We have now reached the Christmas break with my club Valence HB. Our next match is on January 7th but I am now heading into a busy International period with GB and will not be back in France until the 17th.

We have been performing well and up to this point, we are still unbeaten in the league and are looking like strong contenders for promotion. For me personally I can feel that I am improving, we have some very good technical shooters so I am being tested day and in and day out at training, but court time has been lacking due to my late arrival here and some fine goal keeping displays from our other keeper.

I am heading back to Milton Keynes to spend some time at home before Christmas. I’ll have about a week to spend with my family and friends but also I’ll be visiting the gym regularly to maintain my current programme. It is easy to slack off this time of year, but for me it is more important than ever to maintain a good routine.

On Boxing Day the GB squad are travelling to Latvia where we will play three matches against Lithuania, Estonia and the hosts. It will be a difficult tournament for us. We will be missing GB top scorer Steven Larsson who will be playing in the Norwegian League Cup Final with his club – Drammen.

We will know what to expect from Estonia having been beaten by them at Crystal Palace last summer so hopefully we can see an improvement there. Lithuania and Latvia are very strong sides and it will be interesting to see how we cope as typically they will have stronger depth and experience than us.

These matches will be great preparation for arguably our toughest test as a squad. On January 2nd we will be heading to Austria where we will play the first of our World Championship qualification matches against the favourites to advance from our group. They have recently appointed a new coach who will be intent on making his mark and they boast a host German Bundesliga stars including Nilcola Marinovic, Roland Schlinger and Robert Weber.

The quality within the Austrian squad is exactly the kind we can expect next summer so for us to measure up against them now is a great opportunity and one that every player in our squad has to relish. Personally, I will be happy to line up against some of my former team mates from my time at A1 Bregenz. I will be able to pass on some experience and knowledge having trained with around five or six of the guys expected to be in the squad and hopefully that will work a little bit in our favour.

We will be playing the return leg in London on the 8th of January and I am once again looking forward to playing in front of a home crowd, hopefully a little taste of what is to come next summer.

For now, I wish you all a merry Christmas and all the very best for 2012!

I have been enjoying a nice settling in period with my new club Valence HandBall in France. We are currently seven wins from seven in the league and doing well in the League Cup competition as well. I have had to settle for brief cameos with regard to court time as our other keeper Yvan Clot has been in exceptional form and as the saying goes, if it is not broken there is no need to fix it. We are playing again in the cup this weekend so hopefully the coach will give me a much needed run out.

I am happy with what I have contributed when given the opportunity and as long as we keep winning I can have no complaints.

As I said in my last blog, I was due to meet up with the GB squad at the end of October where we would face Israel in a two World Championship qualifiers, once in London and once in Tel Aviv. It was really great to meet back up with the squad. There was a clear improvement in the mood of the players since our last camp in Nantes back in August and everybody seemed to be in good form in training. We would be going in as clear underdogs as is so typical for us, but we knew we could get close to them if we performed at our maximum.

The first match in London was a tight affair with Israel eventually edging us to a 29-26 victory. We played well enough to have chances to equalise in the last few minutes but some poor finishing ended our hopes of another emphatic finale such as the one against Bulgaria last summer. I was given 20 minutes at the end of the match and performed fairly well, I was satisfied with my performance and thought I had given myself a good chance of more court time if not a starting place for the return match in Tel Aviv.

Two days after the match at Crystal Palace and we were on our way to Israel, knowing full well that they would be a much harder prospect on their home court. Their previous results at home made some interesting reading for us as they had managed to come close and even beat some truly world class opposition on home soil.

It was a daunting prospect but we had proven to ourselves that we could compete however we were no longer an unknown entity to Israel and they would be better prepared for this encounter.

The first 28 minutes of the match were fantastic, we really took the game to Israel and should have gone into half time two goals to the good, however an injury to Martin Hare and some schoolboy errors meant that we were tied at the break. That final two minutes of the half cost us the match. We came out after the break and failed to play with the same guile and purpose and found ourselves up against the ropes as a result. We slumped to a 29-20 defeat which in the scheme of things isn’t to be sniffed at, but when we were competing so well, we can’t help thinking what might have been.

For me personally, I was disappointed in losing as always but also because my performance in the previous match had seemingly gone unnoticed and I was rewarded with only the final five minutes of the game but even in such a short space of time, still managed to make a couple of decent stops.

It is now well and truly back to the daily grind in France. I am really happy to say that I have been joined by fellow GB team mate Sebastian Prieto. It will make life in Valence much easier for me, not only having a familiar face but also one that is fluent in French!

