Person Playing Handball

A handball player mid jump shot, throwing the ball at the goal. The jump shot is one of the sport's classic moves: a player leaps over the defenders' arms and fires the ball one-handed before landing. That is why the figure is airborne with one arm high.

Team handball is played by two sides of seven (six players and a goalkeeper) on an indoor court, with a small ball that is passed, dribbled and thrown by hand into a goal. Games are fast and high-scoring: top-level matches often see 50 or more goals between the two teams. A player may take three steps and hold the ball for three seconds before passing, shooting or bouncing it, and the six-metre area around the goal belongs to the goalkeeper; attackers may only fly into it mid-shot.

The sport is biggest in Europe. Countries such as Germany, France, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Spain, Croatia and Hungary draw big crowds for it, major championships pull millions of TV viewers, and it has been an Olympic sport since 1972 in its indoor form.

What does it mean when someone sends 🤾?

Usually: handball, literally. Someone is playing, training, watching or celebrating a goal. A flag next to it likely points at a national team during a championship; a club name points at the weekend fixture. Parents may use it for a child's practice or tournament, players for "off to training".

If the sender is American or Irish, check what they mean. In the United States "handball" is also a game of hitting a small ball against a wall with your hand, and Gaelic handball in Ireland is similar. Someone there might grab 🤾 for that game simply because it has the right name, even though the picture shows the European team sport.

Outside sport it can playfully stand in for a dramatic throw or leap, as in "launching this project 🤾". That reading works only when the words make it obvious.