Portugal’s Master Plan project concentrates on children’s handball

Key facts

• the project has just passed the one-year mark, having started in May 2024. It will conclude in June 2027
• the core goal is to promote handball for children, mainly from ages six to 10
• the first year saw growth of 22 per cent among children aged six to eight and 14 per cent in players aged nine to 10
• in addition, education of coaches and teachers has been a priority, with a number of courses and seminars held and extensive materials created
• around the spring of 2025, festivals were introduced, with several taking place on a regional level so far and many more to come

Creation of the concept

The Portugal Master Plan encompasses several broader goals alongside the key focus of children’s handball. 

The FPA naturally aim to extend the success of the Portugal national teams seen in recent years, and ensure continued presence in World and European Championships:

• for the men’s side, consistent rankings in the top eight as well as qualification for the Olympic Games;
• for the women’s, ongoing qualification for the major events. 

In addition, the original mid- to long-term goals of the Master Plan project included:

• promoting overall handball development with a concentration on grassroots;
• increasing the number of players aged six to 10;
• encouraging the transition from school handball to clubs;
• raising visibility of handball across Portugal; and
• producing modern and interactive teaching materials for mini handball.

However, the children’s game was identified as the core focus, and that is where the majority of efforts in the Master Plan project lie. The goal was set to increase the number of players aged six to eight by 25 per cent each year, and the number of players aged nine to 10 by 15 per cent per year. That would mean an overall increase of the 793 registered players aged six to eight to 1,586, and from 1,660 players aged nine to 10 to 2,490.

“At the beginning of the Portugal Master Plan project, we noticed three basic problems: First — handball's low implementation in primary schools (six to nine years old); second — children starting to practice handball at an advanced age, as they only started practicing at around 11 years old; third — a not very broad player base of registered handball players under 10 years old. So, this was an area that we had already identified as problematic and where we needed urgent intervention with a view to the future development of handball in Portugal,” says FPA Sports Director Paulo Sa. 

Cooperation with clubs and schools

To achieve the specified increases in player numbers, effective cooperation with clubs and schools is vital. Detailed activity plans were created to define the cooperation between clubs and municipalities. 
The club interventions began in January 2025 and have involved regular handball classes during physical education (PE) lessons or as part of enrichment activities. Local project ambassadors, that is, notable players, have been engaged to occasionally participate in activities at schools, and project coordinators have been monitoring and following up on the interventions. So far, 22 handball clubs have been directly involved with 48 schools across Portugal.

Consolidating the efforts to grow handball for children, several festivals have taken place and many more are to come, including a school festival co-organised by the 22 clubs participating in the project. In addition, regional festivals have been held in Porto, Braga, Aveiro, Lisbon, Setúbal, Algarve, Alentejo and Viseu, and nation-wide events are planned.

As of June 2025, the figures for children in the specified age groups have increased significantly, up to 966 for six to eight-year-olds and 1,887 for the age group nine to 10.

Education of teachers and coaches

Education of those teaching the children was identified as a key area to facilitate the desired growth in player numbers. As of June 2025, a total of 15 courses and seminars have been conducted, targeting teachers, coaches and university students, with more to come. Four of the courses for PE teachers had over 100 participants.

Alongside the educational seminars and courses, the creation of supporting materials was required. Following collaborative meetings in the early stages of the project, the sports faculties at the University of Porto and University of Maia assumed responsibility for the teaching documents. The universities have been providing theoretical support as well as outlining elements such as integration into school curricula, pedagogical progressions and sequences of exercises and games.

In the first phase of creating educational material, adapted documents for teaching handball and organising school handball events were made available, along with videos detailing specified training programmes for children’s handball. Some delays have been experienced in this area, but overall, all is on track to support the project activities.

In the way of materials to support the Master Plan project, the EHF provided portable goals and balls to be distributed to the involved clubs, and the FPA have also provided markers, bibs and promotional t-shirts. 
“The main problems encountered were getting handball implemented into primary schools on a regular and sustained basis, as well as lack of supporting documents for teaching handball to these age groups in a school environment, coupled with a lack of specific training for teachers in teaching the game attractively at school,” says Sa.

“We seek to support the clubs by strengthening their capacity for regular and systematic intervention in schools, using as a strategy the involvement and building of relationships/partnerships between schools and municipalities, thus favouring greater contact with schools, endowing them with the skills and knowledge they need.” 

“Making our sport a reference in Portugal”

With now two years remaining, the Portugal Master Plan project is entering the second phase. As with many other countries participating in the Master Plan project, the goal is to expand on the initiatives implemented in the first year and continue to grow.

“The next steps will be to consolidate the project with a broader intervention to cover the whole of Portugal and to try to intervene in regions where handball has less implementation and expression. In a second phase, we plan to begin intervention in kindergartens, with the prospect of effective growth in baby handball,” says Sa.

“These strategies aim to encourage an earlier initiation into sport in general and handball in particular, improving children's motor literacy and ensuring more and better players in the future.

“In the future, we want more fans, more spectators for the handball family, making our sport a reference in Portugal.”

Photos © IHF / kolektiff, EHF / kolektiff