Handball in the United States

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by the U.S. Olympic Committee.[3] Previously, the governing body was the United States Team Handball Federation, but was revoked of its governing duties by the United States Olympic Committee.

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
Locations of the seven clubs in NY and NJ
Location of Union City and New York are not clear

John Jakobs was the founder of the first handball section (First German Sport Club of Brooklyn) 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 Turnverein Union City and the First German Sport Club of Brooklyn. The game ended in a 9 to 9 draw. Newark TV joined the other two and they played some friendly games.

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

SeasonLeagueCupTeams
1929Not heldGerman Sport Club of Elizabeth
1929-30First German Sport Club of BrooklynFirst German Sport Club of Brooklyn?
1930-31Newark TV?
1931-32Newark TV??
1932-33Not held??
1933-34First German Sport Club of Brooklyn??
1934-35Newark TV??
1935-36Cake Baker's Sport Club[6]??
1936-37???
1937-38Cake Baker's Sport Club[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 German American Athletic Union.[8]

After the World War II handball had no national body until 1959 as the United States Team Handball Federation was founded. In 1962 nine teams from New York and New Jersey played in a league as a winter conditioner for soccer.[9] In 1963 already 20 teams with 200 players played handball.[10]

Middle school

San Francisco Bay Area

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

YearLeagueCup
2017Stanbridge[11]Lycée Français[12]
2018Bret Harte[13]Bret Harte[14]
2019 Bret Harte Castillero

Current members of the Youth Team Handball Middle School League:

  • Bret Harte Middle School
  • Castillero Middle School
  • San Francisco Team Handball
  • Stanbridge Academy
  • Sterne School

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 San Francisco CalHeat THC are the high school competitions in the SF Bay Area.

YearLeagueCup
2016Sterne[15]Sterne[16]
2017Sterne[11]Sterne[12]
2018Lycée Français[17]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.[14]

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.[18]

SeasonCountyDivision
2012-13noneClarksburg (West)
Blair (East)
2013-14MargruderMagrunder (West)
Blair (South)
2014-15BlairWootton (South)
Sherwood (East)
2015-16WoottonSherwood (D-1)
Wootton (D-2)
2016-17BlairSherwood (D-1)
Blair (D-2)
2017-18WoottonSherwood (D-1)
Wootton (D-2)
2018-19[19]Walt WhitmanSherwood (D-1)
Walt Whitman (D-2)
2019-20[20]BlairSherwood (D-1)
Blair (D-2)

Source:[21]

Current members of the MCPS handball:

Professional league

In 2020, a former USA Team Handball CEO Barry Siff said that they are planning to create an American professional team handball league sponsored by Verizon.[22] They are planning to have the owners until the end of 2020. They are planning to launch the league in 2023 with 10 teams with each team initially worth $3 million to $5 million and want to cooperate with NBA or NHL owners in one-tenant arena situations.[23] To create multisports clubs like FC Barcelona or Paris Saint-Germain.[24]

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. "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). German American Athletic Union. 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. "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.
  10. Feldhandball-Weltmeisterschaft (Program for the Field WC 1963) (in German). 1963. p. 29.
  11. "Youth Team Handball League-2017". San Francisco CalHeat THC. Archived from the original on 2019-06-12. Retrieved 2019-06-12.
  12. "Youth California Cup 2017". San Francisco CalHeat THC. Archived from the original on 2019-06-12. Retrieved 2019-06-12.
  13. "Youth Team Handball Middle School League". San Francisco CalHeat THC. Archived from the original on 2019-06-12. Retrieved 2019-06-12.
  14. "Youth California Cup 2018". San Francisco CalHeat THC. Archived from the original on 2019-06-12. Retrieved 2019-06-12.
  15. "Youth Team Handball League 2016". San Francisco CalHeat THC. Archived from the original on 2019-06-12. Retrieved 2016-06-12.
  16. "Youth California Cup 2016". San Francisco CalHeat THC. Archived from the original on 2019-06-12. Retrieved 2019-06-12.
  17. "Youth Team Handball High School League". San Francisco CalHeat THC. Archived from the original on 2019-06-12. Retrieved 2019-06-12.
  18. "Corollary Sports". Montgomery County Public Schools (Maryland). Archived from the original on 2019-06-12. Retrieved 2019-06-12.
  19. @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.
  20. @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.
  21. "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.
  22. "Professional handball League in USA with 10 teams to start in 2023? | Handball Planet".
  23. "Verizon steps into Rings, sponsors Team Handball".
  24. Lefton, Terry (22 January 2020). "Verizon steps into the Olympic rings, sponsors Team Handball". New York Business Journal. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
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