Handball in Hong Kong

Dear people outside Hong Kong or newly arrived, For this post, I thought it would be good to give you an overview of what Handball is like in Hong Kong. Things may be quite different from Europe. The main difference is that here, Handball is an outside sport! Last time I played outside was 14 years ago and I was still a school boy playing with a plastic ball! That is a first shock to play on some sort of cement. The main issue nevertheless is the weather. Our last training got cut short after a an hour or so because of the rain. The toughest is rather when the sun is shining. That then becomes real sport! Even the guys on the bench are sweating heavily and drinking lavishly. Since I started playing here I learned that my handball bag needs to include shoes, socks, a short, a shirt, a towel, a ball, water, a cap and one bottle of suncream!! The cap is a necessary protection on the bench. If there are any international team who want to play some friendlies or a tournament, we think the heat and humidity will be an almost fair home advantage... The rules seems the same even if I seem to struggle counting the same numbers of steps as the referees (Gwailos have long legs, I think that kind of confuses them...). Usually the team with the highest number of goals wins. Also, compared to many european leagues, the amount of defensive contact allowed seems reduced. Is it our fault if the average local guy flies when we hardly brush him?... Considering we are in a lower league, the requirements are more stringents than in places I've played before. Everyone needs the same shirts but alos the same shorts, no exception allowed. At the begining of each match, referrees control the length of every players nails. We have to bring a nail cutter just in case one of our guys need one. Most of the teams in the leagues seems to be constitued of alumni of schools or universities. Many played together as boys and then continues as a group by joining the league. I am sure other players will have a lot to add so I leave it to them. Happy sport P.A.