Colorado takes gold at State Games

Youth handball squads competed at the 2009 California State Games during the weekend, with Colorado Select A defeating Colorado Select B in the gold medal match Sunday, 24-17. The two teams comprise U18 athletes chosen to train in August at USA Team Handball’s Youth National Team camp in Colorado Springs, CO.

During Sunday’s exhibition matches at the youth sports festival, Los Angeles Team Handball Club and a team from Baja tested each other during a hard-fought game; Los Angeles broke through with a 27-25 victory against the team featuring many of Mexico’s junior national athletes. Baja proved to be an intense opponent for Colorado Select during another exhibition match and won, 29-4. Colorado faced off against Los Angeles as well, losing 29-13.

An estimated 10,000 participants competed at the 2009 California State Games, a grassroots program of the United States Olympic Committee which aims to support and cultivate sports participation and the Olympic experience. Handball competition began Saturday with round-robin matches and concluded with Colorado A’s victory on Sunday.

“All-in-all, it was a nice start to USA Team Handball's relationship with the State Games program. We look forward to returning with many more teams next year,” said Brian Finley, USA Team Handball’s West Regional Director.

The California State Games consisted of 20 sports this year. For more information on the Olympic-style competition, visit http://www.calstategames.org/.