Women’s Handball Conference

The Women’s Handball Conference 2024, “From grassroots to professional sport and beyond,” was held on 10 and 11 December, concurrently with the Women’s EHF EURO.

The Conference saw 150 participants from 32 countries taking part in a one-and-a-half-day programme comprised of 24 presentations, two keynote speeches and four panel discussions.

All sessions focused on one of three core topics, each of which had its own slogan, giving further insights to the big-picture theme of the subjects covered: “She plays handball” — approaching the new generation; “inspiring HERstory” — social sustainability in women’s handball; and “encourage, empower and inspire” — tools and techniques. In addition, the general themes of the future of women’s handball and women’s empowerment were evidenced throughout the Conference with the claim “empowering HERstory.”

Speakers included past IHF World Players of the Year Andrea Lekic and Allison Pineau; Head of Women in Basketball and Special Projects at FIBA Elisabeth Cebrian; EHF Expert and Associate Professor in the University of Zagreb psychology faculty Dr Zrinka Greblo-Jurakic; Secretary General of the Belgian Handball Federation Dries Boulet; and EHF Expert, former player, and representative of the Swedish Handball Federation Jennie Linnell.

The keynote speeches were delivered by executive board member of the Norwegian Handball Federation Nora Kaalstad and Dr Jacqueline Müller, a lecturer in Sports Business and Leadership at the Institute for Sport Business at Loughborough University London, and a module leader in Leadership, Diversity and Change in the Sports Industry. Kaalstad spoke on young female leadership while Müller’s presentation was “Spotlight on social sustainability in women’s handball in Europe.”