West Kirby: "Handball is growing rapidly in the UK"
West Kirby Grammar School Handball Club travel from the UK to participate in Partille World Cup 2025.
They would like to help handball grow in the UK. Next summer, they will compete with teams in the G14 and G16 categories in Partille World Cup.
– The tournament is an amazing all round experience for any person; from spectator, to coach, to player, says the coach Rob Price.
They are based in an all girls secondary grammar school in West Kirby, hence the name: West Kirby Grammar School Handball Club. – All of our players attend the school and myself and the other coaches work in the school. We have girls playing from year 7 (age 11) to year 11 (age 15). We have approximately 40-50 different girls playing handball weekly, which is really exciting, says Rob Price.
He continues:
– As a club we are newly established, having played our first games in the England Handball Association National Schools Cup last year. All of the girls loved the sport and wanted to play more. We even travelled to watch Great Britain's men's team play Kosovo. We're going to enter the England Handball U14 and U16 league this year to get more game experience. What is particularly exciting is that we have so many young females participating in sport when we are at a time when female participation is low.
Why have you chosen to participate in Partille World Cup 2025?
– I have previously participated in Partille World Cup as a coach each year between 2010-2014 when I was the head coach of the England Handball National Academy. I was lucky enough to be involved in the Olympic Solidarity programme that took place prior to the tournament, which provided the players with even more exposure to elite handball. I loved the tournament as a coach and saw first hand the amazing experience that it gave to my players at the time and this is the goal for the players we are bringing this year. The tournament focusses on more than just the game of handball, it is about sportsmanship, teamwork, different cultures and making connections and lifelong friends from all around the world. I also hope that seeing so many people participating in the tournament and having fun will encourage them to continue with the sport long after they leave school. I aim to set up an annual trip to the tournament in the future.
What have you heard about the tournament and what are you and the players most excited about?
– The tournament is an amazing all round experience for any person; from spectator, to coach, to player. It offers so many opportunities to play handball, create links to other countries and we are all excited about playing handball against teams from all over the world. Spending time with people from different countries, appreciating and learning about different cultures. The players are looking forward to the opening ceremony, watching the elite players in the European Open Championship and exploring the city of Gothenburg. I think they're extremely excited about visiting Liseberg.
What are your goals for the tournament?
– Our main goals are:
To learn - we are vastly inexperienced compared to other clubs from countries where it is played by so many and from such a young age, however there is no better way to learn than playing in this tournament against top teams and top players.
Compete - We will aim to compete to the best of our ability and play to our strengths, we will establish small targets for each game to help us focus our efforts.
Enjoyment - We must enjoy our experience of competing in the tournament - not only playing the handball but the all round atmosphere on the tournament days, to enjoy spending time with people from different countries and backgrounds, the opening ceremony and to learn that there is more to playing sport than just playing, but learning to communicate, to work together, to work hard, to win and to lose.
How big is handball in the UK at the moment?
– Handball is getting bigger in the UK and is growing rapidly, however it is still significantly smaller than other nations where handball is played from a younger age, there is an abundance of teams and so lots of competition. We tend to get players much later on and by then they are already playing other sports so it is hard to get them to pick up handball when they are already committed.
What do you hope that your players will learn through the Partille World Cup experience?
– I want the players to love playing sport - especially handball. I hope that this experience will encourage them to continue playing sport for many years to come. I hope they will learn about sportsmanship, communication, teamwork and determination. I hope they develop some life long friends and connections that they can call upon in years to come. We're really excited about attending and are currently working hard to prepare, says Rob Price.
