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Handball trio plays for Alberta in Italy

Handball trio plays for Alberta in Italy.

By Adam Eisenbarth

Three Bentley handball players have just returned from the trip of a lifetime.

Handball trio plays for Alberta in Italy

It was an opportunity for the U16 players to see just what the sport is like in Europe, where it is most popular.

“I thought it was really great, it taught me a lot and showed me how other teams play this sport for the whole entire year, and just how great they are,” said Lush. “It’s amazing,”

The team landed in Rome and toured for two days before the six-day tournament started. Once the team got to Turamo, they quickly recognized just how big the competition would be.

“It was very competitive. Handball in Europe is like hockey in Canada. It’s one of their biggest sports,” says Seater. “All of their teams are very competitive. Every country has clubs so we were playing clubs from all different countries.”

The 15-year-old has been playing for only three months but he already has taken a liking to the sport.

“I actually didn’t know about it until my gym teacher came to our school and introduced me to it. It’s really fun, it’s probably one of my favourite sports.”

Lush, 14, has been playing since she was in Grade 5. “(I enjoy) playing contact and getting to play defense.”

Bickford is in her first year playing the sport and plans on continuing to play.

“I like it, it’s a lot of fun,” says the 14-year-old. “It’s an active sport, you’re always doing something on the court. It always keeps you busy.”

While the team didn’t win a game throughout the tournament, Seater says it was all about learning and improving.

“We definitely improved throughout the tournament. Our team definitely built a lot and we learned something new every game.”

Back in Alberta, the sport is not well known. The sport is more popular in Edmonton, but throughout the rest of Alberta, few teams exist. Bentley however, does have a team, and it was their trip to provincials that garnered the attention of coach Mike Nahmiash.

The girls are clearly a talented trio and who knows, maybe someday they’ll get the opportunity to play at the national level if they continue their hard work.

“I want to play for the club in Edmonton next year and next summer, I think they’re going to Spain and Sweden,” says Seater. “So hopefully I’ll be able to do that, I hope to continue with (the sport). It’s a lot of fun.”