Next up for GB is a tournament in Latvia on Boxing Day before we head to Austria for our second phase of the World Championship qualifiers. I am really looking forward to that one as I will hopefully be meeting up with some former team mates from my spell in Bregenz back in 2009, but as I said for now it’s back to business and hopefully we’ll still be top of the league by the time I write the next blog!

It has been an eventful few weeks since my last blog so let me bring you up to speed. I arrived in Denmark at the beginning of August and was invited to train with Danish Liga outfit Skanderborg, but had also been invited on trial with one or two other clubs in the 1st division. Despite performing well in a trial at Vejle, myself and fellow GB team mate John Pearce were not invited back. The club could not afford to play our transfer fees or offer us any support with travel costs from our base in Aarhus.

After a couple of sessions with Skanderborg it was clear I was going to be third or maybe even fourth choice goalkeepers and at this stage in my development, court time is still very much the priority so I was constantly looking for other possibilities.

I was invited to train with Aarhus Haandbold another Danish Liga team, one of their goalkeepers had contracted a virus whilst on tour with the Danish National Team so I was called in for some training. I spent six weeks training with Aarhus. I had some great help from veteran keeper Jan ‘Tromle’ Nielsen and of course the level of training meant I was being tested on a day to day basis. This situation however, would have to be temporary or supplemented with court time at a lower level as my chances of ousting Jan and Kasper Larsen when he returned were slim.

A few potential clubs came and went mostly from the lower leagues of which I had played two years ago. With it being such an important year I was keen to wait until something more challenging presented itself.

I was informed by GB head coach Dragan Djukic that there may be a possibility in the French third division. The French leagues are very competitive and given that their national team are current European, World and Olympic Champions, I was interested to hear what the club had to offer.

Valence Handball Club, about an hour south of Lyon had expressed an interest in securing my services and after some negotiations I was invited for a trial. I was met by head coach ‘Datcha’ at the airport, and despite his limited English and my non-existent French, we managed to communicate a fair bit as we made our way down to Valence for training (my trial).

The session was good and I performed ok but I knew I could do better so I was a little bit nervous the following day when I met club director Bruno Bertini and the president of the club Julien Bertini for lunch to discuss my future. It transpired that they were happy with what I had shown in one session and offered me the chance to stay in Valence for the season. I was very happy but more relieved that finally my season had a clear path. A weight had truly been lifted from my shoulders.

I have now been here for two weeks and I am settling in very fast. The intensity of training is very high and there is plenty of opportunity for individual or goalkeeper specific training which I have lacked over the last 18 months or so.

In just over two weeks the GB team have two World Championship qualification matches against Israel. One will be in Crystal Palace where I hope we can expect a similar atmosphere to the one we had last summer against Bulgaria and with any luck, the same level of support would help us to a victory before the return leg in Tel Aviv four days later.

The last few weeks have seen a dramatic interest around the 2012 Olympic Games and we recently passed the ‘One Year to Go’ landmark. It has been very exciting. The butterflies have been coming and going, and I have been fortunate enough to have attended some prestigious events and had a fair bit of media attention.

The pick of the bunch for has to be the Celebration Dinner I was invited to at St James’ Palace. In attendance were Princess Anne and Sir Matthew Pinsent. The dinner was organised by Team 2012 who have had a significant impact on the funding for Team GB’s preparations for London 2012, and in particular they have ensured GB Handball can continue training at the highest level, in our quest to become recognised competition for the top handball nations in a year’s time. I would like to extend my thanks to Team 2012 and their investors for their continued support.

Another media opportunity came as quite a surprise, but one that I couldn’t turn down. I am an avid follower of the Arsenal (sorry to disappoint) and was delighted to be invited to the Emirates Stadium for an interview and photo opportunity. The PR team at Arsenal are putting together a programme based around Arsenal fans that may be competing at the Olympic Games, with the intention of exposing us to other Gooners so that they have an interest in following fellow Arsenal Supporters who are competing.

With it still being the off-season, most of my time has been spent in the gym, ticking over until pre-season starts so these events have been a welcome break from the weights and treadmill. I have had contact with a few clubs about possibilities for this season. My previous club Kydon in Greece have been experiencing big problems, primarily due to the economic crisis which is affecting the whole county and at present it looks unlikely that I will return to Greece.

I am flying to Denmark tomorrow where I will start training with Skanderborg, an Elite Danish side that are around 10km from Aarhus. I am hoping to prove I am capable of competing at that level, especially with the other GB Goal Keepers securing good situations for this season; I need to make sure I continue to improve.

