US Team Handball Women's National Team

The US Women’s National Handball Team (WNT) has recently returned to Cortland after competing in the 2005 Pan-American Championships in Sao Paolo, Brazil. The weeklong competition, which is held every two years in North or South America, was the first international competition for the WNT since beginning their year-round residency program at SUNY Cortland last August. Following an excellent display of effort and commitment, the team finished in sixth-place at the end of the tournament. “We knew that the level of competition would be high for a lot of our new players,” said Head Coach Christian Latulippe, “Hopefully they learned a lot from this experience, and have a better idea of where we need to be two years from now.” Although a top three finish would have secured a qualification for the 2005 World Championships, the primary goal of the WNT this time around was to gain international experience for the largely neophyte team.

The Pan-American Championships commenced with the Opening Ceremony on May 25, during which the six teams (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Dominican Republic, United States, and Uruguay) were officially welcomed with a keynote address and the playing of the national anthems. It was also the first day of competition, and the US kicked off the week with an exciting game against Uruguay, who was ranked third coming into the tournament. The game was close throughout the first and second half; there were several lead changes and rarely a distance of more than a few goals between the two teams. The end of the second half found the US down a few players due to some two-minute penalties, and Uruguay was able to take advantage of this to pull off a 28-24 win. “This was a game where we realized that if we want to win, we need to have contributions from every position,” said Latulippe, “Our backcourts had a strong game, but we were short at the wings. It was difficult because we had four wings with no international experience, but this was a perfect example of how important it is for us to be able to put the ball in from every position.”

The second game for the WNT found them facing a familiar, but always challenging adversary: Canada. Having played over 30 games in the Quebec League last year, the WNT had an idea about where the strengths and weaknesses of the Canadian team might be. The game started off well for the US, who went into half time with a two-point lead and real chance to win the game. “We started out really strong with a 4-2 defense, then we switched to a 5-1 and we weren’t scored on for fifteen minutes,” said Latulippe. Unfortunately, the familiarity between the WNT and Canada went both ways, and after half time the US found some of its own weaknesses exploited as Canada went on to win the game 24-15. In the second half, their goalie made a lot of key saves, giving them control of the ball, and a chance to score quickly on fast break," explains Latulippe. "The backcourt had a tough time; the Canadian goalie had an amazing game -she went 63% against us- and we were unable to put the ball in consistently. We know we can play at the same level as these teams, but we need a good 60 minutes. We cannot afford for a few key players to have a bad game.”

Following the disappointing loss to Canada, the WNT regrouped to face the defending gold-medalists and first-ranked Brazil. This game was unquestionably the most intense of the tournament for the WNT, who did a brilliant job of keeping their focus amid a stadium packed with thousands of fans cheering for the home team. Although the game ended with a final score of 27-8, it was one of the most impressive games of the competition; the WNT was the only team to hold Brazil below 30 points, with the exception of Argentina, who lost to Brazil in the championship match 24-10. This game was an important one for the WNT, as it gave them a real sense of how they must play if they want to win gold in 2007. Head Coach Christian Latulippe agreed: “This was undeniably the best defense of the year, we played an aggressive 6-0, European style and it worked very well for us. We stopped their fast break, which is how they dominate games, and we had two rookie goalies doing a great job. Offensively it was tough because of our skill level- we had a tough time beating the goalies. All around it was a great effort from our team, although it did show us that our offense is our greatest weakness right now.”

By the end of the week, the WNT was getting a feel for what to expect at the international level. The WNT played their final two games against second-ranked Argentina, and the very physical Dominican Republic. In an all too familiar fashion, the first halves found the USA keeping victory within their reach, only to lose momentum briefly in the second half, to ultimately result in a loss. Although the athleticism and passion of the WNT was clear throughout the tournament, their inexperience contributed to the small mistakes that meant the difference between a loss and a win. “In our game against the Dominican Republic we had 38 turnovers, which is just unacceptable," said Latulippe. "Being ahead at halftime 14-13, and then losing by 9- that is a very bad second half. We know now that if we want to win, we need to play hard for 60 minutes, and be able to score those big goals. These are things we can fix, and next time we will come to the competition with more skill and more experience.”

Overall the experience of the WNT at the Pan-American Championships was a very positive one. While the losses were disappointing, the morale of the players remains high, and the WNT has found an even greater motivation to continue working toward their ultimate goal of winning gold in 2007. There were many positive things to be taken from these games; the defense was one of the strongest in the tournament, and the pure athleticism of the WNT was able to keep them competitive against teams with much more experienced players. With the 2007 Pan-American Championships and Games fast approaching, the focus now is to return to Cortland and begin building on what was learned during this year’s tournament. “My overall feeling? That this was a great eye-opener,” said Latuilppe.“Everybody now understands the level where we need to play if we want to achieve great things. We have a feeling that this is possible; in a year, we could easily be at the top two, top three, and closer to beating Brazil. Everyone is more committed than ever, to train hard, raise money, travel, and play more international competitions. Our losses this time around were not from a lack of effort, but from a lack of experience. I’m happy about the way the team supported each other, and the positive attitude that they had throughout the tournament. I’m happy because this is an experience that we can build on.”