Hall to take over reins of British handball team

ROSS Hall has been appointed as the new Team Manager for Great Britain men's handball team as they crank up preparations for their Olympic debut at London 2012.

TOUGH CHALLENGE: New boss Ross Hall knows he has a lot of work ahead of him to make the Great Britain handball squad competitive at London 2012

Both the men's and women's teams have automatic places at their home Olympics and British Handball are desperately trying to bring the playing standard up to that of other competing nations. 

Hall will use his experience as a former army sergeant to keep his new team in line as well as his expertise from working as a manager and psychologist in a number of different sports.

And British Handball performance director Lorraine Brown believes Hall has what it takes to make the squad competitive before 2012.

"Ross will bring logistical and man management skills to the role of team manager that will enhance and complement the current men's squad staff team, whilst providing the crucial team manager support to the players," she said.

The sport suffered when it had its funding halved at the beginning of 2009 to just £1.448m over a four year period but this was reinstated last December and since then Great Britain have enjoyed a steep learning curve facing the world's best teams.

Great Britain have struggled to win a match but the team was only reformed in 2008, after 24 years out of international competition and the squad have limited time together as the majority of the players ply their trade overseas.

The side are currently preparing for the 2012 European Championship qualifying tournament to be held at Crystal Palace in June, where they will come up against Cyprus, Bulgaria and Estonia for a place at the tournament in Serbia.