Common seminar kicks off EHF EURO 2014 preparation for referees and delegates

With exactly 100 days to go until the Women's EHF EURO 2014 on Friday (29 August), the referees and delegates nominated for the final tournament in Hungary and Croatia start their preparations.

15 pairs of referees and 13 delegates have been nominated for the event and they all will gather in Vienna for a three-day course focussing on and preparing them for their tasks at the Women's EHF EURO 2014.

For the referees the course stresses the importance of mental preparation, coherence in behaviour and actions and pro-active discussions regarding primary points of cooperation with the delegates.

Video examples will be presented in order to elaborate on on-court officiating and a fitness test will conclude the programme.

The task training for delegates focusses on elements such as the substitution area and coaching zone and observing coaches' behaviour.

The delegates will also be given behaviour and performance training tools and will receive an introduction to the observer system and online platforms they have to use.

Presenters at the three-day seminar include among others EHF Competitions Commission chairman Leopold Kalin, Technical Refereeing Committee chairman Dragan Nachevski and mental as well as high-performance coach Jürgen Boss from Germany.

Furthermore EHF lecturer and head of the Slovenian Handball Trainer Association, Marko Sibila, will present a tactical and trend analysis of the 16 teams participating at the EHF EURO 2014 including the respective consequences for refereeing.

The physical preparation programme on Sunday, 31 August consists of a shuttle run with lactate test conducted by Hans Holdhaus, director of the Austrian Institute for Sportsmedicine, and its colleagues.

The referees will also be provided with the 'web for trainer' programme, allowing them to monitor their fitness until the EHF EURO 2014.

Out of the 15 referee pairs nominated, 12 pairs will eventually go to the Women's EHF EURO 2014.

The final tournament takes place from 7 to 21 December in Hungary and Croatia.