Czech handball

Czech handball (národní házená in Czech – literally national handball) is an outdoor ball game which was created in 1905 in Prague and is still played today. This sport is very similar to team handball.

Czech handball is first mentioned by Václav Karas, a teacher a Prague, in a sports journal in Brno in 1905. The rules were soon further developed by other teachers, notably Klenka and Kristof. Thanks to Kristof, the first Czech handball association was established (in Prague) and the rules were made public in 1908.

Students from Russia and Yugoslavia, who had become acquainted with Czech handball in Prague, brought this sport back to their own countries. In Yugoslavia, the sport expanded fast and became very popular. Czech teachers taught Czech handball in Russian middle schools and there was a competition with 14 teams in Charkov in 1915, but efforts to expand the sport ended after the October Revolution.

In 1921, the Czechoslovakian Association of Handball and Women's Sports became a member of the International Women's Sports Federation. In this federation, the rules of Czech handball were made official (in those times, there was also one similar sport, Field handball in Germany. Some international federations preferred Czech handball, others preferred Field handball). The first international matches were played.

The first women's Czech handball world cup was organised in 1930. Czechoslovakians won this competition, Yugoslavia came in second, and Poland was third.

The second World Cup was held in London in 1934, but only two teams participated: Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia. Yugoslavians won the match 6-4 and became the champions. This was the first time that Czech handball was played in England. After this event, the IWSF was abolished.

In 1935, there was a training camp for English teachers in Scarborough. 50 female and 20 male players ptractised the “game of hazena”, the first ever English players. Further training was planned in London. The netball and other ball sports' association organised the printing and publishing of the rules of Czech handball. The Civil Service Club in London was the first Czech handball club in Britain.

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