For this seventh edition of International Handball Week, ihf.info hears from individuals across the six IHF continental federations involved with multiple disciplines of the sport, including beach, indoor and wheelchair.

For this feature, we head to Europe (EHF) and speak to IHF and EHF referees Sylwia Bartkowiak and Weronika Lakomy from Poland.

Commitment, discipline and sacrifice

The life of a handball referee is never a solitary one – you always have someone else by your side: in your pair, your couple, your partnership. 

And as your career progresses, you end up spending a lot of time with that person. Travelling, training, staying in hotels together and then the actual games you are employed to whistle for.

For the Polish IHF beach handball refereeing pair of Sylwia Bartkowiak and Weronika Lakomy, that can be best illustrated – and most recently too – at the 2026 IHF Men’s and Women’s Beach Handball World Championships in Croatia last month. 

Across 10 sessions over six days they took charge of 16 games, culminating in the women’s bronze medal match between Spain and Brazil on finals day. 

The very next morning they rushed off back home to return to their day jobs in Poznan after taking holiday from their employment to whistle the world’s best beach handball athletes in Zagreb: Bartkowiak in her role as Assistant Professor at the Poznan University of Physical Education – which currently sees her based at the Faculty of Sport Sciences and Physical Education, University of Coimbra in Portugal undertaking research – and owner of her company, ‘REACTIVATE’ where Lakomy works as a personal coach.

 

“Balancing refereeing with our professional careers requires careful planning and commitment,” explains Bartkowiak to ihf.info. “Like many referees, we have made sacrifices along the way. We rarely have traditional summer holidays because that is when the biggest beach handball events take place.

“Sometimes, our time with the people we love is limited; we have missed family celebrations, birthdays and time with friends, but we have always believed it is worth it as handball has given us unforgettable experiences, lifelong friendships and the opportunity to be part of something much bigger.”

A journey through the world of handball

For both, those unforgettable experiences started when they were very young, in single figures of years.

“I had a feeling for handball since I was born,” says Lakomy to ihf.info. And that is not a surprise considering both her mother and father were handball players and coaches.

After picking up the ball almost immediately, the now 35-year-old started her club career, indoors with the youth side at VFL Fredenbeck back in 1997 in Germany. She then moved on to play for youth sides UKS Borek Wlkp and SMS Gliwice in Poland, before stepping up to the senior sides of AZS Poznan then SKF KPR Sparta Oborniki in the first division of the Polish league. In 2007, she had a brief spell in the national junior team (2007) and in 2015 she finished her indoor career with Sparta.

Partner started playing indoor handball in fourth grade (9-10 years old) at her Polish primary school in Rozdrzew and then local indoor club side UKS Rozdrzew. She then moved to MUKS Kozmin Wielkopolski, and AZS AWF Poznan where she played in the first division.

 

“We had met each other maybe eight or so years previously, but we ended up in the same group when we both started studying physical education at university in Poznan,” says Lakomy. “We were the same age and then started playing together – it was funny and after university we started to play beach handball together.”

Both also have impressive beach handball playing records which are almost identical. Bartkowiak – a right wing – starting her career on the sand in 2011 and Lakomy – mostly playing as a defender – a year later, in 2012.

Their first beach club was Polish side Pyrki Poznan before the pair ended up together at BHT GRU Juko Piotrków Trybunalski. Their careers on the sand saw them win the Polish championship nine times as well as multiple editions of the Polish Champions Cup, plus medals in the ebt Tour and EHF Champions Cup.

It is no surprise that during their beach handball club careers the Poland national women’s team came calling, the pair playing side-by-side when they won their biggest honour, silver at the 2017 EHF EURO in Zagreb, Croatia. The pair also shared appearances at the 2016 and 2018 IHF Women’s Beach Handball World Championships, with Lakomy ending her playing career on home sand at the 2019 EHF EURO and Bartkowiak at the 2019 ANOC World Beach Games in Qatar.

During their dual-discipline playing careers, the whistle became more evident as the years went by. Bartkowiak starting whistling in the regional indoor leagues in 2010, becoming a referee of the Polish Handball Federation in 2012 and then moving up to the second division from 2013-2015 with various refereeing partners before joining together with Weronika in 2016, who had started as a regional referee herself in 2013 and by 2015 had joined her partner as a federation referee.

 

“Sylvia was already an indoor referee, but still playing, and I was interested in knowing what it would be like to be a referee,” explains Lakomy about how she was inspired by her now partner to take up the whistle.

