Dear Handball Friends, Four months after the first ever IHF Intercontinental Challenge Trophy for Men’s teams in Jaipur, India, now it is my gratitude to welcome you all in Almaty, Kazakhstan, for the first ever women’s IHF Trophy competition. Those Challenge Trophies, organized by the IHF are milestones for the development of handball worldwide In all Continents several tournaments in different zones had been played until the four participants Congo, Finland, Cuba and host Kazakhstan had been qualified as the best teams of their Continental Federations for this IHF Intercontinental Challenge Trophy. The qualification process started in 2010 when 16 tournaments had been played with in total 1222 players from all continents, 490 players followed until now in 2011 at seven tournaments. But the special meaning of those Challenge Trophies is not only the competition, but the courses for referees and coaches from the hosting and participating nations. So in total 245 coaches and 238 refe