US beckons handball star

Friday September 25, 2009

You have to hand it to Emmalina Thompsell - winning a place in a national team after playing a sport for just one year is impressive in anyone's book.

The 21-year-old, who lives in Dewhurst Road, West Kensington, will represent England in the World Handball Championships in Portland, Oregon, in the United States, from October 3-11.

"I'm really excited - it's going to be an amazing experience," she told h&f news.

Emmalina is studying social and political sciences at Cambridge and made it to the finals of a Miss East Anglia beauty pageant earlier this year, proving she has beauty to match her brains.

She discovered her natural ability in 'one-wall' handball last year after switching from playing Eton fives.

"Handball is a bit like squash without a racquet - you're basically hitting the ball against a wall with your hands," she said. "It's very big in America and Ireland but it's not so well-known over here. It's a traditional Gaelic sport and in America it's used a lot, especially in New York, to deal with social problems.

"It's one of the sports that uses the least equipment and you can use any wall, without having a court marked out."

Emmalina started playing handball at the Westway Sports Centre and now trains for free at the squash courts at Hammersmith & Fulham GLL London Gym in Hammersmith Broadway.

"It's a sport that requires a lot of stamina as well as good hand-eye co-ordination and an ability to read the ball," she said.

The keen sportswoman is also pushing for handball to be introduced into schools as an ideal playground sport and an effective way of combating childhood obesity.

"I feel very strongly about it - one-wall handball is so easy to play in the playground and it's been proven to be one of the best sports for cardiovascular benefits," she said.

Emmalina will be among a squad of 12 English players travelling to the US for the championships, and she hopes the team will break into the world top five.

"I've been training really hard and I hope I can do my best out there," she said. "I'm going down to the gym almost every day. It's been a lot of hard work."