Handball

Germany, where the first rules for field handball were formulated in 1917, is regarded as the country of origin of handball. European cup competitions are held at international level for club teams. In the Federal Republic of Germany, German men's handball championships have been held in the hall since 1948, and the one-part Bundesliga has existed since 1976.

A team consists of 6 field players and a goalkeeper, up to 7 other players can sit on the bench as substitutes. Field players may touch the ball with any part of their body above the knee, in addition to their hands. In handball, a distinction is made between catching and dribbling. Dribbling means repeatedly bouncing the ball on the ground with one hand, with the option of switching hands. Without dribbling, the player may take a maximum of 3 steps and hold the ball for only 3 seconds. Then he must release it to a teammate or by throwing it at the goal. The goalkeeper may use any part of his body to fend off the ball thrown towards the goal within the goal area. The goalkeeper's clothing differs from that of the field players. Each team player can also be used as a goalkeeper, in return the goalkeeper can also be used as a seventh field player in certain situations.

The playing time of a handball game is usually twice 30 minutes. The winner of the game is the team that scored the most goals. This means throwing the handball into the opponent's goal as often as possible. Handball is mostly played indoors on a rectangular playing field 40 m long and 20 m wide. The goals are in the middle of the broadsides, in front of the respective goal areas. A handball game is officiated by two equal referees.