why you are here? To make women’s handball great in the future,” concluded Hausleitner.
