Handball players from around the world who could help to boost Scotland’s status in the sport are being invited to apply for a new scholarship programme that is thought to be the first of its kind in Europe, if not worldwide.
The new Handball Scholarship is being launched in a collaboration between the Scottish Handball Association – Scotland’s national governing body for handball – and Oriam, Scotland’s Sports Performance Centre, based at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh.
The Handball Scholarship is an expansion of Oriam’s existing Sports Scholarship programmes, which help athletes to study at the same time as competing in high-level sport.
Handball is one of Scotland’s fastest growing team sports, with Scotland seeing a 500% jump in participation in the sport over the last two to three years, according to Scottish Handball. On an international level, the 2024 final of the European Men’s Handball Championship in Germany last year attracted 1.2 billion views.
This very fast and exciting sport involves two teams of seven players competing to score goals by throwing the ball past the goalkeeper into the opposing team’s goal.
Ewan Hunter, Chief Executive of Scottish Handball, said: “Handball is popular because it’s fast, exciting to watch and really easy to pick up.
The basic rules are very quick and simple to understand. And inclusivity is built into the sport, so boys and girls play together through primary school. We’re seeing very strong growth in handball at a grassroots level in Scotland and for the last couple of years, we’ve been focusing on developing pathways from there through into the higher levels of the sport.
“This scholarship programme is the next natural step on that journey and builds on our long relationship with Oriam.”
Scottish Handball has been a partner of Oriam’s since the centre opened in 2016 to help Scotland’s top athletes train and prepare for competition at the highest levels. Oriam is one of only a few venues in Scotland with a full-sized 40 by 20 metre indoor court for handball, and Scottish Handball hosts most of its major events here.
This includes Scottish Cup and Super Cup Finals, where the top two handball teams from England and Scotland in the Men’s Senior League and the Women’s Senior League compete for the British Champion title and European qualification.
Ross Campbell, Executive Director of Oriam, said: “This is an exciting expansion of our Sport Scholarship programmes that also deepens our partnership with the Scottish Handball Association. This allows us to work together to support handball athletes, not only from Scotland, but from across the world.
“The key aim of our scholarships is to help athletes perform both academically and in their chosen sport through access to our world class facilities and Oriam’s performance staff. All of these factors make this programme an exciting opportunity for athletes to be a part of.”
Katrina Gibbon, Performance Sport Manager at Oriam, explained the different elements of the Handball Scholarship in more detail. She said: “Athletes joining this programme will have access to specific technical training in handball and they’ll also have strength and conditioning sessions with our sports science team.
They’ll have weekly access to our hydro pool for recovery, alongside sports psychology support and access to physiotherapy through our Oriam Clinic. Oriam’s Athlete Lifestyle and Advocacy Co-Ordinator can also support athletes with any potential clashes between academic and sporting commitments.”
The partners say they are not aware of other programmes in the world of handball that combine academic study and athlete support in this way.
While handball is not played professionally in Scotland, as it is in other parts of Europe, the aim of the new scholarship is to continue building the sport at an amateur level.
“Handball will continue to be an amateur sport in Scotland for the foreseeable future,” Ewan said. “But we want to embrace that – and our hopes for this scholarship are really clear.
“We hope it cements the pathway for the development of handball at all levels. That means primary school, secondary school, community club, full club and age group level. We recognise that 99.9% of people who play sport in Scotland will not end up earning a living from the sport they play. But with this scholarship, you can still continue your development and growth as a handball player – without having to put your career or academic aspirations to one side.”
Athletes offered a scholarship will be able to show a strong track record in handball at an amateur club level or international age group level.
“We are looking for players who will add quality and value to the handball community here in Scotland,” Ewan said.
One of Oriam’s existing Sports Scholars, Rory Semple, has already played handball for Great Britain at Boys and Men’s age-group level.
Rory, 20, from Renfrewshire, started playing handball at Kelvinside Academy in Glasgow and is at Heriot-Watt in the third year of a degree in economics. “I started playing handball at school when I was 13 and through the years progressed to playing for Great Britain,” Rory explained.
“Now I’m playing at Heriot-Watt University and still at my club at Kelvinside in Glasgow, but playing under 20 at the Great Britain level.
“The Sports Scholarship at Oriam has been really helpful. It’s pushed me to absolutely smash my limits at physical training in the gym here. It gives me a great social balance as well because there are like-minded scholars my age here and we’re all competing at the same sort of level. The coaching staff are absolutely excellent too, so the support is 10 out of 10.”
Handball originated as a sport in the 19th century and has its roots in Europe, particularly in Germany and the Nordic countries, including Denmark, Sweden and Norway. The sport is played professionally in these countries and has also been one of the longest standing sports at the Summer Olympics. 02:07
The rules of the game include a ‘rolling substitution’ rule, meaning there’s no limit on substitutions during a game.
This means there’s “a space and place for anybody of any size, shape or physical fitness,” Ewan said.
Oriam’s facilities include multiple sports halls, outdoor pitches, an indoor tennis centre and a state-of-the-art gym. It also has a performance wing with facilities including a strength and conditioning gym, hydrotherapy pool, medical and rehabilitation suite and sauna.
Sports clubs and governing bodies who use Oriam as a training and performance hub include Scotland’s national rugby team, Heart of Midlothian Football Club and Scottish Squash.
British University and College Sport, the national governing body for higher education sport in the UK, ranked Heriot-Watt University 25th out of 127 institutions for the number of sports scholars it supported in 2023-24.
Oriam is a wholly owned subsidiary of Heriot-Watt and is funded by The Scottish Government, sportscotland – Scotland’s national agency for sport – and City of Edinburgh Council.
The centre is based on Heriot-Watt’s Riccarton campus to the West of Edinburgh and is around four miles from Edinburgh Airport. Other facilities on campus include the Marriott Bonvoy hotel, opposite the Oriam complex.
