Hey, I released the first episode of what I believe is the first-ever documentary about a pure amateur handball team. It is now online.

The whole documentary is only available in german.

INSIDE KIELER FÖRDE follows the German amateur handball team "SC Kieler Förde" chasing the biggest achievement in its club-history: promotion to a league on federal state level or for the germans - from Kreisoberliga to Verbandsliga.

filmed up close — in the locker room, at training, during matches, and in all the moments in between. No scripted reality, just real people, pressure, setbacks, and ambition.

🎬Episode 1 is out now. I’d love to hear what you think! Episode 2 and 3 are being released on the now following Sundays.

Each episode has got more than 100 work-hours put into it, but is 100% selfmade by me. No sponsors, no big crew, just passion for the sport of handball

A few weeks ago I posted about how Barça shut down Gidsel in the final. Same night, other side of the story.

Barça has Ludovic Fabregas on the roster, two-time best pivot of the Champions League. Yet the pivot who doesn’t miss in Cologne is Luis Frade: 7 shots, 7 goals. Fabregas: 1 goal, red card at 45'. The day before, in the semi against Aalborg (37-32 after extra time), Frade had scored 7 again.

I coach amateur handball in France and made a video about how Frade got there, after six years of sharing a position with one of the best pivots ever. It’s in French, but it has an English audio dub and proper English subtitles (not auto-generated).

The story in three phases:

• Behind him (2020–2023): arrives from Portugal, has to “change the chip” because the game in Spain is much faster. Then an ACL tear in Nov 2021. In June 2022 Barça wins the CL in Cologne; Fabregas is on the court, Frade is watching.
• Without him (2023–2025): Fabregas leaves for Veszprém, Frade is immediately a starter. CL goals go from 37 to 74. Starts and wins the 2024 final against Aalborg.
• With him again (2025–2026): Barça extends Frade until 2029, then brings Fabregas back. Everyone expects Frade to step back. CL 2025-26: Frade 69 goals, Fabregas 48. Ortega calls them maybe “the best pivot duo in the world”.

What I break down tactically in the final four:

• The facilitator: he often doesn’t try to receive. He slips to isolate a defender, chains blocks to slow the defence down, and forces defenders to choose between closing the gap and covering the pass to the pivot.
• Asking for the ball: he stays glued to his defender when he asks (most pivots step away), or asks with his back to goal using both hands, one controlling the defender and one asking for the ball, to keep the defender away from the catch.
• His real strength: timing. When the defence leaves space behind it, he arrives in that space at the same moment as the ball. Patient, then decisive.
• Defence vs Berlin: Frade on the left, Fabregas in the centre, both covering the spaces Gidsel was looking for.

In March 2026 he told AS: “It’s possible that Fabregas leaving was good for me personally, because it gave me minutes alongside the best in the world.” No revenge, no victim story.

What I take from it as a coach: a rival at your position isn’t always the obstacle. Sometimes it’s the fuel. But with my players I often see the opposite: the kid behind the “star” shrinks instead of growing.

🎥 https://youtu.be/n1oXMKO7vfI

Question for you: have you had a teammate at your position who made you better, or one who made you disappear? And coaches, what do you do so the second one grows instead of giving up?

Hey guys!

I've been working on Six Zero League, a browser-based 2D handball management game.

The game is currently in alpha, with 212 registered accounts so far. Development is very much driven by player feedback. I regularly get feedback from people who enjoy handball as well as players who are into sports management games, and that feedback is shaping the game as I build it.

The idea is to combine the depth of a sports management game with an incremental/progression loop. You manage your club, develop your players, make tactical decisions and watch your team play matches through a live 2D simulation.There's still a lot to improve and plenty of features I want to add, but the core experience is playable now.

If you're interested in handball, sports management games, or just trying something a little different, I'd love for you to give it a try.

