First beach handball tournament was held in 1992 in Isola di Ponza, a small island in South Italy. Gianni Buttarelli and Franco Schiano had the idea of "Handballbeach" because of the lack of indoor halls on the island. Beach Handball Organizing Committee was founded the same year.

First ever European Beach Handball Championship was held right at the beginning of the 21st century, year 2000. The tournament was held in Gaeta which is a small city in the Province of Latina in central Italy. 16 teams participated in the event.  

The first team that won the title in men’s competition were Belarus. As for the ladies, the gold medal went to Ukraine.