Ireland

Highlight of our handball year was the sweeping of the boards by our players at the World Games in Edmonton. Our top player Paul Brady retained his World Title to add to his victory in the US Open earlier in the year. Fiona Shannon from Belfast won the Women’s Title and we had many other successes at under and over age levels. We garnered much publicity when Paul was chosen as Sports Star of the Month by the ‘Irish Independent ‘ our biggest selling newspaper.

The World Games, a triennial Tournament, has competitions from U-11 to over 70 ensuring that our sport is a lifelong activity. Over 500 people from these islands, including Fives players James Toop and Pete Cohen, attended - joining players from the US, Australia, Japan and Mexico as well as from the hosts Canada. The next World Championships will be in Oregon in 2009 and in Ireland in 2012. We were hoping that Fives, including 1-Wall could be offered as a Demonstration Sport at the London’12 Olympics – just as Pelota was showcased at the Paris, Mexico and Barcelona Olympics and Kaats the Dutch handball game was shown at the 1924 Amsterdam Games. We are asking Pat Hickey, newly elected President of the European Olympic Body, to look into this.

We continued our links with several hand/fives Federations including those in England, Wales, France and the Basque Country and developed connections with other countries such as Italy and Holland. Most of these lands have adopted the 1-Wall game as an inexpensive way of bringing new blood into their own game and provide an outlet for International contacts and competition. Last June our National Champion David King won out at the London 1-Wall Tournament. But a team of six visiting Bilbao came off second best to the hosts both in 1-Wall and in a modified version of their Pelota. We had better luck at the November Tripartite Tournament involving France and Italy near Milan when our top players Kennedy and Keegan Won the International Event. An interested spectator at these games was the Albanian Charge d’Affairs was so taken with the skill and simplicity of the 1-Wall game that he invited Irish and Italian players to Tirana to demonstrate the game to their Sports Ministry. Truly this form of the hand / fives game is spreading rapidly.

The Dutch KNKB in the province of Friesland play an outdoor hand tennis game but have taken to 1-Wall as their Winter sport, provided start up finance for any club wishing to set up indoor facilities and this year held their first National Championship and brought a team to Belgium to play a Flemish selection. In March the Dutch officials were guests at our Nationals and discussed future relations between the two organisations. The Basques, heavily subsidised by their Government, are to the forefront in establishing relations between the different modalities.

At the Pelota Conference in Bilbao in December, which I attended, a grant of a million euro was provided for the global spread of Pelota and related games and a new Association formed to drive the process forward. Plans are on hand for a European Tournament to be held in 2008, probably in Ireland, and every three years after that. Present at the Congress were representatives from South American and Caribbean countries where Pelota is played and these showed great interest in connecting with hand / five games in Europe. Our parent body the Gaelic Athletic Association have approved the inclusion of a multicourt complex at Croke Park in Dublin – many will recognise this stadium as the venue for last years Ireland –England Rugby International (forgot again who won!)

Information on different handball codes can be sourced on the web – particularly the USHA website and its associated links - the Dutch connection being especially informative. You can also contact me a by e-mail at colm18@gmail.com or mobile 086 1519288.
Tom O'Connor

France

A new tradition of midnight fives was introduced, to great amusement. Nick Bunyan performed particularly well on the left-handed court, arguing that his lesser experience on a normal fives court was an advantage to him on the southpaw one (?!). I myself was accused of flagrant cheating - having played in Provence the previous year - as practice is clearly not in the spirit of the game! In my defence I wasn’t entirely sober last year, so couldn’t remember too much of this so-called practice.

There remains something somewhat disturbing but equally addictive about the Alice-in-Wonderland fives court. Sign me up for next year!
Seb Cooley

Nigeria

Unfortunately due to difficulties involved in obtaining visas the planned visit to take part in the 2006 London Tournament did not materialise. However hopes are high the Nigerians will bring a team to the UK during the 2007-2008 season.
Mike Fenn

Switzerland

Since Easter we have had one school team fives trip - a weekend tour to the Zuoz Fives Club Geneva’s annual “European Cup”. The tour was greatly enjoyed by all, especially as we got sunburnt while around Zuoz it rained and even hailed. The tournament was won by social assistant Leopold Thun with Justyn Comer, one of Nigel Cox’s English nutters who joined us for the weekend.

Nigel indeed brought an eccentricity of Englishmen up from his Provence base. They arrived slightly weary and bedraggled having taken the scenic route, but Geneva then enjoyed some splendid exhibition fives from the likes of John Reynolds and Ed Rose, with Roman Heindorff (young old Citizen) unable to contribute fully having broken his hand.

All in all, the tournament was a great success and was historic for the presence of the two French groups - the Zuoz Club and the Cox loony bin annual excursion. These groups have agreed to meet at Nigel’s Provence courts in the autumn for another friendly weekend.
Seb Cooley

International Report 2006-2007
Created 20th January 2008 by Mike Fenn
efa@etonfives.co.uk

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