It's not a real vacation without Partille Cup

The players in the Danish club Skanderborg HB long for the highlight of their summer vacation, Partille Cup. To travel with the club to Gothenburg and Partille Cup is something very special and now they can't wait for next summer.

For the players in the Danish club Skanderborg HB, the trip to Gothenburg and Partille Cup is the highlight of their summer vacation. To meet handball players from other cultures, play matches against teams from other countries and to hang out with the other teams in the club makes the experience great for both players and leaders. They have really missed going to Gothenburg these two past summers.

When Denmark went into lockdown and the players weren't allowed to go to school or practice handball, the leaders had to find other ways to motivate the players and strengthened their friendships. They arranged digital practice sessions and game nights, for example home workouts in the garden or living room with the team mates and leaders on the other side of the screen, live streamed running sessions and digital quizzes.

To new young players, we usually tell them to imagine the best match possible and then multiple it with 1000, that is Partille Cup. When the tournament got cancelled in 2020 I heard 15 year old Elias say: "I think we can cancel the summer break, why should we have a vacation when we can't go to Partille Cup.". It is the most important handball event fo us, to win Partille Cup is something very special. But even the teams who travel home without the trophy will have experienced something as great as teams who won. - Hanne Petersen, leader at Skanderborg HB

It is events like Partille Cup, to see the players' friendship, to see them work hard and develop together that makes it worth spending many nights at the court during the season, according to Hanne. To travel to Partille Cup give the players so much more than just the matches, the club's team in all ages get together at one school where they hang out and support each other before and after the matches. In the evenings players and leaders are playing games, handball and music, eat candy and laugh together. Hanne, herself, have been to Partille Cup for more than 25 years, both as a player and leader and she still things it is as magic and special as it always been.