US Team Handball Women's National Team

The USA Team Handball Women’s National Team (WNT) will host the first of four tournaments in the Northeast Team Handball Conference (NETHC) on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 19-20,
Competition will take place in Lusk Field House on the SUNY Cortland campus and will feature four or the five teams from the NETHC Women’s Division: USA, West Point and University of North Carolina (UNC) and the recently formed Cortland team.

The NETHC was created in 2004 by WNT Head Coach and League Commissioner Christian Latulippe to provide an opportunity for teams to compete on a more regular basis.
“The inaugural season was a great success, and the league has seen significant progress in the last year with the addition of several new teams to both the men and women’s division,” said Latullipe. “I’m very happy that UNC and Furman joined the league this year. They will be a nice addition to the NETHC.”

League expansion discussions have started and those being considered for NETHC membership include the University of Pennsylvania, Atlanta, and New England, a trio of squads that may play some friendly games with NETHC teams during the current season.

“We’re hopeful that we can increase our numbers to eight teams by next year,” explains Latulippe. “It’s an exciting time. We’re at the beginning of building a well-structured American Handball league, and with so many college teams, it looks to be the inception of a collegiate league as well.”

This weekend’s tournament begins on Saturday at 1 p.m. with a match between the defending NETHC champions, the WNT, and UNC, the 2004 collegiate national champions. Nine games will be played throughout the weekend, ending on Sunday with a match between Army and the WNT. A schedule can be viewed on the NETHC website: www.nethc.org.

“The WNT is excited to host this tournament in Cortland, the home of their National Training Center and Residency Training Program,” added Latulippe. “To encourage members of the community to come see the exciting sport of Team Handball and to cheer on their National Team, WNT members will be distributing over a thousand tickets free of charge.”