One of the best things for Lewis the Lion on his trip so far was staying in hostels where he got the chance to meet so many different people. Staying in La Bolsa in Bariloche was no exception because it was over his breakfast of pancakes with dulce de leche one Sunday morning that he was introduced to a very special group of people.
Pancakes and dulce de leche (with a special group of people in the background!)
This group of people were a bit younger than the usual people he normally met in hostels and that is because it was the handball team all the way from Colegio Justo Jose de Urquiza Benavidez, in Tigre, near Buenos Aires.
The Handball Team
The girls’ team were taking part in the national Argentinean handball final and they had travelled a very long way to compete (approximately 20 hours by coach!).
However, Lewis the Lion had to admit rather embarrassingly, that he didn’t really know much about the sport of handball! So he asked if their headteacher, Mr Haedo, to explain it to him as he imagined that it might be a bit like netball? Mr Haedo told him that the best people to ask were the players themselves and the girls enthusiastically told Lewis the Lion all about the rules of handball. Click here to find out more. They even drew a picture of how the pitch is laid out and then number of players along with their positions as you can see in this picture.
Lewis learns about the handball pitch and players
They told Lewis the Lion in Spanish that there are seven players on a handball team:
a goal keeper – arquero
a right winger – win derecha
a left winger – win izquierda
a pivot – pivotes
a right shooter – armado derecha
a left shooter – armado izquierdo and
a centre player – centrales.
They told him what a great sport it is and how Argentina even have an Olympic team competing at the London Olympics this summer.
Lewis touches a handball and gets in the spirit of the game!
Lewis the Lion was very impressed indeed as the girls were impeccably behaved and a credit to their school. He wished them every success in the national competition.
The team show their tops
Have you ever played or seen handball before?
Do you enjoy it? Why or why not?
If you have never seen handball before, make sure you look out for coverage of it at the London Olympics 2012!
