In just over 500 days, the 2026 Youth Olympic Games will get underway in Dakar, Senegal, with men’s and women’s beach handball competitions part of the global sporting spectacular.

Running from 31 October to 13 November, Dakar 2026 marks the second time that beach handball will be part of the Olympic Games, following its debut at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Competing teams and athlete criteria

Following the decision made earlier this year by the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that there will be no direct qualification tournaments for the Youth Olympic Games, but rather a set of principles, the International Handball Federation (IHF) can confirm the qualification criteria for beach handball at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games.

After discussions between the IOC and IHF, it has been decided that one of the preconditions for teams to compete at Dakar 2026 will be participation in the 2025 IHF Men’s and Women’s Youth (U17) Beach Handball World Championships, which will take place in Hammamet, Tunisia later this month.

The IHF has established its own sport-specific eligibility criteria which ensures alignment with the unique requirements and developmental standards of beach handball, with the IOC also confirming that athletes must be 17 years of age or younger at the time of Dakar 2026, up to and including the closing ceremony (23:59 local time).

Underpinning this will be 10 principles based on six pillars of athlete participation and quota allocation from the IOC. These are relevant for all National Olympic Committees (NOCs) whose National Federations (NF) wish to apply for their beach handball teams to be present at Dakar 2026.

The six pillars are: Universality, Continental Representation, Priority to Africa, Host Country representation, Athlete performance and Gender Equality, while the 10 principles can be found on the IOC website HERE.

A total of 16 teams – eight men’s and eight women’s – of 10 athletes each (160 in total) will compete in the beach handball competitions at Dakar 2026.

Process underway

The process of application is already underway with NOCs currently deciding in which sports they would like to compete in at Dakar 2026. 

Once they have made their choices, by the deadline of 31 July 2025, those NOCs who wish to enter teams in the men’s and women’s beach handball competitions will then undertake a selection process made by the IOC, in cooperation with the IHF, alongside the relevant NOCs and the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee (YOGOC). 

After the IHF has provided feedback and allocation proposals in September, the IOC will then share with the NOCs confirmation of their teams on 15 December 2025, with the process continuing all the way through to ‘Sport Entries’ – athletes selected – on 25 September 2026.

Saly Beach will be home to beach handball

Last month, the International Olympic Committee released a map of the venue locations for the Games, with the men’s and women’s beach handball competitions taking place at the ‘Saly Beach West’ venue.

The popular seaside and tourist resort is based in the Thiès Region on the ‘Petite Côte’ of Senegal, south of the capital, Dakar and will also feature the sailing (windsurfing), rowing coastal beach sprints, beach volleyball, beach wrestling and triathlon competitions.

Beach Handball at the Youth Olympic Games

The 2026 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) will be held in Dakar, Senegal from 31 October to 13 November 2026.

Dakar will be the fourth edition of the YOG, following its debut in Singapore (2010), the second edition in Nanjing, China (2014) and 2018 edition, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Indoor/7-a-side handball featured at the 2010 and 2014 editions, before being replaced by Beach Handball at the 2018 edition, the debut event won by Argentina (women) and Spain (men).

The YOG is a major event which embodies the Olympic spirit, sporting excellence and the promotion of youth. The event has become a pillar of the Olympic Movement and is more than just sporting competitions. The YOG are part of an educational and cultural programme aimed at instilling the Olympic values of respect, friendship and excellence in young people around the world.

The election of Dakar as the host city of the YOG 2026 marks a historic moment for Africa. The decision was taken at the 133rd IOC Session in October 2018, making Dakar the first African city to host the YOG.

Initially planned for 2022, Dakar was postponed to 2026 due to the Covid-19 pandemic which has allowed for better planning of the event and ensured its success.

By:

Luke Brown


Tuesday, June 3, 2025 | 8:50 PM

STATE COLLEGE — Penn-Trafford’s run through the PIAA boys volleyball playoffs continued Tuesday evening in State College, as the Warriors defeated the Little Lions in straight sets to advance into Saturday’s quarterfinal round.

