The IHF ran several Handball@School courses, led by IHF Lecturer Gerard Lasierra, in three locations in Ecuador from 15 to 25 October. The courses took place in Cuenca, Guayaquil and Manta – three of the biggest cities in the Pan American nation.

“The expectations of the course were very high in Ecuador, given that the Ecuadorian Handball Federation has a very recent history. Cuenca was the venue with the greatest participation of teachers – a positive aspect since handball had not been implemented yet. We hope that they can now consider it as a basic curricular subject,” said Lasierra in his official report of the course.

“In Guayaquil, most of the attendees had links with team handball, so their continuity is assured. In the city of Manta, the beach handball culture already exists, so the profile of the attendants, directly or indirectly, was linked to handball.”

Outside of running the courses, Lasierra had the opportunity to speak with local expert Alex Bustamante, President of the Ecuadorian Handball Federation Miguel Nacer, and President of the Ecuadorian Olympic Committee Augusto Moran. All three spoke positively about the implementation of handball in Ecuador and the opportunities for development.