Beach handball

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Boys playing beach handball, 2018 Summer Youth Olympics
Women playing beach handball, 2019

Beach handball is a variation of handball, which is played on the beach, or on sand. The players are usually barefoot. Two teams with four players each compete. A match has two rounds, which each last ten minutes.

How to play[change | change source]

Matches are played as best two-out-of-three times. If teams are tied at the end of a normal game then the teams play for a golden goal. If the teams are tied at the end of 2 games then the teams will be part in a tie breaker. The tie break involves a goalie throwing the ball to their own player while that player tries to score one-on-one with the other goalie.

Issues[change | change source]

In 2021, the Norwegian women's team were fined €1500 because they were improperly dressed: At a European championship match in Bulgaria they had worn bike-shorts (like the men), instead of bikini bottoms.[1] Critics laughed about the fine and the underlying rule. Although the Norwegian Handball Federation announced they would pay the fines, pop singer Pink offered to pay for them.[2] In November 2021, the International Handball Federation changed their dress rules to closely match the shorts that the Norwegian team were fined for wearing.[3]

References[change | change source]

  1. "Norway's beach handball team fined for wearing shorts instead of bikini bottoms". SBS News. 2021-07-21.
  2. Daniel Rosney; Manish Pandey (2021-07-27). "Beach handball: 'It's shocking to have to pay to not play in our pants'". BBC News.
  3. "Beach handball relents on rule women must wear bikinis". RTÉ.ie. 2 November 2021.