Neil McCraith

Neil McCraith (born 20th December 1983) was born in Dublin, Ireland. He migrated to Australia in 1989, aged five, with his family. He is now an established Australian handball player, with countless world records and tricks.
Early Life
Neil went to school just a year after moving to Australia, and was immediately fascinated by the game that the children were playing. Australian handball, with four squares, was the game of the school yard, and he played the game with passion. He would often practise against a wall at home. His grades suffered as he spent so much time practising, but slowly he became elite in the sport, and was quoted in his autobiography as saying

"I didn't play against my friends anymore, my only worthy opponent was a wall. This was the only opposition equal to my abilities."

AIS
McCraith was invited into the Australian Institute of Sport in November 1999. He subsequently accepted the offer, seeking to improve his skills in the game. However, he arrived, but the facilities were not up to standard for a professional handball player, so he went back home to Sydney and trained himself.
Australian Professional Handball Tournament
Neil was then invited to the APHT in March 2000 to participate in the singles tournament, aged just sixteen. He went on to win the tournament, surpassing great champions such as Matt Lynch (also of Sydney) and youngster Keiran Dale. McCraith has successfully defended the title three times, 2002, 2004 and 2007.
World Records
McCraith holds the record for the longest winning streak, fourteen games in a national tournament, completed in his famous win in 2004. He also holds the record for longest time in High Square (also known as King), with a time of four hours and thirteen minutes in a do-or-die type match-up.
Personal Life
Neil lives on the Northern Beaches with his girlfriend. He expects to continue competing until he is into his mid-thrities.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu