Budapest beauties and battles: eye-liner and eye-opener

There is a lot of “sexism” in handball. Among a lot of men, women's handball is referred to as the “other game”. It's incredibly misogynistic and something I grin and bear, because I can't be bothered to discuss it. The basis of the argument is that the rules are all the same, but the actual product,  men's vs women's handball, bears no comparison, one to the other.

I myself, find it incredible in this day and age, that when we refer to our game in either the female or the male gender, that there is some underlying “in-joke” for men. We don't discuss women's medicine, women's farming or women's music. We accept that there is a genre and both genders are part of it.

Perceptions are changing and in an ever-changing media, there is perhaps lip service paid to women's sport. I have always been a fan of athletics, whereby, the individual athlete pushes themself to the limit. I have never been a major fan of football played by women, because I don't think it's very good, however I have seen plenty of men's matches that are useless. So I don't have a particular preference when it comes to sports. I won't watch women's beach volleyball just because a girl is playing in a bikini, but then I wouldn't watch it anyway because I find it too repetitve.

And then we come to handball. It's a sexy sport for me. It's artistic and balletic, dynamic and explosive. And it is thus for all participants. When I see a woman playing handball, I think of all the hours she puts in to train and whereas she may not be as strong and powerful as a male counterpart, she doesn't need to be. Her level of opposition denotes where she needs to be.

And I love the fact that some of the women are tall and slim and others are small and strong. It is the democracy of handball, that not everyone needs to be same. Men are applauded for their strength and fitness and I believe it should be the same for women. I love the fact that these athletes can say: “I'm strong, I'm tough, but I can still wear my eyeliner”. And check out some of the hairdos and you realise a ladies appearance on court is vitally important.

Women in Sport and in handball in particular bring a flair and “sex-appeal” that is vital. They are role-models for all young aspiring women to show that anything can be achieved in life. My mother never played sport because it wouldn't have been the done thing. My sisters played “girly” sports because that is what you did. Now the women at the MVM EHF FINAL4 are breaking down all the barriers to show that anything is achievable in life if you are willing to work.

Women’s sport’s most basic problem when it comes to media coverage is that you can’t force people to care. It’s the same problem with all areas of sport that don’t get as much attention as they would like. You can’t make people care about skiing if they live in the Sahara. People will watch or they won’t and all the marketing and media backing in the world will lead only so many horses to water. Take athletics, for example, the men are obviously faster than the women but the coverage is equal and the women’s events are judged for their own merit.

Due to my work committments with the men's CL, I don't always get to watch as much of the women's CL as I would like, but each time I do I am stunned by the level of expertise among these athletes. They must be, as a team sport, at the top of the tree in terms of training and performance.

Power, pace, interplay, flexibility and flair, they are the metre stick for all other sports to follow. If, male or female, you have played 60 minutes of handball at any level, you realise the toll it takes on your body. Now multiply that to the Champions League level and two games in two days.

The MVM EHF FINAL4 is in its infancy, but I am sure that all teams are prepared to go the extra mile for that second day of competition. You know as I was thinking about what I would write about these professional women, the words of the Beatles “Polythene Pam” came to me

“She's killer-diller when she's dressed to the hilt
She's the kind of a girl that makes the "News of the World"
Yes you could say she was attractively built”

It's a joy to watch handball played by the fairer sex. Their team play is vital and their stars are shining examples. The strength of Neagu and Kochetova.. The speed of Mork and Mehmedovic. The power of Penezic and Wojtas (even though she will miss the finals). The flexibility of Toft. The reactions of Woltering. The strategy of Lekic and Knezevic. The defensive prowess of Breivang and Petrovic.

I judge them by their skill. The adjectives I use to describe them is the same as for the men. But as an added bonus, they are beautiful women. I have often heard women, who love handball and all it entails, describe men as sexy when playing sport, and, so as not to employ double standards, I am standing up for all men to say:

“A beautiful woman delights the eye,

and a handballer, the sporting spirit”

As if you ever needed a reason to watch top quality handball.

Don't just take my word for it.

It'll be worth a watch.Budapest, here we come.