All I can say is "wow what a productive week I've had!" Up at dawn and off to UCF in Orlando last weekend for Handball Day. 106 students registered, most showed up and displayed fantastic athleticism and enthusiasm. About one dozen players gave me their contact info and want to join a team and start practicing with Coach Jim Thome. Thing is, I love UCF. The staff is great, the students are welcoming and warm and the facilities are outstanding. Intramural Asst Director Gary Cahen and his staff of Referees are a joy to work with. Overall, USATH gives a big thumbs up to UCF and I certainly look forward to having our sport launch into a full intramural program soon.

To the airport and off to New Orleans for the annual TEAMS conference. Various NGB's attended this busy four day and forty meeting event. Yes, forty meetings were scheduled for most of us. Not that I am familiar with this concept, but this seemed like the business version of "speed dating"! 15 minutes with numerous Convention bureaus, Sport Councils, Event Managers, each wanting to know how their fantastic cities could host our events. Fortunately, I got a chance to meet with many of them for longer periods of time off hours. And no no, not on Bourbon street! All I can say is that USATH has lots of friends and there are plenty of venues and organizers wanting to work with us. Overall, my talks were informative and many of these sports marketeers can be of assistance to us.

A quick two hour stroll through the French Quarter with my friends from USA Canoe/Kayak and the USOC, one hundred photos taken, a stop to throw a dollar in a local musician's case and back to the airport for my next port of call!

Out of the southern 93 degree heat and up to fresh North Carolina air it is. The Carolina Tar Heel Men's tourney at UNC went very well. Myles and his team should be proud of their work. The games were well played and the athletes demonstrated excellent sportsmanship. The new DC Diplomats made their presence felt as they tied against Army Gold. Everyone was proud of them. All the teams played well and it was a healthy kickoff to the season. No major injuries, clean goals, good refereeing, lots of smiles, a first referee certification class, some new faces in the bleachers and all'z good as they say!

My favorite quote came from Lars Jorgensen, a new and very skilled Danish referee on board who took me aside and voiced how "handball in the USA was so much more fun than in his home country". I asked him why and he replied "everyone is friends with each other and everyone seems to be having fun, that's so cool." It felt good to hear that. If that is one person's first impression of our handball community, then we are succeeding. I really thought that was so wonderful. My response to Lars "welcome to our USA team handball family!" And on that note, back to the airport for my flight home where I wake up for my 16 peanuts and a chat with the guy sitting next to me who happens to Jimmy Williams of the 49ers and Seattle Seahawks! Pretty cool ending to a great week I'd say! And before I get emails asking me if I tried to recruit him to play handball, our discussion revolved around how many times he blew out his ACL! I know I know... We'll keep looking.

-Dominique Dumont
Regional Director - East