Congratulations to the USA Select Women's team that has been touring northern Germany this week.  The young team has picked up invaluable experience, even if unable to notch a win yet.  They play two more games this weekend.  Then, six American women begin their Danish handball adventure on Monday in the first activation of the partnership between Bjerringbro FH and USA Team Handball.

 

At the high school level, three girls from the Los Angeles Area (Gaby Rapp, Jennie Bergsma and Molly Watkins) will join Colorado Springs' native Amber Turner and Salt Lake City area resident Chanel Turner for 3+ months of immersion in one of the cradles of Danish handball.  Special thanks to Futures coaches Julio Sainz, Kathy Rex, Greg Morava, Mohamed Emira, and Angie Webb who worked with these five girls to get them ready for their international experience.  All will play for Bjerrringbro FH's U16 or U18 teams.

 

They'll be joined in Bjerringbro FH by Army Sgt. Natascha King, who will be playing with Bjerringbro's top woman's team in the Danish 2nd Division.  King, who was formally accepted into the Army World Class Athlete Program last week, recently returned from an 18-month deployment in Iraq.  King spent much of her childhood in Denmark, but attended high school and college in the USA.  When stateside, home is Texas.  King is a goalie who will be competing for the starting position with Bjerringbro, and for the USA when they take on Canada in December in Pan Am Games Qualification games.

 

Finally, Carolina Team Handball's Julia Taylor checked in this week from her training at the Handball Academy in Aarhus. Here are snippets of her email:

 

Just wanted to give you a little update about my training at Idrætshojskølen Århus in Denmark. I am currently training two hours a day, four days a week, lifting twice a week, and conditioning three times a week at the school among several other handball players. I am trying out for some club teams in Århus next week, but until then I'll be training with one of the school's coach's club teams in the evenings.

The school has really embraced my goal of being selected for the Pan American team, and the club team I'm currently practicing with is allowing me to practice with them on the nights my club doesn't practice, so hopefully I'll be practicing or playing a game with a club every night.  We'll be meeting with nutritionists next week and I have a personalized workout plan from one of the trainers. I'm not sure what division I will be placed in quite yet, but when I find out I'll let you know. The coaches here are estimating a third or fourth division, or maybe a 2nd team for a 1st or 2nd division club.

 I definitely recommend this school for any other interested American athletes. It is doing an excellent job of integrating the international students into the Danish culture as well as providing solid coaching and strong competition. Several of the male players are on their home country's national teams, and some have already recieved contracts to play professionally here through the school's connections.

We're thrilled to have seven committed women training on a daily basis in Denmark.  They are trailblazers - and they will help our program for years to come!