Lectures and discussions were held simultaneously at multiple locations during this Friday’s International Handball Federation’s seminar at Balatonboglár. After housing the welcome speeches and presentations, the conference building served as the main location for the different working groups including professionals and experts; while the National Academy of Handball (NEKA) Sports Hall was the venue for the hand-on training presentations held with the NEKA’s girls’ team.

At the start of the day, the nearly seventy participants were greeted by a welcoming speech from Frantisek Taborsky, a member of IHF’s Executive Committee. The morning presentations focused primarily on the operational aspects of the organisation, and the future projects and tasks aimed to develop the sport.

The morning programme was concluded by general manager Tamás Mocsai’s presentation, which introduced the National Academy of Handball, accentuating the NEKA’s role in the national youth training development, in addition to the infrastructure, assets, and professional staff that ensure continuous advancements.

„As emphasised, the cooperation that has started two years ago between the International Handball Federation and the University of Physical Education is working outstandingly, with professionals from all over the world coming here in order to study the high-quality professional work that is being done. We are very proud of this and also of the facilities and equipment that are suitable for such a prestigious event”- said Tamás Mocsai

The afternoon section had separate work groups focusing on topics such as in-school handball education, refereeing, coaching, and also methodology. The day’s only hands-on training was held by Mats Olsson, a former goalkeeper in the Swedish national handball team with 294 caps. The professional, who currently is working with the Norwegian national handball team, presented a goalkeeping training combined with shooting training, and with help from NEKA’s U16 girls’ team.

The team activities, which lasted until nightfall, were concluded with a joint discussion, which provided a great opportunity for a platform between the professionals and experts to communicate with each other and exchange information.

photo: Gabor Tompos