Perhaps proving that the success of the women’s national team can be influential in girls and young women playing handball are the cases of Norway, Denmark and Montenegro, where there are more female than male players.
Three-time women’s Olympic and EURO champions in the 1990s and 2000s and, more recently, semi-finalists at four of the five most recent major championships, Denmark reported that they had 55,903 registered female players to 51,699 male, as well as 64 identifying as other, in 2023.
But the numbers from Denmark make it clear that playing handball is not only about aiming high — participation is strong from early childhood through to the age of 59, and there are even 949 players registered in the 60+ age bracket. Clearly, people in Denmark are keenly aware of the benefits of playing handball for reasons other than pursuing the top level.
Montenegro have more female than male players in every age group but one. In the 16–18 years bracket, there are more male players and more club teams available for male players. But every other age bracket counts more female players and more female club teams.
Like Denmark, Montenegro’s case is unique due to some elements particular to handball’s role in the country — the women’s handball team are an iconic and proud figure in Montenegro, having won the country’s only Olympic medal to date. For both nations, the visibility of the national teams and their cultural impact is substantial.
Off the court, Montenegro have far higher numbers of male referees, coaches and delegates compared to female, which could indicate little relationship between such positions and the number of players in a given gender. What encourages people to play for whatever reason are their opportunities as a player.
The Netherlands and Norway have both highlighted a certain observation about women’s involvement in handball — that women are less likely to proactively take on a position or join a team but the positive response comes from invitation. Again, this is a broad generalisation, but based on a separately noticed trend in two places where women can be considered empowered.
Combining this with the evidence on women stopping to play when there is no possibility to further their career or they have not deliberately chosen to play for fun, it seems there could be something of a “what’s the point?” view on the part of some, especially when considering other responsibilities many women may hold in their lives. Therefore, it may be useful to help female players understand the benefits of any kind of participation.