Francisco V. Blázquez took on the role of president of the Royal Spanish Handball Federation in 2013. He was optimistic about the sport’s future and quickly got to work, naming beach handball, women’s handball, and grassroots sport the three pillars of a project that would further raise handball’s profile in Spain.
Investing in the popularity of beach handball was an important part of this. Blázquez believed that making beach handball accessible to everyone, but especially women and youth, through grassroots sport was the key to success.
By all accounts, Blázquez and the Royal Spanish Handball Federation have made incredible strides. In both 2014 and 2015, Spain was recognized as the top nation across all national team beach handball competitions, an incredible feat. The following year, in 2016, the women’s national team placed first at the World Championships.
Blázquez, who is also vice president of the Spanish Olympic Committee, is excited about the future of beach handball. He believes its appearances at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires and the 2019 ANOC Beach Games in Qatar, where the Spanish boys’ and men’s teams took home gold and silver respectively, are positive signs that beach handball could soon be recognized as an Olympic sport at the adult level.
Spain has played an important role in the development and promotion of beach handball since the 1990s, and it seems this trend is set to continue under the leadership of Blázquez. While he is always happy to see Spain reach the finals of major tournaments, for him, the hard work of players, clubs, and coaches to continue promoting the sport, especially toward young people, is what really matters.
