What is Beach Handball?
Beach handball is a team sport where two teams attempt to score points by throwing a ball in the goal of the opposing team. Players may advance the ball up the sand court by either taking steps with it (up to three) or by passing, bouncing, or rolling it.
While a normal goal counts as one point, creative or spectacular goals net the scoring team two points. These goals include 360-degree spin shots, alley-oops, goals scored by a team's goalie, and penalty shots.
Matches consist of two independently scored sets, lasting 10 minutes each. If teams are tied at the end of a regular set, then the teams will play a golden goal, with the first team to score winning the set. If each team has won a set after both are played, then the match goes to a shootout, in which players attempt to score one-on-one against the opposing goalie.
History of Beach Handball
Beach Handball traces its roots to the late 1980s, where many European countries began to experiment with a beach version of indoor handball.
The Italian indoor handball coach, Luciano Bartolini, was tasked with creating the first rules of the new sport.
Bartolini decided to make a fast but exhilarating game, to be played on a smaller sand court, making use of existing beach volleyball courts.
Since then, the sport debuted at the Youth Olympics for the first time in 2018, and a series of exhibition matches were played in the Paris Olympics in 2024.
It is the hope of Beach Handball players across the world that it will be recognized as an official Olympic sport in Los Angeles 2028.
In 1992, the very first Beach Handball tournament was played in Ponza, Italy.
Other European countries quickly joined, and soon South America was playing too.
The first International Handball Federation World Championship was hosted by Egypt in 2004, and takes place every two years.
Over the past 20 years, Beach Handball has grown rapidly in the United States.
With teams across the nation, more and more Americans are discovering the spectacular sport of Beach Handball.