Handball in the United States

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Handball in the United States is a minor sport.[1] The U.S. is represented in international competitions, such as the Summer Olympics and the Pan American Games, by the United States men's national handball team and the United States women's national handball team. The U.S. men's and women's teams have struggled in international competitions against nations where handball is more popular.[2]

It is governed by USA Team Handball, which is funded in part by the U.S. Olympic Committee.[3] Previously, the governing body was the United States Team Handball Federation, but was revoked of its governing duties by the United States Olympic Committee.[citation needed]

Handball is starting to be recognized by a few notable universities, such as University of Virginia, UNC, UCLA, UC Berkeley, United States Naval Academy, United States Military Academy, United States Air Force Academy, Texas A&M University and others. Those schools and academies along with other amateur teams participate in the Club National Championships and Collegiate National Championships, one for men and the other for women.[4][5] There are also several club level leagues in various sections of the country, like the Midwest Team Handball League, Northeast Team Handball League, and the Great Lakes Team Handball Association.

History[]

[Interactive fullscreen map]
Locations of the seven clubs in NY and NJ
Location of Union City and New York are not clear

was the founder of the first handball section () in the USA. On 26 May 1926 he made a call in the New Yorker Herold to promote handball.

On 28 October 1926 the first field handball game was played between the and the . The game ended in a 9 to 9 draw. joined the other two and they played some friendly games.

In 1927 the (GAAU) started to sponsor field handball the first handball chairman was from First German Sport Club of Brooklyn. In the season 1927-28 only friendly games were played.

Season League Cup Teams
1929 Not held
7 teams
1929-30 ?
1930-31 ?
13 teams
1931-32 ? ?
1932-33 Not held ? ?
1933-34 ? ?
1934-35 ? ?
1935-36 [6] ? ?
1936-37 ? ? ?
1937-38 [6] ? ?

Because handball was part of the 1936 Summer Olympics the Amateur Athletic Association started to sponsor field handball in 1934. Many of the handball leaders of the DAAV were chosen to lead the handball committee of the AAU.[7]

In 1942 the Office of Alien Property Custodian seized all records of the .[8]

After the World War II handball had no national body until 1959 as the United States Team Handball Federation was founded. In the same year the was found. The Elizabeth S.C. won at least all season until 1967.[9] In 1962 nine teams from New York and New Jersey played in that league as a winter conditioner for soccer.[10] In 1963 already 20 teams with 200 players played handball.[11]

Middle school[]

San Francisco Bay Area[]

The Youth Team Handball Middle School League and Youth California Cup organized by are the only competitions accommodating middle school in the USA.

Year League Cup
2017 Stanbridge[12] Lycée Français[13]
2018 Bret Harte[14] Bret Harte[15]
2019 Bret Harte Castillero

Current members of the Youth Team Handball Middle School League:

Past members of the Youth Team Handball Middle School League:

  • Lycée Français de San Francisco (until 2018)

High school[]

San Francisco Bay Area[]

The Youth Team Handball High School League and Youth California Cup organized by are the high school competitions in the SF Bay Area.

Year League Cup
2016 Sterne[16] Sterne[17]
2017 Sterne[12] Sterne[13]
2018 Lycée Français[18] Lycée Français 1
2019 Leland Leland
1 Youth Cup was cancelled due to bad air quality because of the Camp Fire (2018). Lycée Français got the title because of their regular season record.[15]

Current members of the Youth Team Handball High School League:

Past members of the Youth Team Handball High School League:

  • Compass High School (until 2018)
  • Lycée Français de San Francisco (until 2018)

Montgomery County, Maryland[]

The MCPS Athletics offers team handball as corollary sports.[19]

Season School Division
2012-13 none Clarksburg (West)
Blair (East)
2013-14 Margruder Magrunder (West)
Blair (South)
2014-15 Blair Wootton (South)
Sherwood (East)
2015-16 Wootton Sherwood (D-1)
Wootton (D-2)
2016-17 Blair Sherwood (D-1)
Blair (D-2)
2017-18 Wootton Sherwood (D-1)
Wootton (D-2)
2018-19[20] Walt Whitman Sherwood (D-1)
Walt Whitman (D-2)
2019-20[21] Blair Sherwood (D-1)
Blair (D-2)

Source:[22]

Current members of the MCPS handball:

Professional leagues[]

In 1978, the National Teamball League was formed with six clubs: the Detroit Hawks, Chicago Chiefs, Boston Comets, New York Stags, Philadelphia Warriors and Pittsburgh Points. The NTL (described as an "Americanized" version of team handball, with faster play and higher scores) was bankrolled by Aben Johnson, Jr., owner of WXON-TV in Detroit, and WXON aired the league's first game, a 48-26 victory by Detroit over Chicago.[23] The match, played in front of about 800 people at Macomb County Community College in Warren, Michigan, was taped in early December and aired on WXON on Friday, December 8, 1978, and again the next day.[24]

