Shaping the future: Women’s Handball Roadmap 2029

With the ever-changing landscape of European handball, developing strategic plans is essential to ensure sustainable growth. Over the years, initiatives focused on women’s handball have been adapted to reflect the dynamic environment of the sport — from the "Reaching Higher — Together" vision presented in 2013, to Her Playground's "She grows. We win" and now the Women’s Handball Roadmap 2029.

Commitment to empowerment, integrity and inclusivity

This forward-thinking initiative promises to focus on multiple areas of growth, including prioritising the recruitment, development and retention of women across all areas of handball through tailored and long-term support structures.

With grassroots participation as a main subject in the proposed roadmap, the efforts will also concentrate on providing accessible and inclusive educational and career development opportunities, which are designed to prepare women for active and sustainable roles in the sport.

Last but not least, the EHF strengthens its commitment to inclusivity by aiming to establish systemic conditions that foster equal representation, visibility and meaningful participation of women at all levels of the sport.

Five development pillars

The Women’s Handball Roadmap 2029 establishes a series of targets divided into five pillars, which turn the EHF’s vision into quantifiable indicators and will help assess the plan’s results:

• female officiating 
• female coaches
• professional playing and working conditions
• community, visibility and promotion 
• social sustainability and good governance 

The first pillar, female officiating, addresses the importance of increasing the number of female officials, raising the level of professionalism amongst female referees and for women’s games. The proposed targets for 2029 include a higher percentage of female referee pairs, EHF delegates, as well as female registered candidate pairs and registered Young Referee Pairs.

The second area focuses on increasing the number of female coaches, raising the level of professionalism amongst female coaches and for women’s games. The EHF aims to change the status quo by 2029 and have a higher percentage of female participants in EHF Master Coach courses and of female EHF Master Coaches.

Moreover, offering the necessary support to national federations to attract female coaches is of utmost importance, as is providing advocacy, role models, visibility, and awareness.

Professional playing and working environment, the third pillar, highlights attending to female athletes’ needs and health through improving playing environments, access to secure professional contracts, promoting fair working conditions and ensuring social protections. It further proposes a collaboration with national federations to assess and develop the current contracts, measures and frameworks, ensure equitable pay, and tackle gender imbalance among Europe’s professional handball players.

Gaining a deeper understanding of the audience, building meaningful partnerships, strengthening dual career paths and establishing women’s handball as its own product are also part of the coordinated efforts of supporting the long-term development of women’s handball.

The fourth area, built around community, visibility and promotion, recognises the importance of media and promotional activities in developing the community for women’s handball, which in turn will increase the visibility of the sport and of women in handball. The development of Her Playground will also help raise awareness, focus on fan engagement, and build the community.

The targets for 2029 also address social sustainability and good governance, highlighting efforts to improve the representation of women in handball boards and leadership positions, achieving equal representation and providing a safe environment. This includes, but is not limited to, aiming for gender parity throughout EHF’s representation and management, growing federations’ network and community and strengthening internal resources.

Bringing real change to women's handball

In order to implement its visions, the EHF will work in close collaboration with all relevant stakeholders to elevate the image, visibility and professional standing of female players and competitions, while also recognising the necessity of building comprehensive and inclusive development pathways, ensuring sustainable growth from grassroots participation to elite-level performance.

The EHF Secretary General, Martin Hausleitner, highlighted the federation's commitment to fostering sustainable growth for women's handball:

“In the last year, the European Handball Federation and the Women’s Handball Board have dedicated significant time and effort to creating sustainable grounds for growth and the promotion of the women’s game. The result of this joint work is the strategic plan, the Women’s Handball Roadmap 2029, which provides European handball with clear guidelines in the five development areas crucial for growing women’s handball and advancing women in the sport. The EHF is committed to growing the women’s game and will continue working to bring women’s handball to the next level in the coming years!”

The roadmap for the upcoming years is a reflection of the desired state of women's handball, according to Leonor Mallozzi, Women’s Handball Board Chairwoman:

“The Women’s Handball Roadmap 2029 motivates us and gives us an additional boost to carry on with our work and grow the playground for all women in handball to thrive. It reflects a clear vision of where we want to see women’s handball in the future. To create a safe environment for women in the game, it is crucial that all stakeholders recognise the importance of the roadmap and that we put in mutual work and effort to reach new heights.”

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