Gracemount Edinburgh Handball Club
Encyclopedia
Gracemount Edinburgh Handball Club was formed in 2002 by Fred Wallace as part of the rebirth of the http://www.scottishhandball.comclass='greylink1' onMouseover='ShowPop("47828",this,"noimage.gif", event)' onMouseout='HidePop("47828")' href="/topics/Scottish_Handball_Association">Scottish Handball Association
]. In the beginning, the club started with about ten 11-13 year old children training once a week, learning basic ball control skills. Over the next 6 years though, the club has expanded hugely and now boasts a sizeable youth team and a large senior men's team.
The club has operated out of numerous venues in the southside of Edinburgh
. In the beginning, the local leisure centre at Gracemount was used but as the club expanded there was a need for more regular training sessions and better facilities. Since 2005, GEHC have been training at highschools at Liberton and Gracemount, both with new sports facilities available.
From 2006 onwards, GEHC has seen a large influx of foreign students joining the team while studying in Edinburgh
. These students, mainly from mainland Europe
have had previous experience with Handball as it is a professional sport on the continent. Due to this, the less experienced Scottish
players have been learning from a vast pool of experience and improving rapidly.
In 2004, many of the older Gracemount players were selected to represent the Scotland U-16 squad, and played games against England, Ireland and a German regional team. The Gracemount players in the squad were very influential in the Scotland U-16 squad's victory over Ireland in the Liverpool Tri-Nations Tournament.
2008 has seen the club expand even more, with 25-30 men training regularly. This allowed Gracemount to enter 2 teams into the Scottish league, with 1 team focused on mounting a title challenge while the 2nd team worked on development for the younger or less experienced players. This proved to be a success for Gracemount. The first team missed out on the Pre-Xmas title with a 29-28 loss to Glasgow HC. A win by 1 goal would have secured the title for Gracemount, but finishing second in the league ahead of defending champions Tryst 77 HC is still considered the club's greatest achievement to date. Gracemount's second team in the league also put in some promising performances, showing very clearly that they were not at all far behind the other teams in the league.
The season 2009/10 became the season where the club achieved its goal of winning the Scottish Senior Men's League by winning 11 of 12 games and drawing one game 32-32 to Glasgow HC. The final game against Cumbernauld HC saw a fairly amputated Gracemount team, that due to the Icelandic Eyjafjallajökull
volcanic eruption, had some players stuck in their native countries. However, the team managed to win 41-38 against Cumbernauld HC. The next goal is to win the Scottish Cup
2009/10.
class='greylink1' onMouseover='ShowPop("17308",this,"noimage.gif", event)' onMouseout='HidePop("17308")' href="/topics/British_Handball_Association">British Handball Association
] have been sending British handball players to Denmark to train with the World Class Handball Program in preparation for the London 2012 Olympics. Many Scottish players are involved in this process, including 1 Gracemount player, Taylor Hoven. Alan Stokes spent 3 years training in Denmark and playing for Danish club Braband in preparation for 2012. Taylor Hoven is part of the 2016 Olympic Program.
Scottish Handball Association
The Scottish Handball Association is the governing body for non-International Handball Federation related matters of team handball in Scotland while the British Handball Association has governance over matters relating to the International Handball Federation...
]. In the beginning, the club started with about ten 11-13 year old children training once a week, learning basic ball control skills. Over the next 6 years though, the club has expanded hugely and now boasts a sizeable youth team and a large senior men's team.
The club has operated out of numerous venues in the southside of Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. In the beginning, the local leisure centre at Gracemount was used but as the club expanded there was a need for more regular training sessions and better facilities. Since 2005, GEHC have been training at highschools at Liberton and Gracemount, both with new sports facilities available.
From 2006 onwards, GEHC has seen a large influx of foreign students joining the team while studying in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. These students, mainly from mainland Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
have had previous experience with Handball as it is a professional sport on the continent. Due to this, the less experienced Scottish
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
players have been learning from a vast pool of experience and improving rapidly.
Early years
For the first 3 years of Gracemount's existence, the club was solely focused on Youth development. Over the course of those 3 years, Gracemount took teams to Partille Cup in Sweden. Results became gradually better over the years, but due to the scale of the sport in other countries, Gracemount lost most of their games to strong European teams. Despite this, the experience was extremely valuable as the young players were introduced to different styles of play and were able to witness handball played by experienced teams.In 2004, many of the older Gracemount players were selected to represent the Scotland U-16 squad, and played games against England, Ireland and a German regional team. The Gracemount players in the squad were very influential in the Scotland U-16 squad's victory over Ireland in the Liverpool Tri-Nations Tournament.
