Fil-Aus handball star Bevan Calvert has returned to international handball competition by being part of the Sydney Uni Handball Team competing in the International Handball Federation Super Globe competition of champion club teams of various continents.
Sydney Uni HC put together a team comprised mostly of European-based players to get around the travel restrictions due to the pandemic. On its FB page, the it stated:
“Unusual times ask for unusual solutions… so when we were nominated to represent Oceania at the IHF Super Globe, with our whole squad and staff in extended lockdown in Sydney, we put the call out to Australian, New Caledonian and NZ national team players, as well as former Sydney Uni players based overseas.
“And respond they did!
“We’re proud to announce our squad for the IHF Super Globe 2021. They may come from many countries, but they all have Sydney Uni and the Oceania region in their heart. And they will play for everyone stuck at home right now, for those who fought to qualify with their clubs, and for those players from Sydney who wanted to travel but would have been denied re-entry into Australia.”
Calvert’s participation was acknowledged in the IHF article; he was noted as one of the team’s key players. It stated:
“The current situation in Australia means that Sydney Uni have had to get creative to take part in the competition, as any Australians living in their country will not be able to travel to Saudi Arabia in October. Therefore, Sydney Uni went on a mission of finding and contacting national team players from Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia who are based in Europe, also adding former players of the team who are currently not residing in Australia.
“The fact-finding mission yielded good results, as several players returned positive answers, including the former captain of the Australian men’s national team, Bevan Calvert. The 35-year-old right wing became the first Australian player to win the German Bundesliga and take part in the EHF Champions League Men, a steep learning curve, which will prove very useful for Sydney Uni.
“Key players: Bevan Calvert (right wing), Luke Ireland (right back), Tomasz Szalkucki (goalkeeper), Kai Dippe (line player)”.
Sydney Uni Handball Team has accomplished an amazing feat of putting together a team of skilled players and getting generous sponsors to cover the team’s uniforms and other items not provided by the IHF.
It has proudly announced the team composition as follows:
Information on each of the players were posted on the Sydney Uni Handball FB page.
“Bevan Calvert is without a doubt the most successful Australian handball player of the last decade – being the first and only Australian to play in the German Liqui Moly HBL Bundesliga, and winning both the EHF Champions League as well as the German championship in the 20/21 season with THW Kiel!!
“Although born and raised in Sydney, Bevan managed to never don the blue & gold jersey before… better late than never Bev, we’re proud and excited to have you on the team for the IHF Super Globe!”
The first game of Sydney Uni Handball team is on October 5, against the powerhouse champion team Magdeburg. While the Magdeburg players have been playing together for some time, the team of Sydney Uni Handball team was put together recently. It will be a tough game but our players are respected in the handball world as they play with passion in the international handball arena despite their constraints.
The players are now together in Jeddah doing some training for the games. But it is not all work and no play. The team has found time to enjoy dinner at well known Aussie steakhouse chains which is one of their generous sponsors, the Outback. –
The game vs Magdeburg on October 5 in KSA (which October 6 in Sydney at 12:30am) will be shown live via this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=28E24AXCVmE&fbclid=IwAR1juCiXewX32AYa9rX20LX5JJj-2Rnqv4An-A_0z_Ql_zVdGX3Ylb3sd2M
The video will be available for later viewing.