The World Handball Championships are a triennial event traditionally hosted in rotation by Ireland, the United States and Canada, with Australia also hosting the 1988 event. Ireland were due to host the 2021 World Championships but this was postponed due to pandemic-related restrictions.

In another new departure, the Wallball World Championships will take place in one central venue, with the provision of 9 newly-constructed courts at the UL Arena from the 18th to 23rd of August.

The 3300sqm facility is one of the leading indoor venues in the country and has previously catered for many high-profile national and international sporting and corporate events.

GAA Handball will mark its centenary in 2024 and it is hoped that the Wallball and 4-Wall Worlds will be the centrepiece of the celebrations.

Wallball is the fastest-growing version of the sport of handball with a significant presence in mainland Europe and the UK as well as in the United States, where there are over 2,000 public courts in New York alone.

With the Wallball World Championships taking place during the summer holidays and with large-scale accommodation on site, with a record-breaking entry of 882 for Ball Wall and 12 International Countries participating. They will be from all over the World including Ireland, Europe, USA, Canada and Mexico as well as families and spectators. Irish players taking on the best in the world in what will be a truly international event.

GAA Handball, which is one of the four core GAA games, is now under the remit of the GAA’s Coaching & Games department and is based at the brand-new National Handball Centre at Croke Park.

It was fantastic news for the Munster Handball Council when their successful bid got over the line, it was a big achievement especially for Donal Hayes Administrator and Mike O’Connor Rep to Munster GAA who had put a huge amount of work into it as well as past President of GAA Handball Willie Roche of Clare.

On the 20th of November 2023 a successful launch was hosted at UL Sport and supported by UL Events, the Shannon Region Conference & Sports Bureau, Limerick City and County Council, Fáilte Ireland and the Munster Handball Council.

This is the first time this event will stand alone and is made of the following,

• No of Grades in 2024 Worlds 43
• No of Entries in 2024 882
• Length of Day 9am to 7pm
• International Countries competing 12​
• Number of Courts 9
• Total No of Games 1,100​
Courts will be laid out in the UL Sports Arena as below

Not alone will the International players be of huge interest but players from Limerick and Munster will draw a lot of attention, especially when reigning Ball Wall World Ladies Elite Singles Champion Martina McMahon of Limerick takes to the courts. She will also compete in Elite Ladies Open Doubles which she qualified for on the Irish Team where will be partnered by Aoife McCarthy of Westmeath.

Another player of note will Irish Team Captain Catriona Casey of Cork who along with Martina will be the top guns in the Ladies Elite Singles.
Numerous players from the clubs in Limerick and Munster will participate in the other grades. These grades start from Under 11(Fun Event) to Master’s Over 60 and will be in both Singles and Doubles. Both GAA Handball and USHA will have teams at the event.
This event involves a huge amount of personnel and will be voluntary including Admin, Referees, Stewards, Line Judges, Registration and other Personnel.

The Opening Ceremony will take place on Sunday August 18th in the Concert Hall in UL and the first games will commence shortly afterward.

With 1100 games and 6 days of handball it will be a busy week for all and it will conclude on Friday evening with the Elite Finals.