Olympic trip inspires Scottish teacher to coach handball

ByEurosport

Published 07/10/2014 at 04:30 GMT

A trip to London to watch the Olympics with her pupils was the inspiration behind a Scottish teacher's decision to start up what is now a highly successful handball team.

Norway's Ida Alstad reacts during the women's handball gold medal match against Montenegro at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 11, 2012, in London.

Image credit: Scanpix

Fiona Kennedy, a teacher at Kelvinside Academy, got the idea on the bus journey back to Glasgow following a school trip to the 2012 Games.

"We just thought it would be quite fun to start playing it," 14-year-old Diego Hidalgo told the BBC.

Two years later and 34-year-old Kennedy, who had no previous experience of coaching sports, let alone the rather niche game of handball, can now boast that several of her pupils represent Scotland in the sport at U15 level.

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It was very different at the outset though and, like Kennedy, none of the children had played the game before. It turned out some of them had a real flair for it.

"We just expected it to be something that we would do in our spare time. We didn't realise we would get this far," Scarlett Green, 14, said.

"It turned out we were pretty good at it," added Zander Geddes, also 14.

Having discussed the idea with her pupils, Kennedy decided to take a coaching course soon after the trip to London.

"I just thought why not give it a go," she said. "And within six weeks we'd entered the Scottish championships, where we came third.

"It's just been an incredible journey since then - we're now Scottish champions four times over.

"Plus seven of the girls play for the U15s Scotland team, and the boys are ready to start their Scotland journey soon."

Kennedy and her pupils are tapping into a growing sport in Scotland, where participation rates have doubled since the Olympics.

"It's such an accessible sport," Stephen Neilson, of the Scottish Handball Association told the BBC. "The only thing you really need is just a ball and then you can play handball.

"But the most critical aspect of the sport is people like Fiona and the volunteers who can help us develop the sport."

While Kennedy's inspiration came from a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch the Olympics, her pupils are in no doubt who inspired them.

"Mrs Kennedy really took handball from nothing and just gave us all these opportunities," said Colette Elliott, who at 13 years of age already captains the Scottish U15 squad.

Green added: "Because she's been here, it's made such a dramatic change to our sporting lives."

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