“One time, she said to me, ‘Hey, Weronika, maybe you want to start whistling?’. I said yes, but it wasn’t until around five years later when she finished playing, but I was still playing indoor, that it got serious. Her previous referee partner did not pass the tests so Sylvia asked me if I wanted to stop playing and start my whistling journey. I thought; ‘Why not?’ and it started.”

In 2017, the pair moved up to the indoor first division and also passed the Polish Handball Federation beach handball referee course the same year. 

A year later, in 2018, they received their EHF continental badges, going on to referee the men’s bronze medal match at the 2019 ebt Finals, as well as whistling at the YAC17 EHF EURO on home sand in Stare Jablonki, including the women’s final the same year. 

After the disruption due to covid, 2021 saw the pair return to whistling duties at the 2021 EHF EURO where they finished with the women’s gold medal match and also saw them get promoted to the top indoor league of Polish handball, the Superliga. 

The following year (2022) they went received their first IHF nomination, whistling at both the youth and senior IHF Men’s and Women’s Beach Handball World Championships in Greece – including the men’s youth gold medal match – and followed it up with the European Games. They have also been regulars on the IHF Beach Handball Global Tour, which has visited Poland on numerous occasions as well as the ebt and Polish handball tours.

Last year they were at the 2025 EHF EURO where they ended their nomination by taking charge of the women’s bronze medal match and a men’s semi-final.

 

Let it all work out

Despite all their experiences so far in both beach and indoor, one of their personal highlights for both was playing at home together in The World Games 2017 in Wroclaw an event which has proved to be a big milestone on their handball journey together.

The World Games is a global event designed for those sports which currently sit just below full Olympic recognition and featured beach handball in some form since Akita, Japan, back in 2001.

At Wroclaw 2017 in Poland, both Lakomy and Bartkowiak played for the host nation which finished fifth. Eight years later at The World Games 2025 in Chengdu, China, the pair returned to the sand, but this time with the whistle, ending their first The World Games refereeing experience with the prestigious men’s final.

“2017 was our first – and last – The World Games as players,” explained Bartkowiak. “We had just won European Championship silver in Croatia before it and then we had the opportunity to play at home, so it was something special for us, especially that our family and friends were there. Even though we took fifth place, for us, it was like being on the podium.

“A few weeks before The World Games 2017 I remember sitting watching the men’s final of the 2017 EHF EURO as a spectator after our own final as players and watching the Slovakian referees (Boris Mandak, Mario Rudinsky) whistling it. I remember thinking to myself I will never get to whistle a men’s game – but eight years later it happened.”

That final at The World Games 2025 in Chengdu saw Germany beat Portugal via shoot-out to claim the title for the first time, and put the German side under coach Marten Franke on the path to securing all major titles at once: continental, The World Games and, finally, the world championship, won in Croatia last month.

 

“To be honest, we cried like a baby,” says a smiling Bartkowiak when she recalls the moment she was told that her and Lakomy were nominated for the final. 

“It was very huge, especially because for The World Games in 2009 the Polish referee pair of Joanna Brehmer and Agnieszka Skowronek whistled the men’s final between Hungary and Brazil, so, as Polish referees, we were very, very proud.” (Editor’s note: beach handball was the first worldwide team sport to have a female referee pair whistle a men’s world championship final).

“Yes, it’s true. It was very emotional and I was crying,” laughed Lakomy about receiving that nomination. “We are always trying to do our best and try to live our dreams, but I also learned not to expect anything. But it was a really great moment. I know it from being on the other side as a player. I know how it feels. For us as referees, it’s emotional. You receive the feeling of the game before and it was really nice.”

“We were full of emotion for the final, but we did it and made a really great job,” added Bartkowiak, reflecting on that final in Chengdu. “But we are always prepared. We spend a lot of time watching videos to know what will happen, to know which players are playing in which way. Also, physically, we really work hard and I really believe that when you work hard, the fruits will come.”

And that work came in useful during their time in Chengdu, but also as they navigate the global teams involved in world championships and the IHF Beach Handball Global Tour.

“All teams have a different performance and different style and when you are part of The World Games, or a world championship or Global Tour stage, this is one of the most interesting things,” says Bartkowiak. “Of course, we spend a lot time in Europe whistling – and have done as players too – so you almost know what will happen or what can happening during the games; what the players can create, the tactics, but at The World Games or a world championship it is a different way. There are players from Argentina, Vietnam, China; they all play in different ways so you need to be very careful about your decisions, about everything.”

