Play.
Beach Handball
The idea of playing handball on the sand was conceived by Italian Giampiero Masi, the current (2022) Chair IHF Beach Handball Working Group, along with two coaches in the European Summer prior to June 1992.
This gave rise to the sport of Beach Handball with the first organised rules-based game played on the island of Ponza in Italy 20 June 1992.
The opening ceremony of the 2022 World Beach Handball Championships announced that 20 June each year will be regarded as International Beach Handball Day.
The International Handball Federation (IHF) held its first Beach Handball World Championships in 2004 being held every two years since. Australia debuted at the 2010 World Championships.
Beach Handball made its Olympics debut at the World Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires Argentina in 2018. It is yet to debut at the Summer Olympics, however, the IHF Working Group are targeting the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics
Beach Handball has been included by ANOC as a sport at the World Beach Games which commenced in 2019 in Doha, Qatar and will be held in Bali in 2023.
