By Troy Gillard (Twitter: @Troy_Gillard)

Handball popularity taking off in central Alberta

Aug 30, 2018 | 8:52 AM

When you go through the list of the most popular sports in central Alberta you’re not likely to find handball anywhere near the top. But it’s definitely trending upward.

The Alberta Handball Federation (AHF) recently took a group of 80 players between the ages of 12 to 19 to Serbia for an international competition.

In years past the bulk of those players would have been from Edmonton, with maybe two or three from central Alberta.

This year, though, 25 players were from these parts.

Local players who made the trip to Serbia included Q’ielon Bell (Innisfail), Connor MacDougall (Red Deer), Rhys Groenewegen (Red Deer), Reid Christiansen (Bentley), Levi Milot (Bentley), Hunter Smith (Red Deer), Andrew Lush (Bentley), Chance Levis (Bentley), Kinnkade Streit (Red Deer), Ryan Ribeiro (Red Deer), Kade Hirney (Red Deer), Kesaly Von Kuster (Bentley), Ella Damberger (Red Deer), Elyse Borys (Red Deer), Melissa Groenen (Red Deer), Katelynn Hatto (Red Deer), Catriona Borys (Red Deer), Selena Delahunty (Red Deer), Jada Milot (Red Deer), Robyn Ahn (Red Deer), Joey Tuazon (Red Deer), Delaney Warkentin (Camrose), Holly Daniel (Red Deer), Keanna Richards (Red Deer)and Anika Tough (Red Deer).

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“We’ve gone from having a few local players going up to play on Edmonton teams to having boys and girls teams of our own, to maybe having three or four teams this year. It is growing quite a lot,” said Darcy McQuillan, a teacher at St. Joseph High School and coach of the AHF U18 provincial girls’ team.

High school handball continues to spur local growth in the sport with Lindsay Thurber, Hunting Hills, Notre Dame, St. Joseph and Bentley all running programs.

“You get kids who come in February and you ask if they’re interested in playing handball and their first question is usually ‘What is handball?’ A lot of these kids who went to Serbia, they didn’t know what handball was at the beginning of February,” McQuillan points out.

Admittedly, McQuillan says the Alberta teams were outmatched by their much more experienced European opponents during their recent trip.

“We didn’t win a lot, but there was a lot of effort and great attitude. It’s a steep learning curve for them. The game is much, much faster over there. You’re playing against kids who’ve played handball since they were three or four years old.”

The experience away from the court is also an eye opener for many of the players, McQuillan adds.

“[The students] had a wide range of travel experience. We had at least one girl who’d never left the province before. So there’s all sorts of things they learn from time management, how to make your way through an airport, keeping a hold of your passport, getting proper rest and waking up on time. The kids are totally changed when they come back from these trips… they’re a lot more independent.”

The players who went to Serbia will be heading abroad again in November to Japan. After that, McQuillan says it’ll be up to them whether they pursue entry into the elite handball program, which feeds junior, provincial and national teams.

“From across Alberta, we have two or three students who’ve gone on to play professionally in Europe. They’re certainly not going to make [big] money like they do here in the NHL. But when you’re 19 or 20 and living in Europe being played to play handball, that’s a great opportunity for our kids.”

High school handball is played between February and April while club handball runs from September to December.