For more information go to www.bchandball.ca/nationals2012

The Canadian Juvenile Women National Team will participate at the 2012 Pan-Am Juvenile Championships in Santiago, Chile from May 8 to 12.  Participating countries are: Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. Click on the title to find the team roster.

Go Canada!

 Canadian Delegation

Vancouver HC will practice Wednesdays, May 2, 9, 16 and 23 at UBC Osborne Centre from 7pm to 8.30pm.

Everyone is welcome.

For the first time in over 25 years a handball game to place in Kamloops. Vancouver HC travelled to Kamloops on Saturday early morning and was ready to play the local senior team at 12.30pm at a TRU gymnasium. Vancouver started well into the first half, allowing only 9 goals while scoring 13 themselves. However, in the second half Vancouver couldn’t keep up with the pace it set in the first half, mainly due to the fact that it didn’t have any subs. The game turned into a very close match which at the end the hosts could decided for themselves with a one goal margin: 22-21 Kamloops. In the second game of the day, Kamloops Development Team tested against a mixed Kamloops/ Vancouver women’s team and won Despite the lost game, the Vancouverites enjoyed a fabulous weekend. Saturday evening was spend with players from Kamloops. On Sunday morning the team went to SunPeaks for a few hours of skiing before heading back to Vancouver later in the afternoon.

Vancouver HC: Paul Slangen, David Lee, Justine Bugnet, Petra Sykorova Cagan, Damian Hacquard, Leopold Guy, Michel Alverhoff, Marcel Sachse

For the article in the Kamloops Daily News from April 2nd,  read below:

Kamloops edges Vancouver 22-21

Two weeks after their first game, the Yale Lions traveled to UBC this Saturday to play the Vancouver Handball Club.
Leading up to this weekends games, Yale coach Gary MacDonald said, his teams were much more focused during practice and were looking forward to trying themselves again on the court. Vancouver’s Paul Slangen could only agree: “The Lions showed great improvements on the technical side, their confidence in their own skills has grown a lot and you could see that on the court. In goal too, the keepers showed a noticeable improvement and delivered some good saves.”. Yale Lions will travel to Vancouver one more time before Spring Break, Vancouver will visit Abbotsford again in April. Thanks to all teams for coming to UBC!
Results:
men: Vancouver HC – Yale Lions 22-15
women: Vancouver HC – Yale Lions 31-8

California Cup 2012 January 28/29

A mixed team with players from Vancouver, Seattle and Portland participated at the annual California Cup Invitational Tournament on January 28th and January 29th 2012. As every year men teams from the US, Canada,  and even Japan compete in a highly competitive manner.

For Vancouver/Seattle played: Miro Zivkovic, David Lee, Adrian Tarcea, Jean Lucas Andrade, Todor Avramov, Steffen Dube, Raphael Renault, Wei Che Tai

Results:

Saturday January 28th 2011:

Vancouver HC – West Point Gold 21-32

9 goals by Mikkel Hansen, 50% saves by Niklas Landin and a superb defense secured Denmark their second European Championship title. Host Serbia were great opponents who were always kept in the game by the many saves of Darko Stanic. Their offensive strategy however was no match for the clever defending Danes who didn’t allow much room for Ilic and his team mates. Although Serbia didn’t leave the final game as winners, the entire tournament was a win for handball in Serbia. Lots of young people have been watching this tournament on television and in the arenas. The 1,000s of new children being introduced to handball in Serbia  now have new idols – Stanic, Illic, Nickcevic, Vujin. As Božidar Đurković, president of handball in Serbia rightly says: “This is a really big plus for us because it is better for us that children go into sports like handball alongside water polo and volleyball, for example and are not out on the street – this is the social element of handball.” . With this experience from the men’s Euro 2012, we have all reasons to look forward to the women’s world championships in Serbia in 2013.