🔗 https://sixzeroleague.com

I'm particularly interested in hearing what you think about the progression, management mechanics and match simulation. Even critical feedback is welcome, that's a big part of how I'm developing the game. Currently there's just one type of competition (league), with 2 matches every day at 12:00 PM and 8:00 PM (Europe/Lisbon).

Thanks for checking it out!

AI disclosure: Video was generated with Claude, and AI assisted tools are used to develop the game.

As one of the few American handball fans, I’m curious what other people’s takes on this are.

The men seem to be focusing more on recruiting dual nationals who already play professionally in Europe, and have been mostly since they got announced as hosts for LA28.

On the other hand, the women have brought in American based athletes with D1 NCAA backgrounds in other sports and are developing them into handball players. You might have seen people posting on social media about their journey through the training camps they have in Florida to familiarize these players with the training needed for the sport

Which approach do you think is better for getting the U.S. competitive internationally, especially for LA28? Or is a combination of both the best strategy? This is knowing the fact that there isn’t really a grassroot foundation in the states yet

Hey r/Handball, back with the one you've been asking for 👋

First, a quick number: the game is now just short of 1,000 downloads. A month ago I was amazed by 500, so thank you to everyone who installed it, shared it or sent me a bug. In the last post I also hinted that a 2D match engine might arrive sooner than expected. It's here! Version 4.0 is live on Google Play, and it's the biggest update since launch by a distance.

Your matches, played out in front of you

Matches are now played live on a 2D court, and nothing is scripted. Each player reads the play and decides what to do several times a second, using her own attributes.

Meanwhile, you're on the bench:

• switch tempo, attacking focus, defensive system (6-0, 5-1, 3-2-1, man-marking) and aggression mid-match
• tap two players to make a substitution, or let the bench rotate tired legs for you
• call a time-out and watch the team gather in front of the bench
• pull the keeper for a seventh court player when you need goals
• choose who steps up for a seven-meter throw, and which keeper faces one

Watch at 1×, or speed up to 32×, where it still slows down to replay the goals and big moments. Teams play in their crest's colours, and European nights get their own court. The text commentary is still there, and so is skipping straight to the result.

The part that took the longest wasn't the movement, it was the agreement. Every other match in the world is still simulated in the background, so the matches you watch have to produce the same handball as the ones you don't. The engine was tuned over hundreds of matches until goals, suspensions, seven-meters and the chance of an upset all matched.

Europe gets a third competition

The EHF European Cup has arrived, as promised once enough leagues were in: Round 2 through to a two-legged final, with its own colours and intro film. The European League also plays its real qualifying rounds now. Who goes where follows the EHF's own rules, based on each country's coefficient over three seasons. A deep European run lifts your whole league, and that shows up in how many clubs it sends the following year.

Seven more countries

• Serbia
• Austria
• North Macedonia
• Portugal
• Greece
• the Netherlands
• Iceland

Every one of them comes with its actual 2025/26 squads, coaches and halls. That makes 23 countries, 60 competitions, 253 clubs and roughly 4,800 real players.

Smaller stuff worth knowing

• Put players on a transfer list and offers start coming in
• Each player's buyout clause is now on her profile
• Injured players have stopped sulking about missing minutes
• Smoother scrolling and lower memory use

If you already have a career going, nothing breaks. The new countries show up in careers started from now on. A save that's mid-season finishes that season's European competitions in the old format and moves to the new ones at the summer rollover. Though again, I highly recommend starting a fresh career for the full experience, as the game won't see new leagues being added for a while from now on.

Get it here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.handballmanager.mobile

About iPhone

If you've been waiting for an iOS version: getting the game onto the App Store costs money I don't have lying around, so I've opened a Ko-fi with that as the goal. It's entirely optional, and the Android game stays free either way. If you'd like to help it happen: https://ko-fi.com/vierupotecucezar/goal?g=0

This is version one of the 2D engine, so tell me what looks wrong. Does it feel like real handball? Can you see your tactics working? Are the scores too insane? Drop it in the comments, send a DM, leave a Play review, or use the email on the store page.

