To my surprise, my home state of Florida has become a peninsula filled with aspiring handballers. Not that I didn't have faith, but I certainly didn't know how much interest there was or would be!

To start, Tampa has drawn a wonderful group of new and experienced athletes and they are lucky enough to have lined up Olympian Bryant Johnson to coach them. Looks like the Tampa Green Wave will hold their first practice very shortly but, as with most start ups, it has been difficult finding a gymnasium to practice in. Surely they will get going any day now. Also along the gulf of Mexico is USF in Tampa where ONLY five students are needed to get a sport club going. The Rec department headed by Eric Hunter has already given me full cooperation and a very warm welcome. Now all we need are the athletes to step forward and get things moving. Maybe this will help: does USF really want to leave the University of Central Florida in Orlando to dominate the handball world in the southern panhandle? Why not get some healthy rivalries going and add to the 100 degree Florida heat! The Knights await.

In the south, Palm Beach county gets underway in two weeks and next stop is northern Florida where we have diehards waiting in Pensacola, Gainesville and Jacksonville. What city will launch first? Well, we'll just have to see who can take control of the reigns fastest and get things off the ground.

For those of you wanting to play handball but don't know how to get started, just remember that your Regional Directors are here to facilitate the process. We can't do everything for you but we have solid Club Start Up guides to send you with other cool coaching/playing resources, plus we'll give you excellent advice on how to proceed quickly and effectively. It's really a joint effort and you can be sure that we will prioritize your launch. As a bonus, when and if possible, we'll even get someone out to give you a first clinic! There are experienced players everywhere in the USA and given our Grassroots Revolution, everyone seems keen to help others get started! So it really just takes one little push and with our help, you can be up and playing in no time.

The 2009-2010 season promises to be absolutely awesome therefore if you want to put together a new team, don't wait too long, September is coming quickly. And remember, those of us lucky enough to live in the Sunshine State can also play outside most of the year and on the beach! What can be better than that!

For help launching your club in the East, e-mail me at dominique@usateamhandball.org. If you are located in the West, please write Brian Finley at brian@usateamhandball.org or Patric Coggin in the Southwest at coggin@usateamhandball.org