Handball is one of the oldest sports in the history of sport. The famous Greek author, Homer, wrote about a game a lot like handball in his book the Odyssey. In 1922, handball was first played at a Greek sporting club with teams of 7 players each. Handball first became an official Olympic sport in 1936 on outdoor fields. It moved indoors in 1972 and women's handball was added in 1976. To play handball you need a handball, a court and teammates. The ball is made out of pure leather and is about 23 inches around for the men's competition. The ball is about 22 inches around for the women's competition. The players wear t-shirts and shorts.

Handball is played on an indoor court between two teams of seven players each. The objective is to put the ball into a goal using only your hands. The goal is about 6.5 feet tall high and almost 10 feet wide. Each time you put the ball in the goal you get a point. The team with the most points wins. Each game lasts for two 30 minute periods with a break in between of ten minutes. If the game ends in a tie there are two 5-minute over time periods. In the game players can only hold the ball for 3 seconds before doing anything with it.

Men's field handball was played at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin at the special request of Adolf Hitler. It was removed from the list of sports, to return as team handball in 1972 for the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. Women's team handball was added as an Olympic discipline at the 1976 Summer Olympics. The modern game of handball was first played towards the end of the 19th century in Denmark, Germany and Sweden. Recognition of field handball based on the games of snatch ball and Konrad Koch occurred at the turn of the century. G. Wallström introduced Sweden to the sport of handball in 1910.

After the men's game debuted on turf football fields at the 1936 Games in Berlin, the European-based sport next appeared in its present indoor form in 1972 at Munich. A women's division opened in 1976 and it has become one of the most highly attended Olympic sports. Wall handball is played against a wall, beach handball is played on the beach and team handball, uses a smaller version of a soccer ball. Team handball is a mix of basketball and soccer, fast paced and physically demanding. Men's handball became an Olympic sport in 1936 but was dropped and then restored in 1972.

Field Handball is one of the most popular spectator sports at the Summer Olympic Games, and f you've never seen it played, you are missing some thing really worth watching.