Handball players still on hold

Created: 12/29/2021, 1:00 PM

By: Wolfgang Krzizok

At the moment the ball and the player are at rest: no handball games will be played before the end of January.

© Christian Riedel

Patience is required with handball players.

District - Like so many other sports, handball players in Bavaria are still on hold.

As the Bavarian Handball Association (BHV) informed the clubs in a circular, the season will not continue until the end of January.

"On January 8th, the Presidium and the districts will again discuss the situation and possible alternative scenarios, the clubs will then be informed as soon as possible," writes BHV President Georg Clarke. "We hope to be able to publish more information about start dates, lead times and possible game modes." Due to the training situations that exist in many places, the BHV is certain that, in contrast to the previous months, a possible start of game operations will be shorter than in the Past would be possible. "Considerations for the differentiated handling of age and performance classes (adult / children's handball as well as popular / top-class sport) also play a role", writes the BHV.

"Of course, this also applies to games in the Altbayern district," said BHV vice-president Herbert Bochmann, who is responsible for games in this district. This applies to men / women BOL, district league, district class and the male and female D youth. “This gives us the opportunity at the beginning of the year to check the boundary conditions under which handball games can then take place. In the worst case, the fifth wave with Omikron will again lead us to hotspot regulations in individual districts or other lockdown scenarios for handball, ”fears Bochmann. "Nonetheless, of course we all hope to be able to finish playing this season in a fair sporting form."

As of today, the district game management is aiming for the following, writes Bochmann: "For the district upper league, district league and the district class of men and women, we will probably have to shorten the 2021/22 season to a semicircle." The games in the second half of the season will therefore be omitted.

"That means we want to finish the first half of the season when the game resumes and then play the playoffs or necessary relegation games in the men's district league, men's district class and women's district class."

According to Bochmann, a draft schedule is to be published in January "as soon as it is clear when the game can be restarted".

In the D-youth it is different, here the second half of the season is started again in the Meldeligen district league and district class.

"There will be no promotion to the BOL," announced Bochmann.

After the holidays, all teams will be asked to register again with the registration deadline expected to be January 9th.

"This gives the clubs the opportunity to take into account the Corona rules for the players that will apply next year and to reassess the experience with the performance of the individual teams."

"Please understand that no binding planning is possible yet, but we all have to react flexibly to the pandemic-related restrictions in the second half of the season", Bochmann concludes his letter.