Five of our junior Vikings attended the first residential summer camp hosted by the Scottish Handball Association at the Inverclyde National Sports Training Centre from 12th-14th August. They were joined by two of our junior coaches, Marlen and Rob. The camp was led by Great Britain national team coach Thomas Brønd and his wife Anne Lise, a former Danish national team goalkeeper, assisted by other national team coaches. The juniors were put through their paces along with 35 other young handballers from Scotland, Sweden and Denmark.
The Viking players had a lot of fun and learnt new skills and ideas from the intense sessions. James and Charlie were two of the lucky Vikings who attended the camp:
“I really enjoyed it but my legs didn’t!”, said James. “The Danish coaches worked us hard but it was still fun.”
“Defending was what we learned about the most”, said Charlie. “We realised that we really need to work hard in defence while before we treated it as a bit of a break! It was strange at first as we’re not used to playing full contact, but I really enjoyed it despite the bruises.”
“We learnt that a lot of defending is not about stopping the attacker shooting but giving the goalkeeper as much chance to save it as possible”, said James. “As well as the handball, the facilities were really good and the food was nice.”
Overall, the camp proved to be a great success. Learning from some of the best coaches in the country was very beneficial for our juniors’ development. We certainly hope to take more players to another residential camp next year.