2005-Present
Since 2005, Gracemount have been competing in the Scottish Senior Men's League. At first, Gracemount's youth players made up much of the team and played against Men's teams like Tryst 77 and Glasgow. Over the last 2 years though, Gracemount has seen a large influx of older players which has allowed the club to expand rapidly. 2007/08 proved to be a promising season for the club, with the high point being a very credible performance against Great Dane HC, widely recognised as the best Handball Club in Britain.2008 has seen the club expand even more, with 25-30 men training regularly. This allowed Gracemount to enter 2 teams into the Scottish league, with 1 team focused on mounting a title challenge while the 2nd team worked on development for the younger or less experienced players. This proved to be a success for Gracemount. The first team missed out on the Pre-Xmas title with a 29-28 loss to Glasgow HC. A win by 1 goal would have secured the title for Gracemount, but finishing second in the league ahead of defending champions Tryst 77 HC is still considered the club's greatest achievement to date. Gracemount's second team in the league also put in some promising performances, showing very clearly that they were not at all far behind the other teams in the league.
The season 2009/10 became the season where the club achieved its goal of winning the Scottish Senior Men's League by winning 11 of 12 games and drawing one game 32-32 to Glasgow HC. The final game against Cumbernauld HC saw a fairly amputated Gracemount team, that due to the Icelandic Eyjafjallajökull
Eyjafjallajökull
Eyjafjallajökull is one of the smaller ice caps of Iceland, situated to the north of Skógar and to the west of Mýrdalsjökull. The ice cap covers the caldera of a volcano with a summit elevation of . The volcano has erupted relatively frequently since the last glacial period, most recently in...
volcanic eruption, had some players stuck in their native countries. However, the team managed to win 41-38 against Cumbernauld HC. The next goal is to win the Scottish Cup
Scottish Handball Association Cup
The Scottish Handball Association Cup is a knock out cup competition run by the Scottish Handball Association.-Men's Results:*Winners in Bold-Quarter Final:Blackburn Community Centre, West Lothian24 April 2010...
2009/10.
World Class Handball Program
Over recent years, the http://britishhandball.worldhandball.com/British Handball Association
The British Handball Association is the governing body of Team Handball in Britain. It is a member of the International Handball Federation since 1970 and of the European Handball Federation for IHF matters. Other representation at European level is under different national associations: the...
] have been sending British handball players to Denmark to train with the World Class Handball Program in preparation for the London 2012 Olympics. Many Scottish players are involved in this process, including 1 Gracemount player, Taylor Hoven. Alan Stokes spent 3 years training in Denmark and playing for Danish club Braband in preparation for 2012. Taylor Hoven is part of the 2016 Olympic Program.
2010/11 Men's Team
| NAME | NATIONALITY |
| Alan Stokes (Coach) |  |
| Marc Meunier Wyatt | |
| Zander Chalmers | |
| Blair Strachan | |
| Ross Comrie | |
| Vincent Martinez |  |
| Mounir Iddir | |
| Sebastian Verdot | |
| Pierre-Yves Mignotte | |
| Damien Roux | |
| Benjamin Privat | |
| Bruno Lévêque | |
| Julien Kérébel | |
| Johan Ollendorff Micheelsen |  |
| Jens Frederiksen | |
| Gordon Wilmsmeier |  |
| Christian Wolf | |
| Christoph Schlegel | |
| Florian Barten | |
| Kacper Rogala |  |
| Nicolas Loizou |  |
| Nikolas Georgopoulos |  |
| Balint Puster |  |
2009/10 Men's Team
| NAME | NATIONALITY |
| Alan Stokes (Coach) | |
| Marc Meunier Wyatt | |
| Jamie Lau | |
| Zander Chalmers | |
| Craig Hunter | |
| Blair Strachan | |
| Ross Comrie | |
| Vincent Martinez | |
| Mounir Iddir | |
| Sebastian Verdot | |
| Pierre-Yves Mignotte | |
| Mael Le Hurand | |
| Damien Roux | |
| Florent Dummont | |
| Benjamin Privat | |
| Johan Ollendorff Micheelsen | |
| Gordon Wilmsmeier | |
| Michael Keely | |
| Christian Wolf | |
| Johannes Zeller | |
| Christoph Schlegel | |
| Robert Jun Schotten | |
| Kacper Rogala | |
| Balint Puster | |