Frédéric Bierry, president of the European Community of Alsace (CeA), and Philippe Bana, president of the French Handball Federation (FFHB), have chosen to cooperate in order to amplify the influence and attractiveness of Alsace and its equipment through the discipline of handball. An unprecedented agreement – the first between the Community and a national sports federation – seals this collaboration between the FFHB and the European Community of Alsace, which strengthens the role of the latter as a major player in the Alsatian sporting landscape.
An alliance serving Alsatian sport
Thanks to this agreement, the European Community of Alsace reaffirms its commitment to making sport a major lever of attractiveness and social cohesion. By relying on handball, an emblematic and particularly dynamic discipline in Alsace, it focuses on a sport that brings together nearly 15,000 licensees and 87 clubs in the region. Already actively supported by the European Community of Alsace, handball benefits from concrete support through multiple devices : aid to local and high-level clubs, support funds for sporting events, as well as support for the departmental committees of Haut-Rhin and Bas-Rhin.
For its part, the French Handball Federation, which has nearly 600,000 members and 2,300 clubs in France, continues its mission of development in the practice of handball. Here it is part of a local dynamic, in particular through the promotion of 4-player handball, an accessible and innovative variant.
Four axes for an ambitious project
Signed for the period 2024 – 2028, this agreement is based on four key axes:
-- promotion of handball to 4 : purchase for the Alsatian handball committees of 2 removable courts marked “European Community of Alsace”, in order to disseminate the practice of this sport particularly in Alsatian schools, colleges and clubs
- welcome of the French teams : organization of official meetings of the national women’s and men’s selections in Alsace
- host of major events : hosting major events such as the Incredible Tour (April 2024) in Strasbourg
- regional structure : dialogue with all handball authorities, in particular the Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin committees with a view to the creation of an Alsace handball league
As part of this agreement, the European Community of Alsace and the French Handball Federation undertake in particular to:
- support the acquisition for the departmental committees of two removable plots of land to develop 4-a-side handball in local colleges and clubs
- support the organization of official meetings in Alsace men’s and women’s national teams, as well as handchair events
- work towards the creation of an Alsace leaguein collaboration with the federation, departmental committees, the Grand Est league and local stakeholders
This partnership illustrates the shared desire to make Alsace a reference territory for handballby promoting its infrastructures, its clubs and its talents. A promising dynamic, both for sports fans and for the entire Alsatian territory.
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