Apologies for taking so long to get this blog out. January has been a very busy month for me and the GB Handball Team. Our World Championship qualification took place in Finland from 15th to 18th January. Our preparation for the qualification started in Holland on 26th December and would continue until we arrived in Helsinki.

This intense period saw new and old players alike put through their paces with both top European club and national team tournaments. We struggled for consistency in many of the matches, mainly due to a lack of experience of playing together and also missing key players through injuries and club commitments. Squad Captain and first choice playmaker Ciaran Williams was one of those to miss out as he struggled to overcome a fractured foot. This gave me the opportunity to lead the team once more as vice-captain. As well as being a great honour, in our current situation it also brings a great amount of pressure.

Going from match-to-match playing opposition with far more experience than ourselves, we know we are often fighting a losing battle and it is difficult to maintain our focus but we remind ourselves of the goals set for each camp and match. Primarily our aim is to gain experience against better opposition and try to close the gap which currently exists between us.

This is an ongoing process and despite not winning a game in three tournaments and none in our qualification the improvements made by everyone is clear. In our first tournament in Holland we lost to club teams that play together week-in, week-out, a luxury that we do not have as a national team, but teams we should have beaten none the less. Compare that to a mere nine goal defeat to Romania, the eventual winners of our qualification group and that tells us we are most definitely on the right track. Romania are undoubtedly the toughest opposition we have faced to date and our performance raised a few eyebrows, as did first half performances against Switzerland, Tunisia, Bosnia and Holland – teams with a strong handball tradition.

Competing with these teams for 30 minutes certainly highlights the fact that we have quality within our squad, however key themes were identified throughout the four week period and one of those themes was our conditioning and more importantly our match fitness. This was identified as the main reason for our inability to compete for 60 minutes. The reason for this lack of condition is mainly due to the majority of our squad failing to get 60 minutes court time with our respective clubs.

So after an intense period for GB we have identified our weaknesses, which is essential if we are to move forward. We have since reassessed our individual goals with our Head Coach and strength and conditioning trainer and returned to our club teams with a fresh hunger to make the necessary improvements for our next training camp in April.

Personally, I am very happy with the progress I have made. Highlights for me were a 55% save ratio against Qatar and saving 2/3 penalties against Romania. Having now returned to Denmark, I completed my first 60 minutes for my Club team BSV last week, keeping a 42% save ratio and winning with 11 goals in the process. I can tell you it felt very nice to win after the results we had with GB but I know now that when the win finally comes again for GB, it will taste even sweeter.