At Skanderborg, I will join fellow GB Team mate John ‘JP’ Pearce. I am looking forward to the prospect of three solid weeks of training before we head to France for a GB training camp at the end of August. We are due to face Nantes (France) Valldolid (Spain) and Kolding (Denmark). These teams are big names in European Club Handball and regularly participate in the EHF Champions League. They will provide very stiff competition for us but it is a chance to test ourselves against some of the best Handball players in the world, and ultimately that it what it’s all about.

First of all, I’ll apologise for the length of this entry, however we have had a very busy period with GB and I feel it is necessary to bring you up to speed.

At the end of April I made my way to Denmark to take my first steps onto a Handball court since my surgery in December. I was feeling in good shape after a rigorous rehabilitation programme and it felt like there was some light at the end of what had been a pretty dark tunnel. I was to stay and train at the Arhus Sports Academy where I had been based previously and there were still a few members of the GB Squad training there so it would be nice to see some familiar faces.

The week went fairly well, however I was still experiencing some pain. This was completely normal but with only two weeks left to prepare for the upcoming Summer Tour with GB, it was touch and go whether or not I’d be on the plane to Turkey.

It was coming up to almost a year since my last match for GB and having been selected for the upcoming training camps in Turkey, Brazil and Lanzarote, I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to get back on court. After some intense treatment with my physio back in Milton Keynes I declared myself fit, but my involvement in training and matches would have to be assessed on a day to day basis.

The day after we had arrived in Turkey, Team Captain Ciaran Williams sat down with myself and co-Vice Captain Steven Larsson and informed us he was going to step down from the role. He wanted to concentrate on being the best player he could be without the added pressure of the captaincy. It was a shock to hear but it had been on his mind for some time so he knew it would be best for him and the team going forward. After this had been discussed with the coaching, staff it was decided that I would be stepping into the captain’s position.

I had assumed the Captain role before, during the camps Ciaran had missed in 2009 with a long term injury. So I was aware of the various responsibilities associated with the role and the lads all responded well to the decision which made the transition fairly smooth.

Turkey had proved to be strong opposition back in March when we lost by 2 goals. Once again they proved too strong for us in all three matches but the narrow defeats will give us confidence that we are improving and developing in the right areas. I had made a 10 minute appearance in the second match but head coach Dragan Djukic had suggested that it may have been too much too soon.

The matches in Turkey were the ideal warm up phase for our matches against Brazil. Brazil are a strong handball nation and are potential opponents next year in London so it would be a great opportunity to test our mettle against a very strong and experienced team.

The first encounter finished 32-25, a close result in Handball terms and we felt that we were close to the Brazilians. We are an unknown entity so maybe they didn’t know what to expect from us, but they would be prepared for the second match.

Surprisingly, I started the second match in goal and played approximately 40 minutes. It felt amazing to be back on court and my performance was pretty good. Unfortunately, Brazil had stepped up a gear and we struggled to make an impression in attack and eventually succumbed to a 35-22 defeat. For some reason we didn’t ‘click’ that day and we would have to address some of the issues why if we were going to improve in the next game.

We sat down as a team that evening and discussed the use of a more in depth goal setting plan which would hopefully improve our defence and performance in general. It seemed to have done the trick as our defensive performance the following day was considerably better than the two previous matches. We managed to keep Brazil’s goal count to 25, however we could only reply with 16. Another off day in attack but we had to take the positives and our defensive performance meant we could come away from the camp with a marked improvement.

The following day we were lucky enough to get a day off. We had arranged a trip to Rio de Janeiro, a six hour overnight bus ride from our Sao Paolo Hotel. The weather could have been better but we briefly sampled the Copa Capana beach and managed to visit the Sugar Loaf and Christ the Redeemer.

We were due to return to the UK before the final leg of the tour in Lanzarote. We headed to London for what should have been a relaxing two days but our flight back was delayed by 16 hours. The day we had in London was quite busy. We had a suit fitting with BOA partner Next, a tour to the Olympic Handball Arena and an inspirational talk from BOA Ambassador Kriss Akabusi. The tour of the Olympic Handball Arena was incredible. The playing area itself is finished and now just some behind the scenes work remains. It was nice to think that in just over a year’s time we would be lining up against some of the best teams in the world with over 6,000 spectators cheering us on.

Kriss Akabusi met us in Crystal Palace and he was as animated and lively as you would expect. I am old enough to remember him as an athlete and as a big personality and he certainly delivered during his motivational speech. He was funny and down to earth and despite coming from a different sport, he made a connection with us and managed to pick us up before we left for Lanzarote.

We were supposed to be playing against Spain, who finished 3rd at the last world championships in January. They had pulled out a week before so some last minute negotiations were made with some club teams from the Canary Islands to ensure we had some kind of competition, instead of losing the money already spent on the camp.

