HANDBALL - Sport gets a hand up

Handball New Zealand is out to find a foothold among the country's more established sports.
Most Kiwis know little or nothing about handball, while for others it bursts on to the small screen as one of the most compelling team sports at the Olympics every four years.
But handball has developed a small but dedicated following in the country's larger centres and Handball New Zealand wants to spread the game into the country's heartland.
"We're introducing it to Northland now and eventually we'd like to see a regular league going here but for now it's just about getting the wheels turning a bit," Kevin Shedlock-Hetaraka, from Handball New Zealand said.
The sport had its first ever big outing in Whangarei yesterday as teams from three Te Kura Kaupapas: Rawhiti-Rua, Pukemito and Rangi Aniwaniwa played Kaitaia Intermediate in what is believed to be the area's first ever handball tournament.
The game was an immediate hit with the school teams but as well as organising a tournament for Year 7 and 8 children at Kensington Stadium, Handball New Zealand, brought with them Te Rangi Winitana, a Kiwi international who has been making a living from playing the sport professionally overseas.
Winitana has just returned from a spell playing for the Hiroshima Maple Reds in the Japanese Premier Club competition.
"The whole culture thing wasn't too bad because after I left college I went straight to Korea for three years but the handball is very different (in North Asia), less physical but very fast," she said.
Winitana has come back to New Zealand to help develop the sport before preparation starts for the Oceania Championships.
The top Kiwi players all end up playing overseas but at least that has the knock-on effect of improving the level of the international team, with the women's team close to knocking off their Oceania rivals, affectionately known as the "Dingos", for a place at the World Championships.
One of the Sport Northland organisers of the tournament, Maria Pereira, said the game was perfect for young Maori children in particular.
"It's tailor-made for them, they've all had the fundamentals of the sport in other codes like basketball, netball, soccer and touch so it doesn't take them long to adapt and the game is a lot like (Maori game) kiorahi too."
Pereira wants to take the sport outdoors as well and plans to trial the sport on the beach at Taipa College as a part of introducing the sport Northland-wide.
For the kids at the Tikipunga-based school Rawhiti Rua, after their thrilling come-from-behind win against Kaitaia Intermediate - the sport has already gained a toehold here and that's something they can build on in the future.
* HANDBALL FACTS
• Team handball has origins reaching as far back as ancient Greece. By the 19th century, there were similar games of handball played in Denmark, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, and Germany, as well as versions in Ireland and Uruguay.
• Dane Holger Nielsen drew up the rules for modern handball in 1898. Rules continued to be improved until the first international games were played, between Germany and Belgium for men in 1925 and between Germany and Austria for women in 1930.
• Adolf Hitler reportedly lobbied for the game to be included in the 1936 Olympics and it wasn't invited back until 1976. By February 2007, the IHF listed 159 member federations - approximately 1,130,000 teams and 31 million players, trainers, officials and referees.
• It is played by seven players a side. Only the goalkeeper is allowed to step in the 6m circle, for anyone else a penalty is given. Blocking a player from shooting with contact is permissible except when player is off the ground.
• Game is 60 minutes long, played in two halves, the goals are 3x2m, while the court is 40x20m.