Think of zero-to-hero stories in sport and you will probably conjure images of wild-card Goran Ivanisevic winning Wimbledon in 2001, or footballing dark-horses Greece surprising everyone and claiming victory at Euro 2004.
But by the time the London 2012 Olympics are done and dusted; one British team could just add themselves to that list.
Chances are you’ve never heard of it, but what do you get if you cross indoor football and basketball?
The answer is handball; a frenetic seven-a-side contest where the object is to throw the ball into the opposition’s goal and it is not uncommon for teams to score 30 times in a game.
The sport is hugely popular throughout Scandinavia and in many European countries; France are the current Olympic champions. Unsurprisingly, though, Great Britain has never qualified to compete in it at any Olympic games - until now.
As the hosts, we are obliged to field a team and we don’t intend to go down without a fight.
In 2007 Olympic bosses hatched a plan to put a team together and train them over 5 years to Olympic standard.
Rugby roots
One of the names from the scheme you might care to remember is Huw Goodwin, who has undergone an amazing transformation from semi-professional rugby player, plying his trade in France, to Britain’s Olympic handball team.
“I played a lot of Rugby growing up,” he says. “I played for England Students, Bath Under-21s and Heriots in Scotland’s premier division before I left Britain to play semi-professionally in France.”
His calling, however, was not to be merely a decent rugby player so he packed his bags and returned home in 2005, intent on getting, in his words, “a proper job”.
The 28-year-old from Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, says: “It was a great experience to live in France but it is tough living abroad away from friends and family. Eventually I just gave it up and moved back home.
“I just thought I should get a proper job and make use of my psychology degree.”
It was whilst job searching that he came across a British Talent Identification Scheme and registered his interest in handball.
“I applied for it and thought I would give it a go. I had to go for a trial and then you get call-backs like an interview process.”
Chance of a lifetime
It was during this time that he landed a job in psychology at an eating disorder hospital in Edinburgh, though he was about to be presented with an even bigger offer – one he couldn’t refuse.
He continues: “After six months of different trials I was offered a place on the World Class athlete programme.”
The programme is lottery funded to help potential sports stars reach the highest level of performance in their discipline.
“My goal was never to be a professional handball player but going to the Olympics is something special; that was my motivation.”
Danish adventure
Huw and 20 other hopefuls were moved to Denmark, a country where handball is adored and which boasts one of the top international teams, where they would undergo elite training.
He explains: “We stayed at this sports university type place in Arhus, which is like a small campus that housed 135 students, but it had great facilities.
“Handball obviously isn’t very well renowned in Britain, but right across Europe it’s very popular. It’s huge in Denmark. Spain and Germany have top teams too.
“The team would train most days like a professional team would. We worked really hard to improve our game.
“I was able to use my rugby background, which had taught me about marking, attacking and reading the game.”
By the time the 2008 Olympics in Beijing came around, the Brits were only into their first year of training, but they were a welcome motivation.
“Obviously the handball was shown a lot in Denmark, so when the 2008 Olympics were on we would sit down as a squad and watch it all.
“It was daunting as I was thinking ‘I’ve got to be Olympic level in a few years!’, but at the same time it was inspirational too as you see the really good players and it makes you want to train and improve.
“When we play these teams now, people can’t believe we’ve only been playing for a couple of years.” he adds proudly.
The highs and the lows
While some might think that training in any sport to reach Olympic standard in just five years was a lot to take on, Huw has also been studying for his Psychology PhD whilst in Arhus.
He says: “The squad spent so much time together in Denmark. We were together every day and everything was focussed around handball. When you’re living away too, though, it can be difficult. It’s just all encompassing and the studying offered me an outlet to get away from it all for a while and concentrate on something else.
“It certainly wasn’t easy, because both things demand that you to be single-minded in your approach.”
Unfortunately as the recession hit, much of the Olympic budget was cut, with UK Sport opting to focus its funding on sports with the greatest medal potential.
Huw struggles to hide his disappointment as he recalls the effects it had on the development squad, he says: “After funding was cut it was no longer what it had been, or what I’d hoped for.
“Playing out there, we had seen the massive competition, such as Germany and Denmark, which we would be facing come London 2012. We had been developing well but removing the elite training really stalled our progress. Even our coaching staff were replaced.
“We had to join local clubs of all different levels of ability to make sure we were still playing often. It got frustrating for me when I would lose against intermediate players, not because they were better or more willing, but because they have been playing all their life and they just had more experience.
Homeward bound
So, with his development hindered, Huw made the decision to return home after two years in Arhus to continue his training at Loughborough University, where he finished his PhD in December.
In a positive sign, several other members of the programme have gone on to join some of Europe’s top clubs.
What’s more, Great Britain has held their own in recent games, suggesting that an upset of Olympic proportions could be on the cards.
“It was always going to be difficult but we’ve gained a lot of confidence recently as we have played Italy and Turkey. We played well in both, beating Italy fairly comfortably and narrowly losing to Turkey by two points.”
With London 2012 just over a year away - the handball events run from July 28th until August 12th - how does he see Great Britain’s chances come tournament time?
“To think it’s not far away now is really exciting. Every time I see the 2012 sign and the media coverage on the on the TV and in the papers, it reminds me that I could be part of it.
“The dream is to go there and come back with a medal; that would be an unbelievable achievement.
“Our official goal is to get top eight in the group stage and qualify for the quarter-finals. We think it should take two wins to get there.
“Without knowing how far we’ve come though, people won’t realise the magnitude of that accomplishment.”
He adds: “One thing is for sure, no one will want to lose to the Brits!”
Making the momentum count
The team’s other aim is what Huw describes as ‘the Wimbledon effect’.
“If we were to do well and our games are shown on television then people will get to see what handball is all about. It is a high-scoring and exciting sport and we hope it could have the Wimbledon effect in that it will draw people in.
“Look at the buzz Wimbledon creates every year. Suddenly so many people want to play tennis and if we can encourage people, and kids in particular, to give handball a try and a few really enjoy it and stick around, then that will benefit British handball greatly.
“Of course my concern right now is that I have to make sure I stay in the squad between now and then. I’ve dedicated the last four years to this one day in the sun, but if it turned out to be a rainy day then it would be a massive disappointment.
“I’ll happily play anywhere and be the utility man if necessary. I just want to get on court and help the team.”
So, are there any other sports Huw plans to master in time for the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro?
“At the 2016 Olympics?” He smirks.
“Well it will have to be something like shooting because I’m not getting any younger!”
If you would like to support Huw and Team GB, or if you want to experience Olympic handball live, you can apply for tickets now at www.tickets.london2012.com