The Hawks-Chiefs matchup was the only NTL match known to have been televised; in fact, it was one of the few known to have been played, as press coverage of the loop was almost nonexistent. A local Boston-area newspaper, the Charlestown Patriot and Somerville Chronicle, covered at least one of their matches, as the Comets played at Medford Street Gym in Charlestown, Massachusetts with several local players. After a win over Detroit (the Hawks' first loss of the season) on February 3, 1979, the Comets record was reported as 4-0, including two victories over Philadelphia in December. Whether the league's first season (scheduled to run through April 1979) was completed is unknown; most likely, the NTL died quickly and disappeared. ("National Teamball League, Inc." was incorporated by Johnson in August 1978 and dissolved in March 1980.)[25]

In 2020, former USA Team Handball CEO Barry Siff stated that plans were in development to create an American professional team handball league.[26] The new, unnamed league's launch is scheduled for 2023, with 10 teams initially worth three to five million dollars apiece. There are also plans to cooperate with NBA or NHL owners in one-tenant arena situations,[27] and perhaps create multisports clubs like FC Barcelona or Paris Saint-Germain.[28]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "How USA Team Handball Plans to Break Through – SportsTravel".
  2. ^ "Why isn’t handball popular in the US?", Boston Globe, Shira Springer, August 16, 2016.
  3. ^ "Team Handball: Why the U.S. Stinks", Wall Street Journal, Barry Newman, August 22, 2008.
  4. ^ http://usateamhandball.org/content/index/6497
  5. ^ http://usateamhandball.org/event/event/1394
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b "Zwölf Jahre Cake Baker's Sport Club" [Twelve years Cake Baker's Sport Club]. 15. Stiftungsfest Deutsch-Amerikanischer Athletik-Verband von Nordamerika Festschrift [15. anniversary celebration German American Athletic Union of North America commemorative] (in German). . 1941. p. 109.
  7. ^ "Vom Handball" [From handball]. Zehnjähriges Jubiläum 1925 - 1935 [Tenth anniversary 1925 - 1935] (in German). New York City: Deutsch-Amerikanischer Athletik-Verband von Nord-Amerika. 1935. OCLC 1070710652.
  8. ^ "Seized Records of the German American Athletic Union, ca. 1942 - 1950". National Archives and Records Administration. Archived from the original on 18 December 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  9. ^ "Team Handball Tourney Slated At Summit Gym". . 9 November 1967. p. 8. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  10. ^ "German Team to Play Rugged Sport of European Handball Here". New York Times: 37. 2 April 1962. Archived from the original on 16 January 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2021. Played only sporadically here by foreign-born members of sports club as a winter conditioner for soccer, European handball has grown into a nine-team league in New York and New Jersey.
  11. ^ Feldhandball-Weltmeisterschaft (Program for the Field WC 1963) (in German). 1963. p. 29.
  12. ^ Jump up to: a b "Youth Team Handball League-2017". . Archived from the original on 2019-06-12. Retrieved 2019-06-12.
  13. ^ Jump up to: a b "Youth California Cup 2017". . Archived from the original on 2019-06-12. Retrieved 2019-06-12.
  14. ^ "Youth Team Handball Middle School League". . Archived from the original on 2019-06-12. Retrieved 2019-06-12.
  15. ^ Jump up to: a b "Youth California Cup 2018". . Archived from the original on 2019-06-12. Retrieved 2019-06-12.
  16. ^ "Youth Team Handball League 2016". . Archived from the original on 2019-06-12. Retrieved 2016-06-12.
  17. ^ "Youth California Cup 2016". . Archived from the original on 2019-06-12. Retrieved 2019-06-12.
  18. ^ "Youth Team Handball High School League". . Archived from the original on 2019-06-12. Retrieved 2019-06-12.
  19. ^ "Corollary Sports". Montgomery County Public Schools (Maryland). Archived from the original on 2019-06-12. Retrieved 2019-06-12.
  20. ^ @MCPSAthletics (2018-11-07). "Congratulations to @WWHSAthletics Team Handball 2018 County Champions! #WeRAISE" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 2019-06-12. Retrieved 2019-06-12 – via Twitter.
  21. ^ @MCPSAthletics (2019-11-07). "Congratulations to @BlairAthletics for winning the 2019 @MCPS Team Handball Championship! Great season for @WarriorResults, who finish season as division champions! Congratulations to both teams on a well-played, exciting game! #WeRAISE" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 2019-11-06. Retrieved 2020-06-29 – via Twitter.
  22. ^ "Team Handball Champions" (PDF; 124 KB). Montgomery County Public Schools (Maryland). 2018-07-03. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-06-12. Retrieved 2019-06-12.
  23. ^ "Yes, folks, yet another pro sport".
  24. ^ "Sports on television, Detroit Free Press".
  25. ^ "NATIONAL TEAMBALL LEAGUE, INC".
  26. ^ "Professional handball League in USA with 10 teams to start in 2023? | Handball Planet".
  27. ^ "Verizon steps into Rings, sponsors Team Handball".
  28. ^ Lefton, Terry (22 January 2020). "Verizon steps into the Olympic rings, sponsors Team Handball". New York Business Journal. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
Retrieved from ""