US Team Handball Women's National Team

Creation of the Women’s USA Team Handball National Team

In the beginning of the 1970’s, the first USA Women’s National Training Squad was formed. The main objective of that team was to qualify for the 1976 Olympics held in Montreal. This was the first Olympics in which women competed in team handball. This squad played the first international game in the history of the Women’s USA Team Handball National Team. Unfortunately, the team did not qualify for the 1976 Olympics.

Olympic Games Participation

After the boycott of the Moscow Olympics in 1980, the Women’s USA Team Handball National Team made their first appearance in the Olympics at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. At these Games, the National Team made their best international result ever with a 4th place. Unfortunately, they lost the bronze medal game against China.

In 1987, the Pan American Team Handball Federation decided that the winner of the Pan American Games would qualify for the upcoming Olympic Games. This system is still in place today. At the 1987 Pan American Games in Indianapolis, the Women’s National Team finished first, and consequently qualified for the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. This was the first time that the team qualified for the Olympics by winning the Pan American Games. The team finished in 7th place in the Seoul Olympics.

By winning the 1991 Pan American Games held in Havana, Cuba, the USA qualified for the 1992 Olympic Games. In their 3rd Olympic appearance the USA finished in 6th place. Then 3 years later, after recruiting new athletes and restructuring the team, the USA held their domination of the Pan American countries by winning the 1995 Pan American Games in Argentina. Although the team was automatically qualified for being the host country, the 1995 Pan American Games win solidified their legitimacy in earning a spot at the 1996 Olympic Games held in Atlanta, Georgia, where they finished in 8th place.

During the 12 years between 1984 and 1996, the Women’s National Team also competed in numerous World Championships. In 1975 in Russia, the team finished 11th out of 12 teams. In 1982 in Hungary, the team finished 11th out of 12 teams. In 1986 in the Netherlands, they finished 16th out of 16 teams. In 1993 in Norway, the National Team had their best performance at a World Championship, finishing 12th out of 16 teams, and finally in 1995 in Hungary, the team tied for 17th out of 20 teams. Unfortunately, after 4 Olympic participations and 5 World Championship participations, the team never won a medal.

Transition Period: Time for a Change

Despite a Pan American dominance, the USA teams continued to struggle on the world stage….never being able to crack into the Top 10 teams in the world. After the 1996 Olympic Games, USA Team Handball adopted a new vision of grassroots development in an effort to solve this challenge. While the concept was and remains to be effective, the National Team athletes suffered by the lack of a training program. Because of budgetary cuts, USA Team Handball could not support National Teams and grassroots development at the same time. Those that wanted to continue their careers elected to play on club teams overseas, while others simply hung up their handball shoes. It would not be until 1999 that the Women`s National Team competed together again.

After only 2 months of preparation with a new and inexperienced squad, the Women`s National Team put forth a valiant effort at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Canada. Needing to win the tournament in order to qualify for the 2000 Olympic Games, the USA fell short by placing 4th. While this team was hailed as one of the most cohesive teams in the history of USA Women`s Team Handball, the lack of experience and preparation time proved to be their nemesis.

New Hope: A Strong Program with a Bright Future

In 2002, Dawn Allinger-Lewis and Kim Clarke developed a twelve-year plan to restart the Women’s National Team Program. With the help of the United States Olympic Committee, they established a residency program at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, New York.

Presently the Women’s National Team is competing in the Circuit Québécois (Quebec League) based out of Quebec, Canada. The Quebec League is the oldest team handball league in North America, and the closest thing to a professional league on this continent. In existence since 1986, it coordinates the handball activities of approximately 45 teams (Senior, Junior and Youth – men and women) in the Quebec Province. The regular season runs from October to March with the playoffs held in April.

Team USA`s participation is a historic moment for the Quebec League: no other country has participated as a regular member of the league. Following the vision of creating a professional North American League, this could prove to be the successful beginning

While dreams of an Olympic participation are in the minds of all the athletes, the team continues to prepare for the 2007 Pan American Championships and 2007 Pan American Games, fighting to obtain a qualification for the World Championship and reach their Olympic Dream of qualifying for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

USA Olympic Games Finishes

Year Women
1976 (Montreal, Canada) Did not qualify
1980 (Moscow, USSR) Did not play - boycott
1984 (Los Angeles, USA) 4th
1988 (Seoul, South Korea ) 7th
1992 (Barcelona, Spain) 6th
1996 (Atlanta, USA) 8th
2000 (Sydney, Australia) Did not qualify
2004 (Athens, Greece) Did not qualify

USA Pan American Games Finishes

Year Women
1987 (Indianapolis, USA) 1st
1991 (Havana, Cuba) 1st
1995 (Mar del Plata, Argentina) 1st
1999 (Winnipeg, Canada) 4th
2003 (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) 4th