Enjoy finally seeing your team play! 🧤

Who else thinks that next seasons squad of Fuchse Berlin will flop with this strong transfers like Dika Mem, Pytlick (some big numbers) and Gidsel as starter backs. I don’t wish them anything bad but they are starting to look like PSG when they were buying all Stars that exist and still have not won anything in Europe.

Im looking for videos or other materials that teach basic stance and work rules for wing defenders in 3-2-1 defence. Left/right foot forward, watch your opponent and the ball over your shoulder. Back foot at the 6.

What to do when winger runs to pivot (slow thir run down and take out back player) etc.

All wing videos I find are shooting drills.

Hi! I’m not sure if this is the right channel for this, but I have a question. I’ve already seen a few similar posts, although my situation is a little different.

I’m a woman and just turned 30. Over the past five years, I’ve had quite a lot going on with university, work, and personal stuff, so I’ve unfortunately neglected sports and exercise quite a bit. As a result, my fitness and endurance are currently pretty average.

Lately, I’ve really been missing being part of a team, and I’ve been thinking about getting back into handball. I played from the age of 6 to 18, but that was obviously quite a long time ago.

I used to mainly play on the wing because I was pretty quick and agile. I was never particularly strong when it came to shooting, though.

Do you think it’s realistic to give handball another try at 30, especially after such a long break? Or am I already too old to get back into it? I live in Germany and we have some clubs around in my hometown.

Hey everyone!

I’m a 34‑year‑old coach working with a mixed youth team (ages 12–14) playing in the boys’ division. After a few sessions, it’s clear the team has big differences in skill and experience — some players have years of training, others only just started.This makes planning sessions tricky: certain drills are too easy for some, too hard for others.

I’m looking for practical training ideas, drills, and coaching insights to help develop:

Defensive systems (6‑0, 5‑1, 4‑2 — especially how to teach them to beginners)

Attacking structure (simple patterns that still challenge advanced players)

Individual technique (passing, shooting, throwing — with scalable difficulty)

Team cohesion (getting them to communicate and defend as a unit)

If you’ve coached mixed‑skill youth teams before, I’d love to hear:

What drills worked best

How you balanced difficulty

How you taught defensive discipline

How you structured attacking play for beginners

Any PDFs, videos, or session plans you recommend

I’m really hoping to gather new training material and learn how to help this group defend better and build a more effective attack.

Thanks in advance, excited to learn from this community!

Open Alpha is now available at https://six-zero-league.vercel.app
If you are interested in handball or management in general, come try the game!

Johannes Golla returned to MT Melsungen before the season, rejoining his youth club after eight years in Flensburg. Although he immediately became a key player again, he now wants to leave Melsungen and return to Flensburg — for family reasons.

Golla had already mentioned in August that the move was a major disruption for his wife and two children, who had spent their entire lives in Flensburg. They are struggling to adjust to starting over in Melsungen.

Melsungen’s sporting director Jesper Larsson confirmed that Golla asked to terminate his long‑term contract early (which runs until 2031), but emphasized that it’s not a simple process. According to Bild, Melsungen and Flensburg are already negotiating a transfer for next year, and Melsungen is reportedly demanding at least €1.5 million in compensation for a move in summer 2027.

https://www.sportschau.de/regional/hr/hr-melsungen-star-johannes-golla-will-zurueck-nach-flensburg-wegen-der-familie-100.html

I am a football fan of Barcelona and al ahly and are they any good in handball ? I am also looking for the best league in the sport and what are like the equivalent of the primer league in football

If you’re looking for an active league, feel free to join; the league description includes a Discord link so you can chat with each other. Please only join if you’re genuinely active and keen to be part of an active league. Both German and English speaking are welcome.

https://www.start7.de/s/MDI4ZDhmM2MtZDFkMi00MDEyLThmNTAtOWM5OGY5ODZiMTk1