It’s fluid and frenetic and, judging by the hoots of laughter and gleeful goal scoring, it’s also fun.

It’s handball, Wānaka-style, and the Wānaka App was invited to watch a social game at the Wānaka Recreation Centre last Friday (October 29). 

Described as a mix of futsal and basketball, there’s lots of fast passing, ball dribbling, competitive one-on-one defense, and explosive goal scoring.

The initiative to establish the sport in Wānaka was created by local concrete truck driver and handball enthusiast Alexis Gauna who learned to play handball at high school in his native Argentina.

He knew of several others living locally who grew up playing the sport in their home countries in South America and suggested getting together for social games once a week. He advertised locally and players turned up for the first session after Labour Weekend.

Handball is played every Friday evening at the Wānaka Recreation Centre from 6-7pm.

Alexis said most of the players learned in their native countries, which only emphasises how multicultural Wānaka has become, with players from Norway, Japan, Argentina and Uruguay participating in the first week.

Handball teams usually comprise seven on-court players plus substitutes from the bench, but with the small number of enthusiasts in Wānaka, the players have to make do with four or five aside and slow the game a little so they “can catch their breath”, he said.

At present, the game is played on a casual basis with mixed teams once a week but, Alexis said, the aim is to build up numbers to create a Wānaka team able to compete with handball teams already established in Queenstown and maybe Dunedin.

Handball, which made its first appearance as an Olympic sport in 1936, is played by an estimated 30 million registered players in 167 countries worldwide and is particularly popular in Europe where there are many professional players. 

The New Zealand Handball Federation says it’s considered as a “developing” sport and is played all over the country, from Auckland to Southland, with regional and national competitions. 

New Zealand national mens and womens teams have represented the country at international competitions recently, in both the indoor seven-a-side format as well as beach handball.

While handball is still fairly new to many Kiwis, Alexis reckons it’s not a difficult sport to learn and he encourages anyone with a modicum of fitness to come along on a Friday evening and join in.

“The team is here to have fun and we’re all happy to share what we know with new players,” he said.

He said a very experienced handball player from Norway, who had to quit playing due to an injury, has offered to coach local players “which would be really good”.

Alexis said he was pleased by the reaction of the recreation centre staff when he first proposed a weekly game, particularly the encouragement he received from community programmes coordinator Penny Batchelor.

“Penny said she had been watching handball in the Olympic Games,” he said, and she was enthusiastic about including the sport as a new option for the centre, and has ordered two official handballs for the players.

The games are held every Friday evening, from 6pm-7pm, at the Wānaka Recreation Centre. 

Alexis said he’s booked the slot until late December and if there’s enough interest in the games, which can be played all year round, they could continue next year as well.

Those interested in playing can just head to the recreation centre on Friday evening or, if they want to know more, can call Alexis on 0211085753.

PHOTOS: Wānaka App