Crashing away ( by Luca Del Bianco )

Some people know about my handball background, others do not. I was born in a family where handball was a daily bread and butter. My dad was one of the handball pioneers in Rimini, circa 1970. He was involved with the club ( HC Rimini), organising one of the very first outdoor tournaments , spreading the handball message across the local community. Who still remember the epic derbies between HC Rimini and La Rapida first played on the outdoor court behind the football stadium and then in the Flaminio arena? Those were the days of unforgettable battles which made handball very popular in town. Now, I have just watched the umpteenth defeat of a national team on live streaming. Honestly after the first 20 minutes of the match, the end was nigh..I thought to myself " Luca hang on , perhaps things could change in the second half ".. and so I kept on watching the second half of the match until I could not stand anymore witnessing the modest,inexperienced and fragile women's national squad, being " buried " by a much stronger , more experienced Serbian team. By the way, Serbia did come to the match without many important players.If you do not believe me google and check by yourself the info. To go back to my introduction, in the 70s, 80s and early 90s, nobody would have predicted the upcoming crash of Italian handball, in terms of results, popularity, number of players and the birth of that amateurish top men league. So after my ranting, what can be done to save this sport? I have not got a clue, as the lack of new ideas, people with management and business skills and passion are really rare.