US Team Handball Women's National Team

by: Jennifer Farrell

CORTLAND, NY- During the weekend of April 28-30, team handball players from around the country gathered in Houston’s George R. Brown Convention Center for the 2006 Team Handball Club Open Nationals. Among the hundreds of men and women competing for a National Championship title were eleven members of the US Team Handball Women’s National Team (WNT).

Despite some of the challenges faced by the team handball community over the last several months, the annual Club Nationals came off spectacularly. This was in major part due to the efforts of the US Olympic Committee, who along with the Harris County Houston Sports Authority, organized and supported the event in just a few short weeks.

The games, which began Friday morning and lasted through Sunday afternoon, were held on three full-length courts on the top floor of the convention center. As in the past, there were two men’s divisions and a women’s division, which this year boasted a total of nine teams from several regions of the country: Cortland (Northeast), West Point Black (Northeast), West Point Gold (Northeast), Carolina (Southeast), Rock (South), Atlanta Metro (South), Firehawks (Southwest), Shooting Stars (Southwest), and the Smurfs (West).

The US Women’s National Team was proud to send eleven of its players to participate in Nationals, the most representation from the WNT in several years. Kathy Darling (DE), Erin Kizer(NY), and Sara Merkl(MD) played with Cortland, while California natives Jennie Choi, Sarah Gascon, Jacque Messel, and Jennifer Farrell played with the Smurfs. Also representing the WNT was Lucy Leahy who played with the Shooting Stars, Maren Hendershot who played with Carolina, and Celia Nowicki who played with West Point. WNT Captain and 2006 Player of the Year, Tomuke Ebuwei, attended this year as a referee, arbitrating the gold medal game for the women’s division.

“It was a great experience for me, mostly because the National Team girls split up, and we got to play against each other,” said Sarah Gascon, who attended Nationals for the first time. “There whole tournament was about going out there and playing for the enjoyment of the sport. Of course our team wanted to win, but we also had fun cheering on our teammates in different clubs, as well as watching some great handball on both the men and women’s side.”

“It was my fifth time at Nationals,” said West Point alum and WNT player Jennie Choi. “It was definitely a lot different to play with a team like the Smurfs who had never even practiced together before the tournament began. The experience was much more unique than playing with a group of girls I’d been training with for several years. It definitely took some time for us to learn how to play together, but each game things improved, and by the end we looked like a real team. I think that was the best part of it, getting to know and play with some new people.”

“This was the perfect competition for us after a long and challenging season in the Quebec League,” said Kathy Darling, who was the second leading scorer of the tournament and tournament MVP. “There was a lot of pressure on us at the end of our season with playoffs and trying to make the finals in the Quebec League. Nationals was a great time for us to go out on the court and have a good time, play with some different people, and enjoy the competition. It was a nice change of pace, and a good reminder of why we want and need to succeed as a National Team.”

At the end of the tournament, the Smurfs and Cortland faced off in the championship match of the women’s division. The two teams, neither of which had lost a game over the weekend, had tied each other earlier during the semi-final round. It was an exciting game for both teams, and in the end the Smurfs took the gold with a close 20-18 win.

“It was a fun weekend to ref,” said WNT player and captain Tomuke Ebuwei, who refereed the final match between the Smurfs and Cortland. “The competition was clean, and the best part was that the teams were well-matched. So many games came down to just one or two point wins, and it made them really exciting. I also think that because many of the players knew each other, there was good sportsmanship all around.”

“I will definitely go again,” said Gascon. “I think we had a good turn-out of WNT players, but you can always have more. And hopefully next year we’ll see some new teams and more competition. That’s what makes it fun.”

Since returning from the Nationals, the WNT players have been in an intensive training period in preparation for their three-week European Tour and the USA Cup that they will host at the end of June. For more information, please visit the website.