Handballers could strike Olympic gold

IRELAND’S handball stars are “well capable” of winning Olympic medals should the sport’s ambitions of gaining access to the four-yearly extravaganza be realised, according to association president Walter O’Connor.

The campaign to achieve that received a major boost last March when it was decided that One-Wall Handball would be an exhibition sport at the World Games in Cali, Colombia in 2013 and the game here has made significant strides in recent years. The recently re-branded GAA Handball association launched its strategic plan for the next five years at Croke Park on Monday and officials have reported a major growth in the numbers of players as well as a 20% bump in the amount of clubs.

“There are exciting times ahead,” said O’Connor who praised the GAA, president Christy Cooney and Director General Paraic Duffy for the support which has been forthcoming from Croke Park in recent times.

The game has experienced some hard times in recent decades and, as O’Connor admitted, has been supplanted in the GAA by the growth of ladies football and camogie whilst it disappeared from the national consciousness.

Now the World Handball Championships are due to be held in Ireland next year and, though there have been delays and some controversy surrounding the planned handball centre at Croke Park, officials are confident that project will be completed.

Cooney has commended the handball body for setting out what is an ambitious and demanding set of targets for the sport between now and 2016 and believes attaining those goals could benefit the greater GAA community as well.

“Handball is unique in the GAA in that it has a regular and outstanding international dimension and I have no doubt but that it will achieve it’s ambition of becoming an Olympic sport which would be massive not just for handball but the entire GAA family.”