Our Tyne & Wear County under-13 handballers got their first taste of competitive action recently at an England Handball north regional tournament in Oldham on Saturday 29 March. It was a great experience for all involved.
The County team comprises a mix of Newcastle Vikings Handball Club’s junior players and other youngsters from local schools. They began training together following a series of trials in Newcastle and Sunderland last autumn, and had shown their growing potential in a friendly practice match against a Vikings’ mixed junior and youth team in February.
The Tyne & Wear boys team had a tough start as they lost their opening match of the day 3-17 to a tall Greater Manchester side. But they played really well in a much closer second match to gain a well deserved 6-3 victory against Merseyside II.
While their other two games didn’t go in their favour, losing 2-7 to Shropshire and 5-12 against Merseyside I, coaches Adam Batley and Aaron Edmundson were immensely proud of how the team played in their overall performance and the progress shown. Edmundson said they had “a lot to take away, and feel the team has huge potential”.
Despite the losses, County team coordinator Marlen Slinning Goulty was pleased to see some solid defensive play overall, adding “Our two goalkeepers pulled off some incredible saves”. Line player Theo was chosen by the coaches as the team’s player of the day.
With not enough junior girls to currently make up a Tyne & Wear team, Newcastle Vikings’ talented German-born youngster Luisa Mendes Krautz embraced the opportunity to guest for the Shropshire girls team. “Luisa showed off some class technical skills as playmaker in the team”, said Goulty after watching her help them win through to the U13 County Championship Finals in Gloucester in May where she is looking forward to joining them again. “Shropshire were amazing with her, so welcoming; coach, parents and players!” “Huge congratulations!” added Edmundson.
“As team coordinator I am very proud of the boys, and of Luisa” said Goulty. “A steep learning curve for the lads, but they showed great potential, some really good technical play, fantastic teamwork and spirit on court. They are all rising stars!”
