Introduction

     Have you ever played wallball during recess? Well you are part of history!

     Humans have been playing a game like this where a ball must be hit with your hand for more than 3,000 years! Keep reading to discover all about the history of handball.

Ancient to Modern Times

     Games in which a ball must be hit or thrown have been played as far back as ancient Rome and ancient Egypt. In northern and central America, games similar to handball would have been played most famously by the Aztecs since 1500 BC.

     There is evidence found in stone carvings of games similar to handball being played in ancient Greece. Ancient Roman women also played a version of handball called expulsim ludere.

     A game like handball was played many hundreds of years ago in Medieval France and by the Inuit people in Greenland. By the 1800's the game of handball existed in Northern Europe in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Germany.

American Handball

     American handball was first played in San Francisco in 1873. It spread to other big cities in the United States like New York City, Chicago, and Philadelphia. 

     American handball is a sport in which players hit a small rubber ball against a wall with their hands. The ball cannot hit the ground twice or go out of bounds.

     In many ways it is similar to tennis, except instead of using a tennis racquet, you use your hands. Also, instead of hitting over a net to the player on the other side, you hit the ball against the wall, and both players stand on the same side.

     In its most basic form, handball is played with just two people playing against each other.  Since 1873 different versions of American handball have been invented. American handball can be played indoors or outdoors with 1, 3, or 4 walls. It is most commonly played with 2 people, but there are also variations of the game with 3 or 4 people.

Field Handball 

     There is a completely different version of handball that is played with teams. This team game was originally played as a sport outdoors called field handball. Each team has 11 players.

     In 1930, some of the first formal international matches of men's field handball  were played between the countries of Germany and Belgium's men teams and also Germany and Austria ́s women teams.

Team Handball

     The invention of handball being played indoors did not occur until the 1940s, when the game evolved into a sport with seven players per side that is played in smaller courts with special goals.

      As it became more popular, handball became known as team handball. It is played all over the world, but it is most popular in Europe and Asia. Lots of people in Europe and Asia play and watch professional team handball.

     Teams from Eastern European countries have become the dominant force in the sport due to team handball's popularity in Eastern Europe.

How IS American Handball Different

     People may get confused because American Handball and Team Handball both use the word "handball." But American handball and team handball are really two completely different sports.

     The easiest way to think about it is that American handball is a sport that has a lot of similarities to the game of tennis. Team handball is a sport that is more similar to soccer or basketball, with two teams trying to pass a ball and throw it into the opposing team's goal. 

Handball in the Olympics 

     Field handball was played as an outdoor Olympic sport at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany.

     Team handball became an indoor Summer Olympic sport for men in 1972. Since the game is also a popular sport for women, women's team handball was added to the Summer Olympics in 1976.