WHA Women (Austria) 2026/27

The WHA Women competition serves as the premier stage for female handball in Austria. Established with the modern format in 1972, the league operates under the governance of the Austrian Handball Federation. The current season involves six clubs: MGA Fivers Women, Graz Women, Union St. Pölten Women, HIB Graz Women, Feldkirch Women, and UHC Stockerau Women. While the top tier traditionally hosts twelve sides, the active roster for this cycle is smaller.

The championship structure begins with a regular season where participants engage in a double round-robin. This phase determines qualification for the subsequent knockout stages. The top four teams advance to the playoffs, which feature home-and-away semifinals. The series concludes with a Best-of-three final to crown the champion. The competition includes a promotion and relegation system linked to the second tier, the WHA Challenge. The winner of that division moves up to the top flight, while the bottom-placed team in the WHA Women is relegated.

Historical dominance in the sport has belonged to Hypo Niederösterreich, now known as Hypo Tirol Innsbruck. This club secured 46 titles between 1977 and 2024. Other significant winners include Union Admira Landhaus, which claimed five titles, and WAT Atzgersdorf, who won once in 2019. More recently, HC Fivers WAT Margareten has entered the conversation as a winner in the 2023/24 and 2024/25 seasons. The league maintains a separate identity from the men's Handball Liga Austria, distinguished by its specific branding and the historic concentration of success in a single club. That club also maintained a regular presence in the EHF Champions League during its peak years.

The 2026 season marks the current iteration of this long-standing tournament. The structure remains consistent with the double round-robin regular season leading into a playoff series. The focus remains on determining the national champion through the final Best-of-three encounter. The participating teams compete for the title and the opportunity to represent Austria in European competitions. The league continues to operate under the same organizational framework established decades ago.