Handball may be the third most participated sport in the world, but not many Australians are familiar with it.
National Men's Handball team captain Jason Hoppner said figures from the International Handball Federation showed handball had the third largest number of registered players after soccer and basketball.
"Many of Australia's sporting trends come from the UK and US so sports like basketball, rugby and even baseball are more popular here compared to handball," Mr Hoppner said.
"Handball is like soccer 40 years ago – people may know about it, but not many would play it.
Handball, a European based sport, is a fast paced indoor game involving two teams of seven players. It is similar to football (soccer) but as the name suggests players use their hands to throw the ball about as opposed to using their feet. Players are allowed physical contact as they pass, throw, catch, dribble and score goals with their hands during the game.
It was first played in Denmark as an outdoor sport towards the end of the 19th century, before it came indoors in 1972.
Handball players need to be agile, inventive and cooperative because of the speed and physical contact involved.
National Men's Handball team player Bevan Calvert said he enjoyed the sport despite dislocated fingers, sprained ankles, and a five minute concussion from a previous game.
"I used to play soccer before I switched to handball, and I love it because of the pace and the physical strength required of its players," Mr Calvert said.
Mr Calvert and his team mates train about 12 hours a week, dividing their time into gym and court trainings.
The Australian team had won the Handball Pacific Cup in 2004 and the Handball Tasman Cup in 2005.
The team is currently preparing for the World Handball Championships, which will be held in Germany in January 2007.
Mr Hoppner said his team's short term goal was to be ranked within the top 16 teams during the Championships.
"There will be about 24 teams and if we can get into the top 16, it's going to be a huge achievement for us.
"In the long term, we hope to have more players going overseas and get experience in terms of the sport," he said.
He added: "It is going to be very hard in the next 10 to 20 years for handball to gain popularity in Australia, but we are trying to raise its profile."
The National team is currently promoting handball through schools by participating in the Federal Government's Active After-school program.
"We may not be considered mainstream sports but [Australians] should be more involved handball because we are such a sporting country," Mr Calvert said.
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