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Dear Handball friends,

Its that time of year again when we all go into festive mode and get busy preparing for Christmas and the New Year. I’d like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who is involved in making our sport in Ireland a great success. Handball in Ireland exists because of the enthusiasm and commitment of individuals up and down this country who are putting their time and effort into organising and running events, matches and training.

We have had some great events in 2011 and some momentous changes, I’d like to reflect for a moment on the year past, on some of the developments that have occurred and what this means for the future of handball in Ireland.

For some years now the IOHA has been in transition, moving from an almost purely volunteer organisation dependent upon the efforts of key individuals and  permanently short of cash to provide proper support services to clubs, schools and players. This was our life, this was what we came to expect as our lot in Ireland; a minority sport that could only continue by heroic and steadfast effort on the part of individuals and groups who dedicated large amounts of personal time and effort to ensure that handball in Ireland continued.

To be sure there are a lot of positives from this era, not least the continued involvement of many committed people, parents and players, teachers and sports professionals. Also lets not forget the super support we garnered from abroad in the last few years. Many people in Germany in particular, but in other parts of Europe  are friends of Irish handball and the IOHA.

Through many years of ups and downs we have maintained competitions at every level for girls and boys and we have added women’s competitions which had fallen away in recent years. Many thousands of young people have been introduced to handball in Ireland and independent surveys show it is a popular sport which more people would like to play. Third level students and sports departments are very keen to work with the IOHA in the development of clubs and teams in Universities and Colleges around the country and we have teams active in competition in every province now. This universally positive response hasn’t appeared by magic, it is the result of long years of promotion and spade work by the volunteers in the sport both inside and outside of the IOHA.

Our relationships with the Olympic Council of Ireland, the Irish Sports Council and the European Handball Federation are very cordial and positive. Building trust and credibility with such organisations requires years of engagement and commitment. The fantastic support we receive financially and professionally from all of these bodies is evidence of the high regard they hold this association in and their acknowledgement of our ‘coming of age’.

I could go on all day about the strengths that exist as the result of our voluntary efforts over the years, but I want to thank everyone for their hard work and dedication over the last few years, I hope everyone recognises the opportunities for the sport now that we are moving to a more professional platform, I know you will enjoy seeing our sport blossom in Ireland as we raise the profile and the standards throughout the country in the coming years.

The IOHA vision for the future is now being realised. We appointed our first full time General Manager, Lúcás O’ Ceallacháin to take the reins in April and this is transforming the way the Association works, creating a new impetus for handball and the IOHA.  The staff in the handball office in Sports HQ, including Lisa and Susan were tasked as a priority to create a professional central organisation and this they are working on to great effect. Already this year there is increased support for the volunteers and increased money for grass roots development.

The IOHA development strategy is being held up as an example to other sports in Ireland and Europe and we are more likely now to achieve our stated aims and objectives in future. We have a very solid and able team – voluntary and professional, to support the organisation and we are in a better position to provide for future growth in numbers of players at all levels.