We’re raising money to keep our membership and travel fees low, so more beginners can try handball. Your support will help us make the sport more accessible and give more students the chance to get involved, compete, and be part of an amazing team. Handball helps our players to build confidence and meet new people at university.

Our Story

The University of York Handball Club was founded in 2013 and introduces students to a fun, fast-paced sport that has been steadily growing in the UK since the London 2012 Olympics. We are a welcoming, student-led club made up of both experienced players and complete beginners. Through supportive student-run training sessions, our players quickly develop handball skills, build confidence, and become part of a close-knit team. 

We’re fundraising to keep our membership and travel costs as low as possible so that handball remains accessible to all students, especially during a time when many are feeling financial pressure from the rising cost of living. Many students may feel unable to compete in longer away tournaments because of the higher costs involved. However, our returning players often say these trips are their favourite part of handball, because they can stay overnight with the team and build close bonds, creating lasting memories. We want to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to get involved and not miss out on these experiences.

As a growing sport in the UK, we need to encourage more beginners to give handball a go, and your donation will help remove financial barriers, allowing our club to continue to grow.

We would really appreciate any donations you are able to give to help more students get involved with the amazing sport that is handball!

Where will the money go?

We will use your donations to keep our membership fees low and continue to subsidise travel fees for players. Travel alone for the club costs around £3000 per year, and without your donations, these costs get passed onto players, discouraging them from attending away tournaments. 

We aim to raise £2000 to keep membership fees the same for next year's members and reduce travel fees for our current members, removing financial barriers and allowing all of our members to compete in away tournaments.

If we manage to raise £1000, we will be able to significantly subsidise our away tournament in Bangor, Wales. Which is costing the club £ 2,877.72 to take part, including accommodation and travel costs. 

If we manage to raise £2000, this will allow us to freeze our membership fees for next year and fully cover the cost of transport for our members for the rest of the year!

Why is this so important?

Your donations make a real difference far beyond just covering costs. By keeping membership and travel fees low, more students will be encouraged to try a new sport, stay active, and feel part of a team. Especially beginners and students who might otherwise be put off by financial barriers.

Many of our players started as beginners and are now representing the university in BUCs tournaments and Roses!

Your donations allow us to run consistent training sessions, enter competitions, and create opportunities for students to engage in the sport of handball. Your support helps us maintain an inclusive, welcoming environment where students can make friends, socialise, and become part of an amazing team, while also improving their handball skills.

Joining a sport in your first year of uni allows members to meet new people and create lasting friendships that will continue beyond university. This is clear from our alumni weekend that we host every year, allowing members who have graduated to come back and reconnect with the club.

The Challenges!

Below are some of the challenges we will complete as part of the week:

• Handball does University Challenge - Mens team Vs Womens team to see who is truly the best team (Saturday 7th March)
• Team bonding - Our members will be playing playground games to increase team spirit and community! (Sunday 8th March)
• “Choose your fighter, choose their challenge” - During the day our followers on instagram can send in challenges for specific members to complete during our training session. (Monday 9th March)
• Some of our members will take a handball to uni with them for the day. Increasing awareness for our sport. (Tuesday 10th March)
• Social media day - bloopers and updates of what we’ve done so far in case you’ve missed anything! 
• Position roulette - Our members will be trying different positions during our training session (Thursday 12th March) 
• Handball does Taskmaster (Friday 13th March)
• Ekiden - This is a 100km relay between 10 members from our club (Saturday 14th March)
• Mic’d up training - some of our members will have mics on during training to see what they really think of handball! (Sunday 15th March)

Find us here

Follow us to see daily updates and get involved in our challenges throughout the week: 

Facebook - groups/UOYHandball

Instagram - uoyhandball

X - yorkunihandball

Youtuben- Handball

Tiktok @uoyhandball

Help us succeed!

We would love you to donate as much or as little as you are able, and any donations are hugely appreciated. Your donation could also help us unlock fundraising challenges, which will help us reach our goal even faster (you can see these on the challenges page). 

If you are looking to support an individual athlete or challenge please put a message with your donation saying who! 

Alternatively, if you are unable to donate then please do spread the word by signing up as a Challenge Week ambassador for our club, and sharing our social media posts to your own socials so as many people as possible can read about our efforts!