What Can You Do?

by Matt Hiber, MSHA President

Many of us often talk about promoting our sport. What would it really take to get more people into the game? It can be rather difficult to get people to try handball if you don’t have a plan.

Here are a few suggestions to get someone new to try handball. Try to influence someone that you know relatively well to play the game. Someone that does not know you very well may not take you seriously, and the individual may just tell you what you want to hear so you will leave them alone. Try to influence someone that may owe you a favor. Giving handball a try could be their way of paying off the favor. Choosing an individual that has “guts” and perseverance is more important than choosing one that is athletic.

If you can get one of your comrades to try the game, you will need a plan for teaching them the sport. If you go into a session without a plan, your chances for success are almost nonexistent.

Teach an individual to play before an upcoming tournament - a goal to which the person can strive. You need to set aside approximately ten hours of instruction before the tournament starts - maybe five two hour sessions before the tournament. Keep the sessions to one per week. If the individual practices on their own time, that is a bonus. However, do not count on it. In my experiences, it seems that ten hours is sufficient time for a novice player to learn the rules, the basic strokes (overhand, sidearm, and low sidearm), and become able to return the ball to the front wall with their non-dominant hand.

Here is the major problem. If only one person recruits an individual and spends ten hours on the court with them, the time is wasted because this person does not have another novice player to play against in the highly anticipated showdown. I need twelve people to call me saying that they will get one individual and spend ten hours with that individual prior to the Spring Handball Classic on April 25-27, 2003 at the U of M Rec Center. Anyone who calls me (612-626-7836) will get my ten hour crash course to teaching handball. Now we have new players. I’ll be waiting for those calls.