Darrick Heath was one of those players that made the whole team work and flow. He played a number of positions and was a major offensive weapon for Team USA. That was up until this February. That’s the month Heath and his SUV was struck by a drunk driver fracturing one of his vertebra in his lower back.

Heath is doing everything he can to make sure he’s able to get back on the court this August as Team USA competes in the Pan American Games with a birth at the 2004 Olympics in Athens on the line. Heath is currently at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. receiving intensive physical therapy in hopes of making his August deadline.

Q1: How has physical therapy been going for you since you’ve been out here?

DARRICK HEATH: I can definitely see how coming out here was the right choice. Being involved with Sports Medicine out here, they do a really good job not just with me but with all the athletes they come in contact with. They have a way of designing a program for each athlete that is designated for that athlete. Each situation is different. For example, I wouldn’t be doing something that someone else with the same injury would be doing. It varies from person to person, and that’s what I like about it out here. If I would have stayed in Atlanta, I would have only been doing therapy maybe twice a week where as out here it’s twice a day and now I’m way ahead of the curve.

Q2: What went into making that decision whether you stayed in Atlanta or came out to Colorado Springs?

DARRICK HEATH: Being healthy enough to play in the Pan Am Games in Augusts had a lot to do with it. I mean that’s our qualifier for the Olympic Games. I knew that since my injury was in February, and what it would consist of my back going through and if I would have stayed in August, I most likely wouldn’t be ready by August. I knew I had to give myself the best chance to get back, so I talked to my NGB a little bit and they agreed this was the best route to take if I was serious about getting back in August.

Q2a: A lot of it then boils down to you doing what you had to for the team then doesn’t it?

DARRICK HEATH: Absolutely. We don’t have a lot of pieces right now. We have a certain number of guys that contribute different things in our sport. If I stayed in Atlanta, there was that threat of us not qualifying for the Olympics at the Pan Am Games because one of those pieces in that puzzle was missing. By coming out here and endure a very aggressive physical therapy program with treatment three times a day, six days a week, and the trade being me being able to come back and play. The thing with this accident is that it doesn’t just affect me it affects the lives of 18 other people. I mean that’s the sad part about it. We had our program set as to what direction we needed to go with our sport. There’s no guarantee that I’ll be able to play in August but at least I’m giving myself the best chance.

Q3: How long until you head back to Atlanta, and what’s the plan when you get there?

DARRICK HEATH: It’ll be about another three weeks before I head back, and then it’ll be more physical therapy. From my understanding, I’m going to be in physical therapy for the rest of my life for this type of injury. We have a camp in Atlanta at the end of May and I’m going to do some testing there and see how I feel.

Q4: What are the odds you’ll be ready for the Pan Ams in August?

DARRICK HEATH: They’re (the doctors) keeping a very optimistic view of all this, but I am coming back from a very serious back injury. Originally they were giving me a 60% chance of coming back and recovering under normal situations. If we weren’t playing until October, November, it wouldn’t even be a question as to whether I would be back playing and 100%. With us having to qualify in August, the time frame and window is so small that they’re not ruling it out, but it’s too early to tell.

I actually met with the doctors yesterday and I’m getting past the half-way point. Right now I’m about 60% right now. There’s still a lot of tweaking that needs to be done. I have to still get ready for the physical requirements that’ll take place at the end of May. Once I reach that, then there’s another phase of getting ready for playing, the contact and jumping, and the stuff like that. I was a high-flying guy and I want to get up there again. I’m staying positive though.

I’ve played for 14 years and no one wants to end their career like this, on the sidelines because of an injury. I could handle not being able to do my sport anymore if people were like, “you’re a little up there in age, we’re probably going to need to go in a different direction.” That would be cool, but that’s not the case here. I was at the top of my game and this accident happen. It’s crazy.

Q5: What exactly do you have to do at the Pan Am Games this summer to qualify for the Athens Olympics in 2004, do you have to place first?

DARRICK HEATH: Yes, we have to win the gold medal to get to Athens.

Q5a: Let’s say we have a 100% Darrick Heath, what are the odds of that happening?

DARRICK HEATH: It’s going to be tough either way whether I’m there or not there. We haven’t won the Americas since 1987. We’ve come very close, but the pieces weren’t in place then like they are now. We have for the first time a very good trainer/coach from Romania that is now the National Team coach. We have some players that are just joining the team and really contributing. There’s a guy that used to play on the Egyptian National Team that is now an American citizen and he’s playing with us now. There’s a number of veterans that are still there, and then there’s myself that can play a number of different positions. It seems for the first time we have all the pieces in place, where as in the past we were kind of short-handed because we were dealing with guys who weren’t playing as long or just weren’t accustomed to our program so to speak. Right now, across the board we have people who have been in the mix for awhile and things look really good. It’s a very good situation.

Q6: What got you involved in such an uncommon sport like Team Handball?

DARRICK HEATH: I played college basketball at Long Island University. It’s a pretty small school (Division II), and one of the teams that we used to play had a gentleman from Hungary that had defected in 1956 had a very small handball club. He had this wacky idea of turning basketball players into handball athletes. He approached myself and another teammate and asked us what are plans were. I told him I’d probably go play overseas. He asked if I had ever thought about going to the Olympics, and I was like, whoa, what are you talking about and got some more information.

Shortly after that I came out to Colorado Springs, Colo. for a handball clinic/camp and I liked it so much that I decided to make it my sport.

Q7: Have you gotten back on the courts basketball wise lately?

DARRICK HEATH: I really don’t play ball too much. Every now and then I might go out with my friends and play a little bit maybe get a little pick up games in now and then. I could hold my own and still play, there’s no problem there (laughing).

Funny story there. USA Basketball used to train here when we (the team handball team) were resident athletes on the national team. They had players on the team like Gary Payton (currently with the Milwaukee Bucks of the NBA), Doug Smith (formerly of the Dallas Mavericks of the NBA), and Bobby Cremins was their coach. We had handball practice right before the basketball practices, and I remember Bobby Cremins saying something like, “can you do anything with this ball?” I grabbed the ball and took off just inside the foul line and dunked it. He was like, “wow, but do you have any more skills with it?” For the next 5 minutes or so I put on a total dunking display that blew a lot of their minds.

I can still handle my own, but I really don’t play anymore. I’m going to focus right here on team handball

Q8: What’s the perfect description of team handball for those that don’t know what it is?

DARRICK HEATH: The greatest sport you’ve never seen! It’s a combination of pure excitement, head rush, physicality of hockey, speed of basketball, finesse of something like tennis. You can always describe it with sports like soccer or water polo, but you have to really see it to appreciate it. A description doesn’t really give it justice. As long as people know we’re not hitting the ball against the wall, we’re cool with it!

Q9: How does it compare to basketball for you?

DARRICK HEATH: For me my basketball skills have really crossed over to handball. I really believe that I was born to play this sport, and it just took me awhile to find it. If I had to chose between playing in the NBA and playing professional handball, I’d chose professional handball. I mean I’ve gotten the chance to play professionally and I just like the different flow of everything.

Basketball for me was really never a challenge because I grew up playing basketball since I was a kid. Having the chance to become a world-class athlete in a sport I didn’t grow up playing, I thought that was more of an accomplishment.

Q10: What do you think of Flower’s cooking at the OTC’s cafeteria?

DARRICK HEATH: (laughing) Flower is the BOMB! We go way back from when I lived out here and all in the café do a great job.