Full programme for Women’s Handball Conference announced

This edition of the Women’s Handball Conference will start with a deep dive into attracting young players to the sport, as one of the first core topics of the event, “She plays handball” — approaching the new generation, will be tackled in the morning session on 10 December. Among the specialists delivering insights on the subject is Dries Boulet, Secretary General of the Belgian Handball Federation, who will bring to attention an innovative way to encourage young girls to start playing handball.

“Inspiring HERstory”, centred around social sustainability in women’s handball, will be the main focus in the afternoon, as keynote speaker Dr Jacqueline Mueller, PhD, will be presenting “Spotlight on social sustainability in women’s handball in Europe”. EHF Expert Dr Zrinka Greblo Jurakic, Associate Professor in the University of Zagreb’s Department of Psychology, will join the speakers to enrich the session with examples from her professional experience. Creating a safe environment for girls, overcoming gender stereotypes, tackling the problem of teenage girls’ dropout and ensuring proper media coverage of women's handball are just a few of the presentations that will also be featured in this part of the conference.

On 11 December, the participants will attend discussions on the third core topic of the conference, “encourage, empower and inspire” — tools and techniques. Elite handball referees Maike Merz and Tanja Kuttler, representative of the Swedish Handball Federation Jennie Linnéll and EHF Methods Commission Chairman Pedro Sequeira will start the day with a panel discussion on the subject of training techniques for female handball players and will be followed by three unmissable presentations.

Last but not least, “empowering HERstory” — women’s empowerment and leadership will be in the spotlight in the final sessions of the event, as experts of the sport will gather to debate the best approaches to enabling and encouraging women’s leadership. Dr Jacqueline Mueller will make a comeback to the conference stage and will be joined by Dr Rosa Diketmüller (University of Vienna), Lilamani de Soysa (International Working Group for Women and Sport) and Leonor Mallozzi (EHF Women's Handball Board Chairwoman).

Apart from experts from the handball world, the event programme will also feature speakers from other sports. Elisabeth Cebrian (FIBA, Head of Women in Basketball and Special Projects), Massimo Tell (Italian Football Association, Youth and Educational Department Grassroots Manager) and Balázs Tóth (German Taekwondo Union, head coach of women's senior national team) are some of the presenters who come from different backgrounds, but whose experience will be key to understanding the importance of encouraging and supporting women in the field of sports. They will all share best practices and various strategies on how to build sustainable grassroots growth and overcome challenges in women's sport in general.

Other speakers from outside handball are Elsa Arapi (European Broadcasting Union, Women in Sport Project Lead; Senior Sports Rights Manager), with a presentation on "Media coverage of women’s sports:
spotlights and shadows", and Sasha Martell (IOC Safeguarding in Sport Certified, Volunteer – Safe Sport International), who will deliver a speech on "How to create a safe environment for girls in handball".

Photos © Kolektiff Images