Handball - U18 World Championship: when street play becomes part of Guinea's preparations

Asphalt as a training ground

Under a sky darkened by the rainy season, around ten young girls warm up on a stretch of tarmac at the edge of Stade du 28-Septembre. No teraflex on the field, no lines drawn on the ground. The only available pitch is the street covered in asphalt.

While the Women's U18 Handball World Championship, scheduled in Romania, starts this Wednesday with their first appearance, it is on this asphalt that the Guinean team sharpened their skills. Far from optimal training conditions for the 2026 IHF Trophy world champions.

Bakary Kaba, Technical Director of the Guinean Handball Federation, laments this situation. “Preparations did not go as we had hoped. We really counted on this team to go straight to at least the semifinals. But, to our great surprise, when we were in China, we learned that our gym had been demolished. This was a shock for the kids. Afterwards, when they returned, we really didn’t have a suitable place to train. The adaptation between Teraflex and tarmac is indeed completely different.”

The risk of injuries…

These difficulties linked to the destruction of the gym have affected the whole preparation. Clémentine Mara, coach of the U18 national team, regretted this situation. “At the start of preparations, everything was going well, because we had a place to train, that is, the gym, and the federation provided us with all the means we needed. But currently, it’s very difficult, even deplorable. The gym that we used for training has been destroyed, so now we have our sessions on the asphalt. This is not ideal just a few weeks before the World Championship.”

She continues: “Given the situation, I had to revise the training program and make appropriate changes according to the place we have, on the tarmac, not to forget we're in the rainy season.”

Fatou Kéita, captain of the U18 team, agrees. She regrets the destruction of the gym, which is disrupting the team’s training. “We are preparing for this competition with lots of difficulty this time. The essential thing, which is the gym where we train, has been destroyed. This does not make our task any easier. We’re forced to practice outdoors on the tarmac of Stade 28 Septembre which admittedly is not suitable for handball, but we have no other choice,” the player laments. She continues: “Practicing on the tarmac exposes us to many injuries. Because of that, with help from the staff, we are taking a lot of precautions to avoid these kinds of incidents. Despite the measures taken, sometimes we have teammates who complain of pain.”

Dakar for the rest of the preparation

To try, despite everything, to make up for lost time, the Guinean Handball Federation has turned to its Senegalese counterpart. A camp lasting several days was organized in Dakar, a breath of fresh air welcomed by the national technical director of the Guinean federation. “We went to get the visa for Romania, since the country has no representation in Guinea. We also took advantage of the support from the Senegalese federation, which is helping us by hosting us for a week of training in a gym—not the main venue, but a training hall. This is a partnership we’re going to establish. The girls will return on the 27th, departure will be on the 28th, and the competition will begin on the 29th. So you see that the timing is particularly tight. But we’ll do our best,” promised Bakary Kaba.

A golden generation up against the European giants

After winning the IHF Trophy world title in both cadet and junior categories in 2026, Guinea has big ambitions. Up against the current world champion and runner-up, Spain and Germany, the task looks daunting for the young Guineans. With a preparation that nearly turned into a disaster, a demolished gym, training sessions on the asphalt, and a race against time until the very last minute, the ambitions of the Guinean handball players may run up against a reality on the court that is very different from that of their opponents. It remains to be seen if the spirit of resilience that has taken this generation to the top of the world will be enough, once again, to overcome all the obstacles faced during preparation.