Le Handball

Boys playing handball (SMA in white)

Girls from Sophie's class (in white) playing handball

I had never seen a game of handball before. Handball is the sport the children from Sainte Marie d'Alloix play in the winter months, but the season had nearly finished when we arrived. On Friday evening there was a special handball challenge among neighbouring schools, on the sports ground just below our house. The local Sainte Marie d'Alloix teams had lovely T-shirts with the team name on. They looked the best, but they didn't win any of the cups on offer.

From what I can gather, handball is sort of a mix of soccer and basketball. The goals are like soccer goals, and each team has a goal keeper. Players throw, catch and dribble like basketball. The ball is smaller, so it is easy to handle with one hand. Handball is an olympic sport, so I'm sure I'll see some more of it before long.
After the kids had played their competition, the parents had a chance to show their skills. The adults game was much faster than the kids' games had been. Pretty hard to catch a photo...

Parents' handball challenge...