Welcome!

Dear Reader,

I am happy to welcome you to my blog "The Handball Manual". Here I will share everything about my story, experiences and lessons I have learned over the past year in the US trying to promote and bring the sport of team handball back to SUNY Cortland's campus. Updates come every two weeks.

Allow me to introduce myself. I was born in the middle of Germany and moved to Cologne after graduating from high school to study Sport and Performance at the German Sport University. I have always been a sports enthusiast and have done or played track and field, gymnastics, and team handball. The enthusiasm and excitement for team handball was the main reason why I continued to play the sport as I grew older. During my undergraduate studies, I began to expand my knowledge of team handball. I conducted research projects, wrote articles, obtained my coaching license, and attended various continuing education opportunities. After completing my bachelor's degree, I immediately went on to pursue a master's degree in Perfromance, Training, and Coaching in Elite Sports. We played in the third division in Germany with my club during the first year of my studies. It was a busy time as we traveled to games on the weekends and during the week I was at university and at work at the same time. Since I was very dedicated and focused on the scientific field, I came up with the idea of doing a semester abroad. I wanted to improve my English skills while traveling and having some free time. Anyone who knows me knows that I will always find a way to be productive as soon as I have some free time on my hands. So this was the perfect opportunity to take some time off while staying focused and working towards where I want to go. With a strong feeling that I wanted to go abroad, I applied to SUNY Cortland. It was the closest college to my former roommate and friend in Germany. This was more of a practical decision, as college websites and the program itself can be very confusing if you don't know your way around. But it turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life. Even though I had to stop playing handball. In Europe, team handball is a common sport, while in the US, team handball is rare (especially in Cortland at that time). That being said, I was also looking forward to starting this new chapter of my life with a completely different perspective, one without handball in it. As you'll read in the next section, this only lasted 1-2 months because I'm so attached to the sport - Something was missing in my life. For me, team handball is a great way to bring people together, to learn social skills and teamwork, to identify yourself through a sport, and to get exercise and have fun at the same time. Here in the US, most kids learn how to throw a baseball or football, which is one of the biggest advantages. So the basic skills of team handball, throwing a ball, are already known.

So this is how I, or rather SUNY Cortland, found me. During my last two semesters at SUNY Cortland, I have ... :

- ... started a team handball club and went to college nationals with them.

- ... taught a physical education class in Team Handball.

- ...conducted a team handball workshop.

- ... conducted a pilot study for a handball specific change of direction.

- ... presented "A step-by-step introduction to team handball" at a conference.

In relation to my role as founder, president, and coach of the Cortland Handball Club at SUNY Cortland, this blog will cover the various stages, challenges, and obstacles I have faced in the development of a college handball club. You'll also gain insight into the organization and execution of practice sessions and how to motivate students to participate in a sport they typically don't know much about. Hopefully this blog will motivate and help you if you are a person/student who is passionate about team handball and would like to promote the sport of team handball at your college. Let's work together to promote the sport of team handball and to create opportunities for students to get involved in the sport.

Not sure what Team Handball is all about? Watch the video about USA Team Handball. What is Handball? - America's Next Great Sport