GREAT Britain women’s handball coach Jesper Holmris believes his side have already done enough to warrant post-Olympic Games funding regardless of their performance in London.

Team GB are making their first ever appearance at the Olympics after being awarded a wildcard by the British Olympic Association last year.

Burnley’s Holly Lam-Moores, a former pupil of Alder Grange High School, is among those in the squad.

Performing at their home Games represents the culmination of a remarkable journey for Holmris’ side as they come to the end of a six-year centralised development programme.

Starting from scratch in 2006 with minimal funding, Holmris has shaped a squad that is competing with the top nations and although victories have not been too regular, they are far from being disgraced on the court.

Their landmark moment came in November at the Olympics test event when they beat African champions Angola, while they also pushed former world champions Russia extremely close.

Handball has often been tagged as one of the legacy sports of the Games, but the success will depend on how much money they receive in the aftermath of London 2012 and Holmris wants the governing bodies to put their hands in their pockets.

“We have to prove we are good enough for the funding and we can do that at the Olympics,” he said.

“I think we are already worth the investment because we have spent the money we have had wisely and made such progress.

“I would be very surprised if we don’t get it because of the progress both the team overall and the individual girls have made.

“We have had some really good results against the top teams.

“We are proud of what we have achieved, with the money we have had made really good progress and we are confident that we will play our best ever handball at the Olympics.”