The British Handball Association has appointed Chris McDermott as Head Coach of the GB men’s Under-20 team, and John Pearce as coach of the GB men’s Under-18 team. Both appointments will run until the summer of 2022 and are effective immediately.
Both were members of the GB team that took part in the London 2012 Olympics and have since been heavily involved in the development of youth teams in the UK at club level and with the England Handball Association.
Chris McDermott represented GB 59 times, scoring 122 goals, and is currently coach of Warrington Wolves men’s team. He has also been GB men’s assistant coach for the past two years and took the GB under-18s team to the 2018 IHF Trophy as interim coach, where they won silver.
John Pearce played for GB 44 times, scoring 62 goals, and is the founder and one of the coaches of Poole Phoenix HC. He was assistant coach of the GB Under-21/Under-19 teams from 2011-13 and also founded and runs the British Beach Handball Championship.
Their main goal will be to prepare the teams for the next edition of the age group EHF Championships and IHF Trophies in the summer of 2020.
Paul Bray, British Handball Chairman, commented: “Chris and John are both hugely experienced and bring a comprehensive understanding of the challenges we face in developing our age group teams. We look forward to working with him”.
Photo: John Pearce (left) and Chris McDermott
