GAA Handball

}}GAA Handball Ireland (Irish: Liathróid Láimhe C.L.G. na hÉireann)is the Irish governing body for the sport of Handball. Headquarters are located in Croke Park. On the same basis as The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), a new President is elected every 3 years. The current president is Walter O' Connor (Meath), who took up his role at Annual Congress 2011 and will hold the post until Congress 2014. Handball is one of the four Gaelic games organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association. The supreme National Committee of GAA Handball Ireland is Ard Comhairle (Central Council) of which the President sits as Chairman. The Chief Executive Officer of the Association is Chris Curran (Tyrone), who took up the position in 2009.

History of Irish Handball

During the 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's, handball was very popular among the Irish republic, It was cheap, fun and easy to play but as years went by, handball lost its popularity to other GAA sports such as football and hurling and of course to "foreign" sports such as soccer and rugby. In recent times however there has been a surge in popularity of the sport. This is due to the rebranding of the sport as GAA Handball and the ongoing promotion of the sport and especially One Wall handball by the organisation. In 2012 Ireland will host the World Handball Championships in the Citywest International Events Arena in Dublin, where a multi-court complex will be erected to host the greatest International Handball event in history, with over 30 countries and 2,000+ competitors expected to attend. Due to the huge popularity of One Wall handball it is hoped it will become an Olympic sport in the future, with major plans at an advanced stage to form a new unified International Federation for the sport worldwide.

Television coverage

In late 2010, GAA Handball announced that it was to launch a new TV show on TG4 featuring highlights of the biggest competitions that were held over the last couple of months. In mid to late December of that year, TG4 premiered the first ever edition of the GAA Handball show and it was followed by a six part series that was broadcast in January, 2011. It was a huge success and following the broadcast of the six episodes, through a new association with TG4 as GAA Handball Ireland's media partner, this has been doubled with 12 episodes now to come, commencing in October 2011. This will begin with 6 episodes, again every Monday night, on TG4, commencing on Monday 7th November 2011 and will then be followed by a further 6 new episodes to come in January 2012, with those episodes again taking place every Monday night, commencing on Monday 2 January.

National & International Competitions

Irish Competitions There are many handball competitions that are run in Ireland. In 40x20, the main competitions are County, Province, and All-Ireland Championships plus the 40x20 Irish Nationals. In 60x30 Softball and Hardball, the main competitions are County, Province, and All-Ireland Championships. In 2011 GAA Handball Ireland launched the 60x30 Nationals and this competition will was held in July. In One-Wall handball, the main competition in Ireland is the Irish One-Wall Nationals, and this was held in Breaffy House Sports Arena, Castlebar, in 2009, 2010 and 2011. There are also many competitions during the year held by various handball clubs around the country.

International Competitions As with the Irish competitions, there are many international one-wall and 40x20 competitions, the main one being the World Handball Championships which are run every 3 years. In 2012, the 'Worlds' will be held in Ireland, in the Citywest International Events Arena in Dublin. The two codes of handball played in the World Handball Championships are 40x20 small court and One-Wall. Ireland currently have the World 40x20 Senior Mens Singles (Paul Brady) and Doubles Champions (Eoin Kennedy, Michael FInnegan) and Ladies Senior Singles (Fiona Shannon) and Doubles CHampions (Fiona Shannon, Sibeal Gallagher).

National Handball Centre

Following a number of planning issues, GAA Handball Ireland were granted planning permission in August 2011 to build a brand new 'state of the art' €9 million National Handball Centre at Croke Park.

World Handball Championships 2012

Venue: in The Citywest International Arena, Dublin, Ireland Dates: Thursday 11th October - Saturday 20th October 2012 Four Wall 40x20 Championships: from Thursday 11th - Wednesday 17th October 2012; One Wall Championships: from Tuesday 16th October - Saturday 20th October 2012 Further details - including the Launch of the Official Website, details of grades and entry forms, entry fees, prizes, competitions, marketing, sponsorship, visuals of how the arena will look with the constructed courts and an announcement of the World Championships Executive Committee and sub-committees will take place at the Official Launch of the Worlds 2012 on 19th November 2011 at The Citywest International Events Arena.