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Countdown to Beijing '08 - Team handball
// USOC Media Services // October 3, 2006
Outlook
In 2008, the United States Team Handball Teams (Women and Men) will be looking to return to the Olympic Games for the first time since 1996 when the U.S. last hosted the Olympic Games in Atlanta, Ga.
The Olympic tournament for Team Handball is limited to twelve women’s teams and twelve men’s teams, making qualification a daunting task. The U.S. will face this task in 2007. The International Handball Federation has determined three qualification opportunities for countries hoping to compete at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. The winners of the 2007 World Championships (women and men) will automatically qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games. The Men’s Team Handball World Championships will be held January 19 to February 4, 2007, in Germany, and the Women’s Team Handball World Championships will be held December 2-16, 2007, in
France. The primary opportunity for the U.S. Teams to qualify looks to be through the continental qualifying tournament which will be the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 13-29, 2007. The gold medal winner in both the women’s and men’s tournament at the Pan American Games will automatically qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games. The third means of qualifying will be through International Handball Federation Qualifying Events. Six women’s teams and six men’s teams will qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games through International Handball Federation Qualifying Events.
The future looks promising for the U.S. Women’s National Team Handball Team which, in August 2004, moved its resident team training program to SUNY Cortland (State University of New York – Cortland, N.Y.). The U.S. Women’s National Team is currently competing in the Quebec League based out of Quebec, Canada, the oldest Team Handball league in North America and the closest thing to a professional league on the continent. The women’s team is led by team captain Tomuke Ebuwei (Ft. Washington, Md./Cortland, N.Y.), Kathy Darling (Milford, Del./Cortland, N.Y.), Edina Batar (New York, N.Y./Cortland, N.Y.), Sarah Gascon (San Pedro, Calif./Cortland, N.Y.), Megan Ballard (Atlanta, Ga./Cortland, N.Y.), Maren Hendershot (Cortland, N.Y.), Jen Haubrich (Bow, N.H./Cortland, N.Y.) and Erika Bohn (Rutland, Vt./Cortland, N.Y.).
The majority of the athletes of the U.S. Men’s National Team Handball program currently train primarily in Atlanta, Ga. Top athletes for the men’s team include Danny Caperelli (Long Island, N.Y.), Tom Fitzgerald (Atlanta, Ga.), Gary Hines (Atlanta, Ga.) Jeff Goss (Atlanta, Ga.), John Kelly (Atlanta, Ga.), Italo Zanzi (New York, N.Y.) and Alex McGlynn (Atlanta, Ga.).
Storylines
Athletes Coming From Other Sports – Many athletes playing on the U.S. National Team Handball Team came to the sport after being highly successful and competitive in other sports including volleyball, basketball, baseball and track and field.
U.S. Military Athletes – Several elite-level U.S. athletes in the sport of team handball serve their country as members of the United States Army and participate in the U.S. Army’s World Class Athlete Program. On the women’s side, Jacqueline Messel (Mt. Pleasant, Iowa/Cortland, N.Y.), Sunny Chen (Virginia Beach, Va./Cortland, N.Y.), Jennifer Choi (Valencia, Calif./Cortland, N.Y.), Sara Merkl (Upper Marlboro, Md./Cortland, N.Y.) and Celia Nowicki (Cincinnati, Ohio/Cortland, N.Y.) all graduated from the United States Military Academy.
Italo Zanzi (New York, N.Y.) – Is running in the 2006 race to represent New York City in the United States Congress. Prior to his full time commitment to the election campaign, he was Vice President for Major League Baseball working in International Development.
Danny Capparelli (Long Island, N.Y.) – The goal keeper for the U.S. Men’s team is a policeman in Long Island, N.Y.
Tomuke Ebuwei (Ft. Washington, Md./Cortland, N.Y.) – The captain of the U.S. Women’s National Team Handball team came to the sport of team handball from the sport of volleyball. A graduate of Penn State University, Ebuwei led the Nittany Lions to two NCAA Division I Volleyball Championships.
Sarah Gascon (San Pedro, Calif./Cortland, N.Y.) – Before joining the U.S. Women’s National Team Handball team in November 2005, Gascon was the starting centerfielder for the first-ever USA Women’s Baseball Team.
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