Handball is a very fast and intensive sport. It is played with two opposing teams which have to throw a ball into the goal of the other team. Normally the game is played indoor in a hall, but playing it on a beach is getting more and more famous.
This game is being played all around the world, therefore some countries developed a slight change in the game and adapt it for their needs. Like said before, it is not only played in a hall but on a beach or on other places outside.
Each team consists of five field players and one goalkeeper. The field is shape like a rectangle with one goal at each end of it. Each goal has to be provided with a net which has to stop the ball.
They have to get past the opposing players to the goal. Here they throw the ball into the goal, if the keeper lets it go in.
The ball in a way looks like a normal soccer or football ball, just smaller, fitting into a hand. Now there are three different kinds of sizes for the ball; one size for male adults, the next for female adults and the third for children up to age of 16. A child of the age of 8 does not have the anatomy of the hands to hold a ball with the admeasurements of 60 cm. So the ball has to be much smaller to fit in a childīs hand.
The playing time is divided into two halftimes. The length normally amounts 2x30 minutes, for players of the age of 16 or older. Players under the age of 16 only have to play 2x20 minutes.
However, this game really is a competition. Physical fitness is very important. A handball player also has to have good reflexes for the ball has got to be caught with the hand and also thrown with it. The game demands running, passing and throwing in a quick succession.
The goalkeeper of each team has to be very agile, because he/she has to have sharp reflexes; Most of the time the speed of the game is of very fast nature. Quick passing and throwing keeps up a constant pressure on the goalkeeper.
The history of handball leads back a long way in time. Even the Romans did play some kind of handball. The middle ages also had their very own ball catching games. Until today there were many different kinds of handball which lead to the game we know today.
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