We played two matches and it was clear the teams were not at our level so it was a chance to rotate the squad and try different defensive tactics and organisational attacks. We won both games comfortably and it was a nice way to finish a very demanding training period.

Pre-season training starts in August and I am in talks with a number of clubs regarding next season, including former club Kydon in Greece. The feet will be up for a few days before my strength and conditioning training will continue to make sure I am in the best shape possible when the season starts in September.

With the off season coming to a close it was time to start considering my options for the upcoming 2010/11 season. I had attracted interest from a few clubs in Norway and also had options in Denmark. It was looking like going back to Denmark would be the best option after successfully trialling with a 1st division club, I also had the possibility to return to BSV if needed. At the 11th hour however I received an offer from a team in Greece, more specifically Kydon Handball Club on Crete.

The team competes in the top league in Greece and were interested in securing my services for the new season. I was all but on the ferry to Denmark but after some last minute negotiations it was decided that Kydon would offer an ideal situation to further my development.

The opportunity in Denmark was good however court time would have been an issue at the club and Kydon had made their stance clear that I would be their number 1 goal keeper. At this point in my career, court time at a good level is what I need most to ensure I continue to progress and improve as we edge closer to 2012.

I flew out to Chania in Crete at the beginning of August and pre-season training was already under way. My new team-mates were very welcoming and offering advice and experience about what to expect when the season kicks off in September.

Last weekend we took the ferry to Athens for two friendly matches were we played Panellinios AC Athens and AEK Athens. A solid performance in the first match versus Panellinios saw us win the game 27-23, I was happy to get 40 minutes on court as it was my first game for over two months under my belt. The match against AEK was a different matter with us getting punished for mistakes on the counter attack time and time again and we succumbed to a 12 goal defeat.

Some lessons were learned in the AEK match but we had also shown quality in periods of both matches which gives us confidence going into the first match of the season in front of a home crowd in Chania on September 18th.

Since the domestic season finished in April there have been some highs and lows. I’m happy to say though, my season finished on a high with Great Britain securing our first competitive win against Bulgaria at Crystal Palace on 12 June 2010.

You can read more here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/olliewilliams/2010/06/for_the_win_how_gb_handballers.shtml

I returned back to the UK at the beginning of April with a medial collateral ligament sprain in my right knee which kept me out of my last club game and a week-long training camp with GB at Crystal Palace.

I was worried it would keep me out of our preparations for our 2012 European Championship Qualification matches which took place in mid June but luckily I was passed fit to travel to Spain where our preparations began.

We played Galicia (a Spanish regional team made up of first and second division Spanish players) three times, experimenting with different defensive systems and offensive tactics. Unfortunately we were without some key members of the team due to injury but that is the nature of sport and is something we will have to overcome time and time again as we progress toward 2012.

Despite losing all three matches with tight score lines, I managed to rack up 125 minutes court time out of a possible 180 minutes and put in three solid performances which I needed after being injured for our previous training camp.

Next up we travelled to Belgium, who we had lost narrowly to in October 2009. It was going to be a tough match as we lost more players to other various commitments. We were due to play two matches.

In the first match we were finding it difficult in the early stages and made a lot of errors in attack, exposing us to counter attacks which have been a continual problem for us. We found ourselves trailing by four goals at half time and it would appear that we were down and out.

After the break we showed tremendous character and belief and managed to claw our way back into the match establishing a five goal lead thanks to some good saves by myself and much better performance from the boys in attack. We held on to our lead and managed to secure our first win over European competition. It was an amazing feeling and a day that I won’t forget in a hurry.

The next day we played Belgium again, we had lost influential line player Chris McDermott to injury and with him also being a key defender we found it difficult to contain a Belgian side keen on undoing the damage done the previous day.

We had no answers in defence or attack and slumped to a 14 goal defeat. All the energy put into the win the day before had cost us the match but fair play to the Belgians for coming back at us with everything they had.

The GB squad returned to Loughborough for a week of light training before we set off for our last set of friendly matches in Luxembourg before our European Qualifiers began. I missed the first game in Luxembourg due to personal reasons but made it out for the second game.

We had gone down by 13 goals in the game I missed which was a terrible result given that we drew with Luxembourg the previous October. We put in a better performance in the second game but still lost by nine goals. The squad appeared to be disjointed and with people coming in and out of the team at different stages we were finding it hard to find our rhythm.

We had hit a low point, but little did we know it was going to get worse before it got better. We returned to the UK to finish our preparations for our upcoming matches against Cyprus, Estonia and Bulgaria. Our official target was to secure one win out of the three matches.

