PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release – 24.01.2025
Scotland are back in Germany – this time it’s Handball!
Bringing real change to life: Announcement of a new partnership agreement with SV Anhalt-Bernburg
The Scottish Handball Association (SHA) are delighted to announce the start of a partnership agreement with a leading German Handball Club, SV Anhalt-Bernburg (SVAB).
The first step in this new work together is a trip for one of the boys’ teams from the Scottish Handball National Academy to a training camp organised by the club (27th – 31st Jan). Whilst there, the players will join in the training camp and will also play in a mini tournament with local clubs and players at the end of the week. This, however, is just the start.
Both the SHA and SVAB understand that sport has the potential to change lives positively. Whilst both parties have pathways for ambitious players to develop right through all ranks of the game, we also understand that the number of players this applies to will be a very small percentage. As such, we agree that our focus should also be upon giving players the opportunity to understand new cultures and other approaches; as well as play the sport they love.
Ewan Hunter, CEO of the SHA, said: “We have been talking to our friends at SV Anhalt-Bernburg for over a year – since they reached out asking us to provide encouragement to a young school team in Germany who were playing as “Scotland” in a mini-Euro’s tournament that they organised. We realised during subsequent conversations that we were speaking to a team of people who felt exactly like we do – as do so many across the European and global handball family -, that sport can, and should, open doors to life experiences that may otherwise be impossible for many young people to realise.
We are hugely ambitious for this partnership and what makes this work extremely well from our perspective is that as a club, they are a very similar size to us a sport across Scotland. Whilst we are starting with one of our boys’ teams, we are looking to expand this to include both boys and girls in future. Indeed, later this year, our equivalent girls’ team are going to France to play in a tournament too.
We have a brilliant relationship with our friends and colleagues in Germany at the DHB (German Handball Federation) as well as the DHL (German Handball League) who couldn’t be more supportive of this relationship too – but at our stage in development and growth, this makes so much sense to both parties and one that we feel can lay the groundwork for exchanging ideas, experiences, cultures and life opportunities. We look forward to delivering this brilliant work together in the years ahead.”
Claus Luther, Athletic Director (and former German U-21 National Handball player) at SV Anhalt-Bernburg said: “We reached out to the SHA because we thought it was fun and might provide the kids with some encouragement. We had such a positive response that we also began to think about the possibility of where this conversation might lead.
Two of our colleagues, Tobias Heusel (one of our Committee Members) and Michael Herda (our Youth Head Coach) were then invited across to Scotland as they hosted the British Handball Super Cup. They were very impressed with what they saw and the conversations in Edinburgh clearly provided inspiration for us to work on what might be possible.
We are delighted to have been able to welcome these young Scottish players to our city and our club and we are excited about how we develop this partnership to it’s full potential in the coming years. None of this would be possible without our sponsors, supporters and committed volunteers so we also want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has played a part in getting us even this far. Especially after last year’s European football Championship and how well Scottish fans were received, we look forward to welcoming a Scotland team back to Germany – only this time, to play Handball!”
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Notes for Editors: Originally founded in 1972, the Scottish Handball Association employs 4.5 people and was announced as Sport Governing Body of the Year 2022 at the Scottish Sports Awards ceremony in December 2022. Working closely with SportScotland, the European Handball Federation (EHF), the International Handball Federation (IHF), the SHA enables thousands of children and young people to play Handball across Scotland. We also deliver training to many young sports leaders across Scotland. There are many primary and secondary School Handball Festivals as a result; and we see many young athletes continue their Handball journey by joining their local clubs. A number have gone on to play professionally with European clubs, as well as representing Scotland and Team GB in international competition. We have vibrant domestic league and cup competitions. The current highlight of the domestic season is the season-ending British Handball Super Cup – where the top two teams from Scotland (Women and Men) play against the top two teams from England. The NorDan British Handball Super Cup was broadcast live on BBC Sport and online platforms in May 2022 and May 2024, and was broadcast live on other streaming platforms in 2023.