[6] A similar game was introduced from Ireland and the first Australian Handball court was built by Melbourne hotel-keeper, Michael Lynch, in 1847.
[7] Handball was very strongly promoted among the students at Christian Brothers' Colleges, driven by the Brothers' view that handball "affords an excellent preparatory training for football, as it calls into play all the resources of the physical man",[8] and is one of the best ways for a potential Australian Rules footballer to acquire the optimum level of hand–eye coordination, ambidexterity, smoothness and flexibility, and sense of where one is in time and space (e.g., Bill Serong who played in three Grand Finals for Collingwood, went to the Christian Brothers' College in Victoria Parade, and was the Australian handball champion in 1974, aged 38).
For the past three decades, the states have generally engaged in some 'midpoint' venue – usually in Warrnambool, Victoria, over one weekend annually, for the national handball championships.
[5] The game is nationally run by the Australian Handball Council, formed in 1928,[1] of which the current executive director is Jim Kiley, and the Secretary/Treasurer – Greg Hay.
[5] A few highly respected names in the game's history include multi-national champions, James Martin "Jim" Flattery,[11] Tim Tucker, and George Macris[1][12] in the first half of the 20th century, and John Hughes of Victoria, Paul Fallon of NSW [1], Lou Ravesi of SA, and Vic DeLuzio and Geoff Walsh of Victoria, in the 2nd half.