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The Hosts – Danish Handball Association (DHF)

andball is one of the oldest sports in Denmark and
indeed also one of the sports with the best and
Hbiggest international tradition and results. In the
beginning of the 20th century Handball was invented in
Denmark as a sport for school children and in 1935 the Dan-
ish Handball Association was founded in Copenhagen.

While the Danish female national team achieved a silver
medal at the World Championships as early as 1962, the
male players waited until 1967 to get the same result. The
Photo: A. Heimken
women’s national team started to win medals in the 90’s – and the men’s team followed
ten years later. The success is due to hard work in the Danish youth teams and a lot of
gifted young players; during the last 20 years the Danish national teams for juniors and
youths have won 49 medals either at the World Championships, the European Champi-
onships or the Youth Olympic Games.

The grassroots-level of Danish Handball is also alive and kicking; across the country Hand-
ball-schools for children are organized. The DHF’s “Handball-caravan” meets with kids in
their local community and introduces them to the sport of Handball. Especially in summer,
there has been a rapid increase in the number of young people who discover the dynamic
sport of Beach Handball. Playing Beach Handball on the sands of the beautiful coastline
of Denmark is proving to be great fun for kids of all ages.

Beach Handball became a national team sport in Denmark in 2007, when they first par-
ticipated in the European Championships in Misano, Italy. Since then, the women’s team
have won three silver medals in European or World Championships. The best result for
Photo: A. Heimken
the men’s team was the 4th place in the 2009 European Beach Handball Championships
in Larvik, Norway.

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