Final Weekend

Handball, like many sports, has become more and more of a "year-round sport." Mainly because beach handball is becoming increasingly popular, but even "regular" handball is almost played all year round. Right now, it is the month of May, and since we do not officiate beach handball, we conclude our season in the best possible way, with a final weekend!

We are rounding off a season where we mostly officiated in the Allsvenskan leagues, Men's Division 1, and the Swedish Handball League (SHE). In many of the leagues, the competition has been tight both at the top and bottom, so the excitement has been present right up to the end. Our last "league match" was the qualification for the Men's Allsvenskan, the second match out of three, which was not as close, resulting in a quick conclusion as the third match was simply canceled since the outcome was already decided.

Luckily, we also had the opportunity to officiate the Stöten Cup! It is a cup named after the referee legend Lars-Eric "Stöten" Ohlsson and organized annually by the Karlskrona Handball Referee Club (KHDK). Sixteen teams from southern Sweden participated completely free of charge, and KHDK members officiated and volunteered their services. Of course, honorary awards were given to two players who demonstrated good sportsmanship during the cup.

We have just concluded the final tournament of the Gjensidige Swedish Youth Championships (USM) 2022-2023 in Uppsala. It was a handball extravaganza with a packed IFU Arena. Eight boys' teams and eight girls' teams, across three age categories, U14, U16, and U18, have qualified throughout the season to compete for the USM title in their respective age groups. The weekend showcased high-quality handball, and we are thrilled to have been a part of it. Our final match of the season was a P18 semifinal between Önnered and Sävehof.

Now it's time for a little break. In August, we will kick off again together with the ATG Swedish Cup, which has made a comeback in Swedish handball in recent years. Immediately, there will be more competition right from the start, and the often insignificant preseason matches will be fewer, which is much more enjoyable even for us referees. We'll see if the whistle stays on the shelf until then, or if there will still be some other summer assignments popping up. The anticipation is already itching in our fingers!

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Foto: Fotograf Håkan Erwing, Spintso and private