Estonia were favourites of the group but we knew we would have a chance against Cyprus and the Bulgarians. In the first match it was looking good, we were in front against Cyprus at half time and appeared to be in control of the game.

I was a little disappointed not to retain my place in goal but the coach had gone for experience over form with Jesper Parker and he was doing well and keeping us ahead in the game. After the break we lost our heads and slumped to an 8 goal defeat. This was supposed to be our chance and we let it slip out of our hands.

We had a meeting that evening and tried to put our fingers on why we weren’t clicking as a team. We knew something had to change otherwise we would be thumped by Estonia who boast one of the best young talents in world handball and then struggle to pick ourselves up for the match against Bulgaria.

We dug deep in the first half trailing by five at half time. Jesper kept his place in goal and was doing ok but we were being exploited on the counter due to mistakes in attack. We continued to fight but went on to lose by nine goals. Although we lost the game against the group favourites, we had proved to ourselves that we could play fast, effective handball and with a performance like this tomorrow, surely we could match the Bulgarians.

Saturday came, the Hall was packed with over 500 fans and there was an air of excitement about. We got off to a bad start, Parker failed to get into the game and I replaced him after about 10 minutes. We were already down by five.

I managed to get into the game quickly and made a few saves and got us back within a couple of goals so we were down by two at half time. We had to come at them with everything in the second half to be in with a shout. I was in good form and keeping us close to them but we managed to miss a few clear chances to draw level.

Five minutes from the end we were down by four goals but we refused to give in. We battled our way level with a minute left and Steven Larsson scored his 13th goal of the game in the last second to give us a 33-32 victory.

We had done it, the crowd had got behind us and despite being eight goals behind at one point we didn’t give up. It was a fantastic moment in my career to date. It may sound crazy to celebrate winning one game and not even qualifying for the Euro’s but given what the team had been through the last few years we were going to treasure every second in front of the cheering fans.

It was a mixture of joy and relief. The fans, many of them experiencing their first taste of Handball had just witnessed a GB team making history. First win over European opposition on home soil; let’s hope there is more to come!

There has been no real let up in the intensity of training following our tough January period. My training programme has the appearance of a ‘pre-season.’ Seven separate conditioning workouts, plus up to seven flexibility sessions per week, throw in seven or eight handball sessions and I am well and truly exhausted by the end of the week – and then it starts all over again.

I can’t complain really. I have seen good results in terms of weight loss and strength increase and I feel fitter than ever before. Training has been going well off the court, however on the court it has been disappointing with my club; we lost two of our three matches in February.

In January I was informed I had been nominated by the British Handball Association for a Sports Aid Grant. SportsAid is a charity that helps the next generation of young British sportsmen and women to succeed (www.sportsaid.org.uk). With the handball funding situation slowly recovering from UK Sport funding cuts I was delighted to be invited to a charity lunch where I would be presented with a £500 cheque to support my training. Again, I would like to thank the SportsAid committee for processing the applications and nominating me as a funding recipient, the support is greatly appreciated.

At the SportsAid presentation with Gemma Allman (Water Ski), Harry Arksey (Badminton)

Given that I had a match free weekend it was also an opportunity to go home and visit some friends and family so I managed to take a well-earned rest from my normal schedule.

Wednesday 24th February will be a day that I will never forget. After my mornings work, I received a call from my Second Division coach. He told me that one of the first team goalkeepers was ill and that they needed cover for their match that evening. So only two years since I picked up a handball, I would be sitting on the bench in a Danish Liga match, for the best team in Denmark and cover for Denmark’s number one goalkeeper Nicklas Landin.

This photo was taken by one of my GB teammates watching the match on TV (Team sheet BSV v HF Mors)

Although I didn’t get on the court, it was still an amazing night. There were around 1500 spectators in a compact hall, a great atmosphere and I even signed a few autographs for supporters. It was exciting and nerve-racking at the same time but I hope it is a sign of the times to come.

It was back down to earth with a bump with the second team on the following Sunday. I was having a good game until I had lost some focus and was replaced after 35 minutes. It would appear to have been a good decision; we were drawing at the time and went on to win by two goals. These are all lessons to take forward to the next match.

So with February coming to an end we are entering the last month of the competitive season. Hopefully I can get a few more training sessions in with the first team. There is once again uncertainty from myself and the other British Players at the sports academy in Aarhus. Next season we may have to find a new solution as we try to balance our finances whilst at the same time living on foreign soil in an attempt to fight our way into the most competitive Handball leagues in Europe.

I will be back in the UK on 18th March at the Buckingham 2012 Conference meeting local businesses and sponsorship executives to promote myself and GB handball. If you’d like to get involved please contact ibarham@bucks2012.org

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.