Alan gets a hand up by playing the Danes

Published on Friday 4 August 2006 11:58

IT is an unusual sport which struggles for prominence in a city dominated by football, rugby and golf.

But one Edinburgh teenager hopes to take his love of handball all the way to the Olympics thanks to a major funding boost from UK Sport.

Alan Stoakes will jet off for Copenhagen on Monday with hopes of becoming a professional handball star in a country considered the sport's mecca.

The 19-year-old, a member of the Great Britain handball squad, is set to spend a year in Denmark training with the some of the world's best players.

It is all part of a programme that aims to prepare Alan, and the rest of his Great Britain teammates, for the 2012 Olympic games. If all goes to plan, he will be one of the first Britons to play his sport in the Olympics, as the British team gain automatic qualification to London 2012.

While Britain is not currently a strong handball nation, and is not expected to qualify for Beijing 2008, the team are hoping to be a force to be reckoned with by the London games.

UK Sport has provided funding for the ten members of the Great Britain squad, including Alan, to train in Denmark for a year.

Alan, of St Katharine's Crescent, Gracemount, will be attending the Boure Handball Academy near Copenhagen and hopes to play in the Danish First Division with local team GOG.

"If everything goes right and we keep progressing every day, hopefully all the team members will be able to stay in Denmark as professionals," he said.

The former Telford College sports coaching student will be undergoing training at the academy five days a week before playing a match at the weekend. "It will definitely be tough to begin with," he said.

"But we'll get into the rhythm. We'll hopefully be playing in the first team, but they will assess each of us when we arrive.

"It's quite exciting to think we could be playing with the stars that I watch every week on TV."

If Alan succeeds he can expect to earn between 2000 and 3000 a month as a top handball player.

Yet his success has been built over a very short career to date. He only started playing handball three years ago, but his club coach explains that his natural talent has helped him to break into the British squad.

Coach and Scottish Handball development officer Fred Wallace said: "Alan was one of the older players when he joined three years ago. He was very keen and went on a coaching course that I ran as part of his college course.

"After that he got involved in coaching the younger players and played for our senior team. He's definitely a naturally talented sportsman."

Alan and Mr Wallace currently play for the Gracemount handball team who compete in the Scottish Handball League. The under-14s team were also national champions last year.

"Handball is such a fast, dynamic team sport and my selection for the GB team is good for the kids as they see where the sport can lead if they stick at it and keep their heads down."