British handballers star in Germany

The Am Hallo Arena in Essen is rocking, because it is handball night.

In Germany the sport is massive and attracts indoor crowds of up to 20,000 for top-flight Bundesliga matches.

The sport is fast, rough and high-scoring, with the handling and running skills of basketball, and players aiming at small goals similar to five-a-side football.

The Essen fans bang drums, play bugles and blast plastic horns to intimidate the black-shirted opposition from Gummersbach, and to roar on their heroes in scarlet.

But among the red-shirted Essen team are six unlikely lads from the UK - itinerant players who have ended up in Germany following a funding crisis in the GB national team.

'Win-win situation'

In January, the British Handball Association's grant was cut by UK Sport by more than £500,000 ($730,000) per year.

"I can't wait - the Olympics has no equal, and with the home crowd behind us who knows what we can do"
Ciaran Williams

The BHA is responsible for preparing the men's and women's teams for the London 2012 Olympic Games, and was forced to lay off staff and close down a training camp at the Aarhus Handball Academy in Denmark.

The players still need to play, and that is where Essen came in. The Bundesliga side was losing players and money, and desperate for some new signings on the cheap.

The BHA's chief executive, Paul Goodwin, explained how they came together.

"Everybody was rather surprised at this, but we were contacted by Essen in December. They told us they were in administration and were losing their best players. They had learned we might be getting our funding cut, so there may be a win-win situation for us."

Two of the Britons, Chris Mohr and Merlin Braithwaite, are half-German and bilingual, so could immediately communicate. The others - Ciaran Williams, Chris McDermott, Sebastian Prieto and Dan McMillan - have had to learn fast.

"We couldn't say no", says Prieto, who until recently worked as an assistant insurance underwriter in London.

"We were asked to go and play, and in my first game I got to score. So I was the first British player to score in the best league in the world. That was pretty important for me."

"And then the Berlin game we played in front of 7,300 people, so that was unbelievable."

Experience

Ultimately, the aim is to gain enough experience to create a competitive side for the London 2012 Olympics.

As hosts, the British team does not have to qualify and it will be the first Games to feature a British handball team.

The GB men's team manager, Bill Baillie, attended the game in Essen, and has seen massive improvement.

"They won't forget this experience," he says.

"We can see when they get together with the rest of the squad members how much they've progressed in the short period they've been here. They're in here with the best players in the world."

In such an environment, the Britons might have been expected to struggle. And they did at first.

But against Gummersbach they stay competitive despite playing a much higher-ranked side, containing several internationals, before eventually losing 30-40.

Household names

The British men have become household names in Essen. After the match, children swarm onto the court to collect their autographs.

Williams, who is only 21, has been playing the sport for 16 years, ever since early childhood in Salford. Both his parents were GB handball players.

"It's been my dream for as long as I can remember", he says.

"At school, people dream of being footballers or other things, but I've always wanted to be a handballer."

The short-term future of the British players is uncertain. Essen face relegation at the end of the season and none of the Britons yet has a new contract.

But in the longer term, the players' target is London 2012.

"I can't wait," says Williams.

"The Olympics has no equal, and with the home crowd behind us who knows what we can do."

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