About the competition
A regional pathway competition for the U16 age category, built around guaranteed match volume and a definitive final placement for every team.
Development through regular, meaningful matches
The U16 age category is where national-team pathways are made or lost. Too many federations in the region reach it with only a handful of international fixtures per season, and with no guarantee of competitive opposition at a comparable level.
The U16 Regional Challenge Cup answers that directly. It gives every participating federation a fixed, planned programme of six group-stage internationals per category, followed by a final window in which every team plays for a definitive placement — first to twelfth, with nothing left undecided.
The second aim is regional cooperation. Hosting rotates so that each of the twelve federations organises one tournament, sharing both the workload and the benefit of staging international handball at home.
How the season is built
Group stage
12 teams per category, drawn into four groups of three. Separate draws for boys and girls.
Three windows
Each group plays a full round-robin over three tournament weekends — six matches per team, no byes.
Finals 1–12
Three parallel mini-tournaments decide every placement: A for winners, B for runners-up, C for third-placed teams.
Hosting
Every federation hosts exactly one group-stage tournament, spreading the competition across the region.
A calendar that protects the players
The girls’ third window on 4–6 December 2026 sits inside the EURO 2026 window, with group tournaments hosted by Slovakia, Serbia, Romania and Turkey.
Boys competition
- Tournament 1
- 6–8 Nov 2026
- Tournament 2
- 8–10 Jan 2027
- Tournament 3
- 12–14 Mar 2027
- Finals 1–12
- 6–8 May 2027
Girls competition
- Tournament 1
- 23–25 Oct 2026
- Tournament 2
- 27–29 Nov 2026
- Tournament 3
- 4–6 Dec 2026EURO
- Finals 1–12
- 8–10 Apr 2027
Run by the Regional Handball League
The competition is organised by the Regional Handball League, which coordinates the calendar, host federations, official communication and competition administration. Sporting eligibility and competition regulations follow EHF and IHF rules, including the final “draw by the EHF” where all sporting criteria are exhausted.
Born 2010 and 2011
The competition is open to players born in 2010 and 2011. Each federation enters one boys team and one girls team, and players must be eligible to represent that federation under EHF and IHF regulations.