When sport is a language for everybody

Under the motto, “Grow the game: building athletes, leaders and ambassadors,” main topics on the agenda for the Grassroots Convention are athlete development pathways, injury prevention, women's empowerment, youth academies and best practice models, as well as mental health and grassroots development strategies.

Sharing knowledge and exchanging ideas are just some of the steps on the way to introducing handball to more children. Aligned with EHF's strategic goals of grassroots development, the event in Malmö, Sweden, will bring together both handball experts and specialists from other sports to discuss the latest developments and initiatives in grassroots sports from all over Europe.

Anna Wåhlin from Sweden, instructor of the project “Hand the Ball”, and Daniel Videtič, Social and Environment Sustainability Manager at the Football Association of Slovenia, are two of the speakers that will give insights into their projects that extend beyond handball and demonstrate how sport can foster a sense of belonging.

Promoting handball in a creative way

“From a few years back, we’ve been developing projects in suburbs and lower socio-economic areas where handball wasn’t a common sport. ‘Hand the Ball’ has been a key to developing great relationships with schools, townships and local businesses, to introduce handball to more kids and youth,” says Anna Wåhlin from NKIK Handboll Norrköping club, who was responsible for the “Hand the Ball” project for the Swedish Handball Federation.

One of the ideas was to promote the project in a shopping mall, where they still have regular drop-in activities twice a week. During the summers, the organisers had a concept — “NKIK on tour” — to go out in parks and other locations and introduce handball to the people who are not familiar with the sport.

“This has become something the whole club stands behind, so our players are engaging at events and practices, and it’s also an opportunity for our youth players to get leadership experience,” says Wåhlin. “Our value for the community is the integration of people, especially kids, in sport. Through our activities, we want to create an activity for the kids that takes a stamp in handball in a creative way. They don’t play against defenders or in a handball court; instead, they get to try and practice individual techniques in different areas. A lot of those kids later bring friends and family to the next open practice.”

Back in their arena, the club created a feeling of belonging and encouraged development for the individual players. “No matter what background you come from, you are still treated the same as everyone else. We can leave the world outside and focus on enjoyment and activity. Sport is kind of the same all over the world; it’s a place to speak the same language and increase the understanding between the participants. Therefore, we believe handball is a perfect integration platform in the community,” says Wåhlin.

What she noticed in her daily work is that “we speak the same language in sport, but we get different opportunities and leadership in different places".

"We had to form our daily work in areas where we didn’t meet kids in handball, and our first thought was how do we get them to us and our arena. Quickly, we changed our mindset and we turned it around and started thinking how we can be where the kids are," she explains.

It resulted in open practices in different locations like playgrounds, schools, the mall and sport areas in their neighbourhood. The structure with open areas allowed the families and kids to participate on their own conditions and to come back because it was fun and developing. “The project gives us the opportunity to create a relationship with the kids and their families and introduce them to the membership of our sports club if they are interested in starting practice and competing in the traditional sense,” says Wåhlin.

Her message to all who work in grassroots handball? “We have the intention of creating opportunities for movement instead of making or finding handball players. Also, start from where the team and organisation is today and how it can create these opportunities, and build it from there. Don’t see it as a set solution, be aware of your need to change it and see it as a process to involve and include migrants in handball. And one last piece of advice: allow your organisation to upset the traditional way we play handball and make the sport easier in terms of material and location.”

But still, eight to 10 kids started playing handball in a more traditional way through the “Hand the Ball" project. “This is the way we created handball players in our club before, but the fascinating thing is that one kid, who started playing handball games in one of our teams, played her first game after one 'traditional' practice and scored five out of nine goals.”

Encouraging the integration of refugees through sport

Different country, different sport, but the same target group and approach. As part of their social and environmental sustainability programme, the Slovenian Football Association (NZS) covers football for the inclusion and integration of refugees. 

It's an initiative that Daniel Videtič has been working on, following the project “Social Responsibility — Refugee Inclusion”. NZS started the program at the initiative of UEFA, which supports various socially and environmentally sustainable programs, including the integration of refugees.

“Football is a globally spread sport where we don’t need to speak the same language to play together. On the pitch, everyone is equal, and what matters is teamwork, effort and respect. For many refugees or migrants arriving in Europe, football is often the first space where they feel truly accepted. It gives them confidence, social contacts and a sense of belonging in a new community. Many friendships between refugees and local people have been formed through football,” says Videtič. 

The federation cooperates with the Slovenian Red Cross and the Office of the Republic of Slovenia for the Integration and Care of Migrants and invited migrants and refugees through their channels and started regular weekly football training sessions.

Later, a team of selected football players was formed, who represented Slovenia at the UEFA Unity Cup for refugee teams in Nyon and Amsterdam. The project became very popular among the participants. Besides, NZS implemented a project called “Festival — with football towards tolerance,” in which the coaches travel with the refugee players to various cities in Slovenia and connect with the local community.

“We play a football tournament with local teams and after the tournament we socialise and get to know each other. Here, too, we received positive responses from local communities and football players,” says NZS Social and Environment Sustainability Manager. 

“The biggest advantage is that communication happens naturally. During training and matches, players must talk, listen and understand each other, even if they don’t share the same language at first. They pick up words through actions like ‘pass’, ‘shoot’, ‘great job’ and start using them in everyday life. It’s learning by doing in a positive and motivating environment, very important for social integration,” adds Videtič.

The focus in his refugee project is to create a safe and welcoming team environment. From day one, coach Vanja Stačević mixes groups, everyone trains together and there is no separation between locals and newcomers. “We talk openly about respect, fairness and cultural differences. On the field, we emphasise cooperation, passing, supporting and trusting each other,” says Videtič.

For him, the inclusion of refugees through sport is quite an easy task: “You don’t need special integration programmes. Just open your doors and make everyone feel welcome. Start with empathy.
Be patient with language barriers, use simple football terms and let the game do most of the talking.
Set clear values: respect, equality and teamwork. And don’t hesitate to connect with local organisations that work with refugees, they can support you. The most important thing is to focus on joy and connection, not just results.”

Join us in Malmö

The second EHF Grassroots Convention 2026 is to be held on the fringes of the Men's EHF EURO 2026, co-hosted by Denmark, Sweden and Norway. The event will provide participants with the valuable opportunity to hear from renowned speakers and get inspired, offering opportunities for discussions and networking. Further information about the event and how to register are available here.

Photos © Daniel Videtič (main & in-text), kolektiff, Montenegrin Handball Federation & NKIK Handboll (in-text)