Dubai International Handball Club seeks an expanding family

Matt Jones - Editor 08:13 24/12/2014
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  • Growing: DIHC launched its own handball school for children last September.

    When Dubai Interna­tional Handball Club was founded barely two years ago, there were five players and a solitary ball.

    One of those five was Dario Menichetti, and with membership now standing at 45 men, 25 women and nearly 100 children, you could say he definitely deserves a big hand.

    However, while DIHC has certainly grown since September, 2012, the club founder, chairman and player is not content with his lot.

    “We want to establish a future for handball in the UAE,” said Menichetti.

    “There’s always been lots of interest in the country, there just wasn’t ever any opportunities.”

    The club’s overarching objective is to develop handball by creating a club that provides easy access to the sport for UAE expats of all ages and levels.

    In achieving its goals, the club says it recognises the importance of supporting and collaborating with the UAE Handball Federation, which it aspires to join in the short to medium term, as well as playing alongside the nine existing UAE professional teams.

    “Founding the club was on the basis of allowing expats to play in the national league and to play competitive, non-professional sport,” said Menichetti.

    “The guiding principle is to allow everyone in the UAE to play, any level, any age.

    “The nine professional teams are only open for UAE nationals to play or professional handball play­ers. There’s no opportunity to join if you’re an expat.

    “In Qatar they allow everyone to play and we hope the UAE can follow that.”

    DIHC’s women’s team do play in the official women’s hand­ball league, where they finished runners-up last season, but men don’t.

    Instead, the men play friendlies against the nine professional teams in the UAE.

    They are the 10th team but they are the only non-professional one.

    There is a rich, multi-cultural blend within the club, which boasts 45 different nationalities.

    At the moment, however, that is not something that seems to be working in DIHC’s favour.

    “We wanted to bring competitive sport to expats in the UAE,” said Menichetti.

    “We have an active membership of 40 men, 25 women and 90 chil­dren, so we’re very popular.

    “We had five people and a ball when we started so we’ve come a long way in two short years.

    “We’ve achieved a lot and have shown that passion can go a long way.

    “But, you must have another job in the UAE to play.

    “We don’t take any professionals. We hope to prove that handball can be more open and even bigger in the UAE.”

    Further growth, it seems, is inevitable though.

    In September the DIHC launched its own handball school for children, while in June the club’s beach handball team partici­pated in a European Beach Hand­ball Tour tournament in Spain.

    Factfile

    What: Dubai International Handball Club
    Founded: 2012
    Where and when: Various times and locations throughout the week in Dubai
    Contact: Visit http://www.dihc.ae or email [email protected] 
    Training:
    Men: Various evenings at Al Sufouh Secondary School Hall, Jumeirah 3, and Al Manara Sports Hall, Dubai (check website for details)
    Women: Various evenings at Al Sufouh Secondary School Hall, Jumeirah 3 (check website for details)
    Handball School:
    Saturdays (mini handball 5-8 years) 16:00-17:00 Al Manara Sports Hall 
    Saturdays (juniors-intermediate 9-12 years) 16:15-17:30 Al Manara Sports Hall 
    Saturdays (cadets – 13-18 years)  17:30-19:00 Al Manara Sports Hall
    Membership:
    Men: Dh280 per month
    Women: Dh140 per month
    Youth: From Dh300 per month for one child and a ball; ages 8-12 Dh550 for one term (10 weeks); cadets (13-18) Dh700 per term

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