East Kilbride Handball Club reflect on major successes during 50th anniversary year

East Kilbride Handball Club celebrated their 50th anniversary this past year and stalwart Michael Lavery is delighted to see them pass that milestone in fine form after fearing for the club’s survival during the pandemic.

Like many clubs in the area, Covid-19 had a serious effect and it has taken time and patience to build the club back to where it was pre-pandemic.

But in 2022, when the club entered their fifth decade, there were a host of successes for them to celebrate as normality returned to the court.

Indeed, last year saw the club reach heights that it has been unable to hit since the eighties and nineties.

The mixed mini team won the Scottish Cup and the under-16 boys and girls also won the Scottish Cup along with the league titles.

The Senior Men’s team finished runner-up in the Scottish League and qualified for the British Supercup, which is the top two teams in England versus the top two in Scotland. EK lost narrowly to Manchester Hawks in the semi-final and, again narrowly, to Livingston in the third and fourth play-off, but competed very well.

In June, nine players from EKHC made up a large part of the Scotland squad who crushed England at the Oriam International Sports Centre to celebrate Scottish handball’s 50th year.

Some teams also had success playing for Great Britain in the European Championship qualifiers.

The man who has pulled this together is head of development, Michael Lavery, who has been working tirelessly for the last few years to get handball back on the map in East Kilbride.

All the primary and secondary schools have turned to Michael and the club to coach the kids and get them more active in our community.

Michael does this in a voluntary capacity and is determined to improve the health,