 

The journey continues

Despite achieving so much both as players and referees indoors and on the sand and being involved with handball their whole lives, the pair continue to push to better themselves in the sport.

Two months before the 2026 IHF Men’s and Women’s Beach Handball World Championship in Croatia the pair successfully gained their European Handball Federation (EHF) continental indoor refereeing badges after successfully completing the third ‘Female Referee Course’ in Porec, Croatia in April.

The course combined theoretical preparation, online knowledge testing and physical testing, live match officiating and daily debriefing sessions. The educational side covered such as rules expectations, the profile of the modern referee, progressive punishment line, the seven-metre throw, passive play, line consistency, emotional control, crisis leadership, and cooperation with coaches’ expectations.

“Being part of that course meant a lot to me,” said Lakomy to eurohandball.com after gaining her continental badge.

“It feels like recognition of the effort and dedication I have put into officiating so far, but also a sign that we are ready to take the next step and challenge ourselves at a higher level. At the same time, it represents progress and another important step forward for women in handball officiating. I am proud to be part of something that can inspire others and help create more opportunities in the future.

“Becoming an EHF indoor referee is a dream that we have been working towards for many years,” added Bartkowiak. “We are incredibly proud to join the EHF family, and we see this not as the destination, but as the beginning of a new chapter. It opens the door to new challenges, new experiences and continuous development, and we are excited to keep learning and growing at the international level.”

That new challenge starts at the end of July when the pair travel to Serbia for their debut EHF indoor event, the Men’s U18 EHF EURO 2026 and, according to Bartkowiak, their experience on the sand both as players and referees can be utilised to the maximum.

“Beach handball has taught us to make quick decisions under pressure. With a smaller court and a faster game, referees have less time to react, so positioning, anticipation and confident body language become essential,” she explains.

“Those skills transfer directly to indoor handball and help us stay calm, communicate clearly and make decisive calls, even in the most demanding situations, but indoor handball also helps us in beach handball, of course.

“The indoor season is much longer and provides many more refereeing opportunities throughout the year. Officiating matches every week allows us to continuously develop our decision-making, consistency and game management. The longer matches also require sustained concentration and mental endurance. As a result, when we return to beach handball, we feel confident, sharp and well prepared to handle high-pressure situations.”

 

Extending a career, continuing in the sport you love

And the pair are quick to exclaim the benefits of whistling to current players who may not have thought about taking up the role – or maybe have considered it but not committed, yet.

“After we won that silver medal at the 2017 EHF EURO I remember we spoke to Joanna Brehmer about what we should do,” explained Bartkowiak. “She said to us that, as players, we have maybe three more years to be competitive, but as referees we could have 20 years. So we had a decision to make.

“Even with our refereeing nominations then, the EHF gave us the opportunity to be players for those two or three years more. When we played, we didn’t whistle and when we didn’t play, we did. The decision to become referees became easy for us because we didn’t immediately need to choose one career over the other.

“It is a simple to say to player to just try whistling if you want to continue to be part of the game and on the court after you have finished playing, but it is not easy, it’s a really hard job. However, if you start to do it (while playing) you appreciate it. It can be a lot of fun and you still have the opportunity to meet people and make friends all around the world.”

“But you have to have this feeling that you really want it,” adds Lakomy. “It’s not easy when you have not whistled at all to switch directly from being a player to a referee, so try it while you are still playing and then you will see. At the top level it is experienced referees who have got better and better after many years of work.

“It’s like when you start to play: you are not born as a champion. You have to train a lot, and do a lot of things to be better and to improve. It’s the same for refereeing. You have to do really hard work to reach the level that you want and when you reach it, you still have to improve, because you are only as good as your last match.

“For sure it helps being a former player,” she continues. “You know the movements of the players and can give them the space to play; you can think about what they will do in the next move and that helps you to take the decision really fast – which we have to do. You have to be clever too and know when to whistle and when not to whistle – this helps a lot.

“But a referee means you are part of a team (of officials) and it’s amazing. At events, we are like a family – we support each other; when we have questions, we can ask the more experienced ones and if someone comes to us and asks; ‘Hey, can you help us in some situation? What would you whistle in that kind of situation?’, we are always open to help.

“We are not fighting against each other we are helping each other, helping each other to grow, it’s totally amazing and we’re really grateful.”