Role model Holly wings in

HOLLY Lam-Moores (left) and Donna Hankinson.

BUDDING local handball stars were given a glimpse of just what is possible when GB and Champions League star Holly Lam-Moores visited a NEM Hawks training session.

The Rossendale-born, 22-year-old left-winger plays full-time in Denmark with top club Viborg, where games are regularly played live on TV in front of thousands of fans.

Back home during a mid-season break she caught up with long-time handball friend Donna Hankinson, now head coach at the Hawks.

"To have played in the Olympic Team GB and been part of the explosion in handball all over the country is fantastic. I think handball in this country has to play the long game. Get the young children playing and build from there. That is where the money has to be invested."

Looking back on an incredible summer, Holly said she will always remember being part of a "breathtaking" opening ceremony in a packed Olympic stadium.

“Britain now knows what handball is," she said. "Before the Olympics, if I asked a group of pupils what handball was, only three or four knew of it. Now it's 80-90 per cent and they want to have a go.

"That is very encouraging for sport in this country."

After posing for pictures with the Hawks players and signing autographs Holly added: "There are some excellent players among the squad and the harder they work the better they will get."



HANDBALL is capturing the imagination in Oldham.

Two teams from hosts Failsworth School were joined by sides from Waterhead Academy, Crompton House and Royton and Crompton for a coaching session and friendly matches.

Organiser Steve Tyrrell said: “Handball is rapidly becoming popular. Most of the pupils who took part were quite new to it, so there was quite a bit of coaching involved before they could play matches.”

Anyone interested in finding out more about handball, and how to get involved in the sport, should contact sports development officer Anna Shiels on (0161) 770 1635.