The future of Irish handball received a massive boost this week with the announcement of a joint sponsorship deal for the 2008 Irish National Championships and All-Star Awards. Meath-based building services company, Envirogreen, and Resource, a leading Irish and UK based supplier of soft services, have combined to commit themselves to sponsoring both the National Championship Finals and All-Star Awards, which take place in Kilkenny on March 15th and 16th next.

“Envirogreen are delighted to be associated with Irish handball at a time where the future of the game looks so promising,” said former All-Ireland and World Handball Champion, Walter O’Connor, who is Managing Director of Envirogreen. “We hope to drive the growth in handball forward and look forward to working with the Irish Handball Council to ensure that the ENVIROGREEN/RESOURCE Irish Nationals are a major success.”

O’Connor is one of only three handballers in history to have captured the Big Alley Grand Slam during his career. In 1998, the Kells player dominated the 60x30 championships, taking the senior softball and hardball titles in both singles and doubles, and when paired with fellow Meath clubman, Tom Sheridan, the duo were unstoppable.

Now the highly successful Meath businessman is putting something back into a game he remains very passionate about. “Handball is a game with incredible potential and over the next few years, we will see massive changes which will hopefully return the game to its former glory in Ireland” said O’Connor.

Almost 350 handballers will compete in this year’s ENVIROGREEN/RESOURCE Irish Nationals, with qualifiers taking place around the country this weekend. This year’s event sees the largest ever female entry in both the Ladies Open and Ladies B sections, and indeed the highest ever entry with the exception of the 2006 World Championship Qualifiers.
In the Men’s Open section, Cork’s Tony Healy and Dublin’s Eoin Kennedy will look to take advantage of the absence of World Champion, Paul Brady in this year’s event. Cavan’s Brady is taking a few months out of handball following a hectic 2007 in which the current national champion dominated the domestic and international circuit. American Tyree Bastidas, from New York, will also set the courts alight as he looks to continue the good form shown in the USHA Juniors.

“I expect there to be some heated battles in the qualifiers this weekend because the national finals stage is where every handballer wants to play,” said Irish Handball President, Tom Walsh. “We are delighted that Envirogreen and Resource have come onboard to sponsor such a huge event in Irish Handball and are very excited about what the partnership can do for the future of the game.” At 20 venues across Ireland this Saturday and Sunday, Irish handballers will take that future into their own hands.