“They were tough,” Penn-Trafford coach Jim Schall said. “They were without their big hitter, and he probably, of course, would have made a difference there.”

Schall was referring to State College’s Carter Weight, a senior heading to Ohio State next year. Weight has dealt with a back injury this season, and that had him sidelined for his final game as a Little Lion.

The Warriors got rolling early, starting with a 4-0 lead in the opening set. State College started to storm back and tied it 4-4. Then the Warriors got hot again, scored six straight and forced State College coach Larry Campbell to call a timeout.

State College got on a 5-0 run in the middle of the set, making it 15-13. Back-to-back service aces from Connor Evangeliste made a big difference for the Warriors, earning their 23rd and 24th points of the set, opening the door to earn just one more and grab a 1-0 lead in the match, which they did.

Scores were deadlocked at 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6 in the middle set before Penn-Trafford went on a six-point run to get ahead 12-8.

State College’s Derrick Campbell had a big kill late in the set to cut P-T’s lead to 24-21, but the Warriors won the very next point for a middle-set victory, pinning State College’s back to the wall for the rest of the match.

The Little Lions started off the last set with two points back-to-back, and that’s fitting because State College showed the most fight in that third and final set.

“They played very good defense,” Schall said. “They made some errors in a few spots there. So, in each of the games, we were able to have some good runs of points.”

Penn-Trafford rallied from the 2-0 deficit to tie it 3-3 and took a 5-4 lead it never surrendered.

An impressive tip over the net from Nathaniel Rugh came late in the set to give the Warriors a 22-16 lead and rallied a solid crowd of people who made the two-hour drive to State College High School.

Surely Penn-Trafford fans are hoping to come back to the college town in 11 days for the PIAA Class 3A championships, held at Rec Hall, which is only six minutes from the site of Tuesday evening’s game.

To do that, the Warriors need to get through one of the state’s top teams in North Allegheny, the WPIAL champ that beat Penn-Trafford, 3-0, on April 16. It’s a program Schall and the Warriors know well, with battles in the regular season and preseason scrimmages.

“Well, we’ll have to do a little better,” Schall said. “We’ve got to put some balls away in a few spots. We had a good bit of time where we didn’t play, so I felt like in a few spots, we were a little rusty, so I think we’ll be ready.”

Tags: Penn-Trafford

Responsible for assisting the head coach in recruiting, managing, scheduling for the Presbyterian College Women’s Volleyball program.

Duties and Tasks: •Coaches intercollegiate women’s volleyball. •Assists recruiting efforts – including evaluating talent, organizing filing system, completing admissions procedures, contacting high school coaches, organizing home and campus visits. •Monitors academic progress – players class schedules, study hall, and academic checks. •Assists monitoring financial aid, squad list, eligibility forms. •Assists with scouting of opponents. •Assists with pre- and post-season conditioning. •Assists in organizing summer volleyball camps. •Organizes pre- and post-game meals, hotel arrangements, cash advances; completes other team administration as directed by the head coach. •Operates within the NCAA, Big South Conference and PC policies and rules. •Periodically attends faculty and college meetings and events. •Volunteers for college/community service projects. •Performs other duties as assigned by the head coach •Coordinate and oversee all video exchange.

Required Qualifications:

Resume and three references

Bachelor’s Degree

Preferred Qualifications: Two plus years of college volleyball assistant coaching experience. Former college playing experience; experience in oversight of team travel, scheduling and budgeting.

About Presbyterian College

Presbyterian College is a fully accredited, private, residential, baccalaureate institution related to the Presbyterian Church (USA). The College provides a liberal arts education within a community of faith, learning, and intellectual freedom.

Presbyterian College Department of Athletics strives to serve the College by producing winning NCAA Division I teams for all sports and graduating alumni who are: Men and women of character; Proud of their athletic experience and their alma mater; Committed to a lifetime of service to their families and communities thereby becoming productive members of society.

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