Speed, Grit, and Growth: The Making of Taiwan’s Future Handball Stars at Cheng Yuan High School

In Taiwan, handball remains a lesser-known sport compared to baseball or basketball.

Yet anyone who’s ever witnessed a match knows how electrifying it can be, a fast-paced blend of basketball’s fluidity and rugby’s intensity.

At the heart of this thrilling sport is one of Taiwan’s most dominant programs: the Cheng Yuan High School Handball Team (cyhsˍhandball), led by coach Li Chun-Yu.

109 National Teachers and Students Cup Handball Tournament

Long before the high school team was established in 1996, Cheng Yuan Junior High School had already earned a reputation as a handball powerhouse. For over three decades, alumni have remained deeply connected, often returning to train and mentor younger players. Hence, a testament to the strength of this handball legacy.Cheng Yuan High School boasts arguably the best indoor handball court in Taiwan, frequently hosting major tournaments. Students not only get the chance to compete on home turf but also gain firsthand experience in event operations — from court prep to logistics. In addition to government funding, the school principal, parents’ association, and alumni network actively raise funds, creating a nurturing environment for student-athletes.

109 years Dajia Mazu Cup, Cheng-Yuen High School won the championship.

A decorated player himself, Li Chun-Yu began his handball journey in elementary school and went on to compete at the university level and beyond, winning gold at Taiwan’s National Games in 2017 before retiring.
Now, in addition to coaching Cheng Yuan’s team, he also serves as Secretary General of the Taipei Handball Association and sits on the Coaches Committee for the Chinese Taipei Handball Association.

Coach Li Chun-Yu leads the Handball National Team in the tournament

Li became Cheng Yuan’s head coach at just 24. Drawing on wisdom from handball legend Su Chao-Yuan and others, he modernized the program to better align with contemporary educational needs, all while maintaining the discipline and intensity that have long defined the team.Under his leadership, Cheng Yuan has claimed six national Handball Championship titles over the past decade.

109 National Teacher-Student Cup Handball Tournament Chengyu High School won the first runner-up.

When COVID lockdowns halted in-person training, Coach Li didn’t skip a beat. He assigned detailed home workout plans, encouraging students to maintain their stamina with Tabata and core training.

“Three days without training, and an athlete’s cardio drops back to civilian levels,” he explained. “And without focus, mistakes and even injuries happen.”
Whether in handball or other sports, the hardest part of being a professional athlete is choosing a path of training that does not allow them to relax physically or mentally.

(Daily Training of Cheng Yuan Handball Team)

But Coach Li’s commitment goes far beyond physical performance. Drawing inspiration from his mentor, Coach Yu De-Gui, who once insisted on academic excellence (players needed 90+ scores just to keep training), Li has carried that philosophy into his coaching. He often reminds his athletes: “You’re a student first, then an athlete.”

As the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), which leads the development of college sports in the U.S., emphasizes that student athletes must be required to have both moral and athletic qualities, and that their academic performance must meet the norms of the schools. This is the only way to cultivate many excellent players who are good at playing soccer and can have another life after retirement.

Extended Reading:Coaches Must Keep Learning Even More Than Their Students｜Interview with Chiu Wei-Jung, Track and Field Coach of Datong High School, Taipei

(Before the examination, Mr. Li will arrange students of the team to study in the evening and strengthen the counseling of the subject.)

Coach Li says,Coach Li’s vision extends beyond the court. “The top 1% of athletes — if they stay grounded and humble — will always have options,” he says. “But the other 99% need to build skillsets that give them more paths to choose from.”

Therefore, Mr. Li encourages the team to be good students first and players second. With good competition results and a certain level of academic performance, the team will have a better chance of standing out when they move on to university.Students are also required to complete and present research reports before graduation — a practice that sharpens their logic, communication, and public speaking, adding academic muscle to athletic prowess.

2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games Beach Handball Team Taiwan Representativewith Li.

Cheng Yuan has institutionalized a long-standing tradition of inviting alumni to return weekly,not just for scrimmages, but also to provide career guidance and networking. Some students even intern at alumni-run businesses, learning that life doesn’t have to begin and end with the court.“Not everyone can become a professional athlete,” says Li,“but the resilience, focus, and time management learned in sports are real advantages in any career.”

(Athletic training also includes the topic of calmness in the face of stress.

Uni-Magazine has interviewed several famous athletes, and they all mentioned that "sports training" brings them a healthy and positive mental state, self-restraint, and stress resistance, which can effectively help them in their future career development, such as responsiveness in the workplace, and the ability to solve problems with entrepreneurship, and so on.

Therefore, with the change of mindset of many coaches, the future development of student athletes is not narrow, with the emergence of Taiwan's sports culture, athletes may not be limited to the traditional path of professional athletes or coaches, what they learn now can be the future of the nutrients. For example, handball is an injury-prone sport, and this experience can be turned into knowledge that can be applied to emerging fields such as rehabilitation, fitness, sports medicine, sports science, and even data analysis. Lai emphasized to the students, "There is always development in everything you do, but it's all about the demands on yourself and maintaining your passion for what you do.

(Lai Chun Yu led the team to participate2019 Macedonia World Junior Handball Cup

Despite Cheng Yuan’s success, handball in Taiwan still faces structural challenges.A full handball squad requires 16 players,and with limited youth development funding, only the top few elite athletes receive serious support.Furthermore, handball demands three players even for basic drills, and a regulation court is significantly larger than a basketball court — both factors that raise the barrier to entry for schools.

Taiwan Handball Representatives Participate in the 2019 Kosovo Intercontinental Challenge

Li remains undeterred. He frequently invites his strongest rivals — like Lishan High School — to train together, believing that mutual growth will benefit the entire handball community. “We need to think beyond competition. Taiwan’s sports ecosystem thrives only when we grow together.”

The development of many sports in Taiwan is like handball. Behind the scenes, there is a group of people who have devoted their youth and hard work to lead the growth of student athletes with new ideas and attitudes. We hope that the outside world can pay more attention to and support the development of handball, so that the local sports community will have more motivation to cultivate a continuous stream of excellent seeds, and to develop with Taiwan's sports industry in a mutually beneficial way.

Photos courtesy of: Chinese Taipei Handball Association, Coach Li Chun-Yu

For more information, please refer to HandballOfficial Website of the Association