News broke late last month that the English Handball League will be partnering with Live Sport Now to broadcast Premier League games taking place this season and for the foreseeable future.
The Liverpool Handball Club’s men's and women’s teams find themselves in the Northern Premier League and so will be expecting their matches to now have an online crowd as well as a physical one.
The club is the oldest in Britain and is hoping to change the status quo.
Andy Clark, coach of Liverpool's men’s team and handball player of 25 years, feels optimistic that the deal with Live Sport Now will elevate the popularity of the sport. He said “I think that’s the one thing that’s really missing, it separates handball from being a lower amateur sport that people don’t know about to being something that will be broadcast on television.”
Being a member of the Premier League, Clark thinks the right decision has been made. He said: “It’s the league to record and watch, it gives it a bit of awareness for people at home.”
Handball is a growing sport. It sees lively crowds and elite performances overseas but has a way to go yet on our own shores. The coach acknowledges the London Olympics as the last time handball was on the nation’s radar. Clark said: “We all still remember it a little bit, that game that looks a bit like this and a bit like that.
“With it being on the television screens at home, people can actually see what it’s about. It can only be a good thing for the sport.”
Amy Hardwick, assistant coach to the Great Britain Under-19s and a player on Liverpool's women’s team, said: “It’s a really good thing, a lot of people still don’t really know a lot about handball.”
Hardwick continued: “This will be really good to show the game played at a local level with people they can relate to and clubs they can easily access.”
She believes that a personal connection to local sportspeople will be assisted by the broadcast deal and will help the sport to grow, adding: “It’ll inspire the younger generation, they can see videos that will coach them and give them something to look up to."
“If you take water polo, take away the water, add a sprinkle of basketball with the dribbling aspects and then shooting into indoor futsal goals - that’s the premise of handball.” These are the words of Jack Booth, goalkeeper for the Liverpool men’s side.
He expressed optimism for a ‘jumpstart’ of the sport, saying: “I’m buzzing, I’m so happy, it’s going to be the first step of many.”
Having played in goal for multiple Great Britain teams since his introduction to handball in school Year 10, Booth believes the broadcast deal will also be a gamechanger for the popularity of the sport.
He said: "Hopefully from this we’ll eventually be able to cover two men’s and women’s games and so on. As long as there’s a start point, development can be made.”
The broadcast deal will be covering one men’s game and one women’s game per month. You can find all the details about the deal and how to watch upcoming games on the England Handball website.
