At the Freshers Fayre, more than100 students signed up to take part in handball, leaving the University with two men’s teams and potentially the only women’s team in the north east.

Despite a lack of podium success for Team GB's handball team at the 2012 Olympic Games, Jack Woods, President of the University team, is confident that with the talent at his disposal this will not be repeated for Sunderland at British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) level.

Inspired by Great Britain’s handball teams, Jack decided to set up a club at the University. He said: “The Olympics has really showcased what handball actually is.

“Students have been saying ‘I saw it at the Games and I needed to play it’, that’s the legacy of the Games.”

He added: “I have seen quite a few guys who have real potential to go somewhere in this sport, and that’s just from looking at their ability in the taster sessions, with some coaching they could go pretty far”.

Although no fixtures have currently been arranged for the handball team, Woods has connections at universities nationwide, with future fixtures against Loughborough, Bangor and Leeds a distinct possibility.

Talks are currently underway with representatives from both Northumbria and Newcastle Universities, to arrange future friendly matches.

In addition to friendly games, the establishment of a northern tournament is collaboratively underway and is planned to take place in early November, at CitySpace.

Students interested in getting involved with handball should email Jack Woods at jackfranciswoods@yahoo.co.uk and training sessions are held at CitySpace at 6-8pm every Sunday.

By Tara Saghafi