A few days after the return of our U18 Boys & Girls teams from Germany, it's clear that the trip was beneficial in many ways.  Read the recap story for the details, including quotes from the athletes who were representing the USA in an international competition for the first time in their lives.  It's exciting.

We honestly underestimated the potential of our girls' team - the core of which is the Landsharks club team from Colorado Springs that has dedicated itself to handball just in the past six months.  Kudos go out to Kathy Rex and Greg Morava who train them 1-2 times per week, squeezing handball in among other sports, academics, college selection and all the other teen opportunities.  

The USA Girls' three wins, plus two narrow losses, are results beyond what we anticipated.  I heard from several sources that our team was bigger, stronger, faster and importantly, much more fit than their German opponents.  Just wait until we bridge the handball experience deficiency!

The Colorado Springs athletes were complimented by some internationally seasoned players.  Sophie Fasold (Germany) and Morgan Thorkelsdottir (Iceland) had traveled thousand of miles to compete for a spot on this squad at the selection camp in Colorado.  Egyptian-trained Farida Abou-Zeida had already made an impression on us with the Senior Women's National team.

But Karoline Borg (Norway) and Lea and Lyn Hodderson (Germany) found us only days before the trip.  Borg plays for 2nd-division club in Asker, Norway - and turned down a first-division offer this summer in order to finish her schooling.  Borg didn't play in Germany as she recovers from a stress fracture, but met her future teammates and practiced over the first weekend.  The Hoddersens came from nearby Offenbach.  More and more, the USA National team is beginning to look like the United Nations - a reflection of the diversity of our country.

No one traveled further than Thomas Duringon who joined the Boys' team from his home in Sao Paolo, Brazil.  A seasoned handball player with multiple European trips under his belt, he provided experience and composure along with Devin Holman (who recently moved from Switzerland to California, only to decide to go to Rejykavik for the fall) and Christopher Koerner, who plays for Rhein Neckar Loewen's second team.  I hear Koerner has siblings who may find their way to the USA National Team program as well. 

The emergence of Nick Davis (Omaha) and John Bellard (formerly of Minnesota), plus Chicago's Ray Carson and Marko Dumlija, are testaments to importance of broadening the reach of USA Team Handball - thanks to Mariusz and Minnesota's Dan Steinberg for finding these athletes.

And it's good to see that the southeast is still churning out handball players... Simon Thaler, Jordan Taylor and Chris Banks are all Atlanta residents, while Molly Augustine has emerged from Owen McFadden's steady Furman program.

I could go on and on... but the bottom line is that we have begun to create a pipeline, albeit with a trickle, that is finding young, talented, committed athletes with their best years still ahead of them.

A couple of other note from abroad:  

• All eight of our U18 pool players who are in Iceland have settled in with families, schools and handball clubs.  Look for updates soon.
• Patrick Oliver is the latest American to take his game overseas. Oliver is headed to HSG Pohlheim, which plays in the Regionaliga Sudwest (3rd division).  Congratulations!
• Keith Fine has been promoted to Bayer Domagen's second team, which competes in the Regionaliga West (3rd division).
• Gary Hines is featured on the cover of DJK Waldbuttelbrunn's 2009-10 game program.  DJK plays in the 4th division (Oberliga Bayern).  He scored 15 goals in a season-opening 28-24 win over TSV Simbach.
• Jordan Fithian is officially on board at ESW Weil, which competes in the Sudbadenliga (5th division).
• Jen Haubrich's season begins this Saturday with TV Grenzach (Regionaliga Sud).
• Justin Key and Brian Walsh are wrapping up military duties and will report to Bayer Dormagen in December of January.