Also, the All-Star Team and MVP of Euro 2012 have been announced:

Best Goalkeeper – Darko STANIC (Serbia)
Best Left Wing – Gudjon Valur SIGURDSSON (Iceland)
Best Left Back – Mikkel HANSEN (Denmark)
Best Centre Back – Uros ZORMAN (Slovenia)
Best Pivot – Rene TOFT HANSEN (Denmark)
Best Right Back – Marko KOPLJAR (Croatia)
Best Right Wing – Christian SPRENGER (Germany)
Best Defence Player – Virán MORROS (Spain)
Most Valuable Player (MVP) Momir ILIC (Serbia)
Top Scorer – Kiril LAZAROV (FYR Macedonia) – achieved a record total of goals in a single Men’s EHF EURO, with 61 strikes.

What must be the first time in many years, Vancouver HC traveled to Abbotsford to face the newly formed teams from Yale Secondary School. In December of 2011 Gary Macdonald of Yale Secondary started one boys team and one girls team at his school. The YALE LIONS’ games against Vancouver HC were their first matches of the season, but after only 5 practices, both games had more of a learning rather than a competitive character. Both, the boys and the girls team, played two 25 minute periods against Vancouver and already their game had improved by the second half.   At the end, the results weren’t all that important although both Yale teams scored a number of nice goals. It was a win-win for all parties. While Vancouver HC is helping grow their next local competitors, Yale Lions got a taste of competitive handball and each player will grow from this experience and the advise given by Vancouver players. There is no doubt about the many talents among the young Abbotsford players! Yale Lions will travel to Vancouver on February 11 for their next games.

Yale Lions (boys) – Vancouver HC 20 – 28 (9-18)

Yale: Jesse Heinrichs, Colton Leighton 1, Albert Chau 1, Elisei Costea 3, Austin Thiessen 4, Elijah Vaughan 2, Lee Kang 1, Joey Krahn 5, Jakob Larsen 3, Connar Abrams, Sunny Bhardwaj, Justin Brake

Van: Damien Hacquard 4, Alex Spulber 7, Ali Al-Naser, Kevin Smith 3, Leopold Guy 8, Paul Slangen 1, Antonio Cruz 1, Marcos Cons, Maria Mendez 1, Hildur Knutsdottir 4, Nadja Johannsen

Yale Lions (girls) – Vancouver HC 4 – 26 (3-18)

Yale: Jenna Cook 3, Sami Hesketh, Kara Haveman 1, Kim Globe, Fatima Mohammad, Jasmine Mohammad, Bailey Marshall, Madison Gray, Lynsie Pratt, Manisha Rai, Jen Jarvis, Marissa Ponte, Casey Lamb, Ali MacQuisten

Van: Maria Mendez 6, Hildur Knutsdottir 6, Nadja Johannsen, Damien Hacquard 1, Alex Spulber 1, Ali Al-Naser 1, Kevin Smith 3, Leopold Guy, Paul Slangen 5, Antonio Cruz 3, Marcos Cons

Both Vancouver teams (men and women) will travel to Abbotsford for the first time this coming Saturday to play two teams from Yale Secondary School. First game will start at 10.30am and the second game is expected to finish around 1pm. It will be the first time for the teams from Yale to play against an experienced team. The two Yale teams (one boys and one girls team) around former BC player and now Athletic Director Gary MacDonald hope to improve their skills by competing against Vancouver and its international players who have a deep handball background. Both clubs hope the games will serve as a springboard to further development of their handball programs. More games are planned for Feb-11, Mar-3 (both at UBC), Mar-10 and Apr-14 (both in Abbotsford).

Germany against Sweden, Macedonia vs Czech Republic, Serbia against Slovakia and Poland vs Denmark! While Serbia and Sweden are already qualified for the main round, all other teams are directly battling for their spot in the next round. With the close games we have seen so far, this game day promises just as much, if not even more excitement. Watch all EHF EURO 2012 games live on www.youtube.com/ehfeuro .