Speaking in the Handball Arena, Copperbox on the Olympic Park, Brewer, predicted that GB’s debut in handball at the London 2012 Games will increase interest in the sport across the UK, with universities leading the way.

Although handball has been part of the Olympics since 1972, universities could be the key to help the sport progress in the UK and further prepare British teams to compete at world, Olympic and international level.

Recognising the link between Higher Education and competitive sport Brewer hopes that handball will soon become a sport on the British Universities and Colleges Sports (BUCS) calendar.

Brewer, having encouraged strong links between the University of Bedfordshire and the sport, was delighted when the University was invited to provide volunteers to help out at the London 2012 handball tournaments, he said:

“I’m not the only one here, we’ve (the University) got people working on the field of play, we’ve got people doing work behind the scenes and doing the scoring, we’ve got staff who are helping out in the changing rooms, and I think that’s fantastic that universities can be invited to provide those specialist volunteers.”

Handball has held strong links with UK universities with current GB women’s team captain Lynn McCafferty setting up a handball club while at Glasgow Caledonian University.

She echoed John Brewer’s sentiment in seeing university as the perfect place to launch new sports: “I think the universities are a perfect place, because they’re social, and sport is social. Universities are a really good start because there are so many people coming through with sports degrees, leisure degrees, physiotherapy degrees, they’re all so keen on sports.”

You can see the full exclusive interview with John Brewer, inside the Handball Arena during the London 2012 Olympic Games, here:

By Ruth Faulkner