Women's Select Team in Germany
August 21, 2010
Photo: Wochenanzeiger-Herford
USA Women's Select Team takes a team photo at TSV Hahlen.
To read about the team in Bremen, visit here: http://usateamhandball.org/news/2010/08/26/women-s-select-team-in-bremen/38243
UPDATED Wednesday, August 25 at 2:20PM CT
Wednesday, August 25
The USA Women's Select Team fell to TSV Hahlen 22-26 in what USA assistant coach Christine Witte called their best game of the week.
"It was amazing," said Witte.
Witte also credited the performance of Karoline Bor g for almost leading the Select Team to an upset of their host German opponents.
More details to come!
Meanwhile, read the following....
We also came across a pair of articles in the German press that focus on the Select Team's trip to Germany. One is from the Wochenanzeiger-Herford and the other is from the Mindener Tageblatt - the main newspaper in Minden which is where the team is currently.
The piece from the Wochenzieger is a quick blurb regarding the team's stay in Minden with their hosts TSV Hahlen.
The article highlights how different the youth sport system is in the United States compared to that in Germany. In the U.S., sports are primarily played through schools and universities while, in Germany, sports are organized through sports clubs like TSV Hahlen.
According to Dr. Ralf Niermann, the Select Team was astounded by the fact that over 400 teams and 83 active handball clubs exist in merely the Kreis Minden-Luebbecke area.
"There is an active social life [in conjuction with the club team] here in Muehlenkreis that does not exist in the United States," Greg Morava told the Wochenanzier-Herford.
To read the full article (in German), visit here: http://www.wochenanzeiger-herford.de/Stars-and-Stripes-im-Muehlenkreis-93817.html
The article in the Mindener Tageblatt is a little bit older than the one in the Wochenanzier-Herford (published August 14); however, it provides a detailed account of how Julia Sayers came to represent the United States in handball.
"If so many coincidences had not been strung together, then this journey would have been impossible," Julia Sayer (pictured below with TSV Hahlen - Wochenanzier-Herford) told the Mindener Tageblatt.
Sayer actually has an English father; h
owever, he moved to Atlanta to accept an engineering job and Sayer was thus born in Atlanta which grants her American citizenship. The Sayers would move back to Minden, Germany so the whole citizenship issue was not really an issue at all for five years.
All of that changed when Sayer when to Scotland for a study abroad program. London is, of course, the host of the 2012 Olympics and the host nation does not have an illustrious history of handball.
As the host nation, they have automatic entry so they have been very active in piecing together a handball team to represent Great Britain in the 2012 games. The British federation approached Sayer but she told them that she holds an American passport.
This sequence of events gave Sayer (Photo Credit: Julian Rueter/Mindener Tageblatt) an idea and she went online to find information on USA Team Handball. She joined up with a very young American squad and Poland and thus her USA Team Handball career began....
To read the entire story (in German), visit here: http://mt-online.de/lokalsport/handball/3700859_Julia_Sayers_Wurf_ueber_den_grossen_Teich.html
(Look for an English version of Julia Sayer's journey to representing the United States in the near future)
Tuesday, August 24
There are no updates yet from the team on Tuesday, August 24.
Monday, August 24 (Updated Tuesday, August 24 at 4PM CT)
The Select Team tied TSV Hahlen II today in a scrimmage today.
The 21 players on the Select Team were split equally in three teams and were all given 20 minutes against the second team from Minden, Germany. The late arrivals to the squad boosted the entire squad's energy level and everyone left the scrimmage quite satisfied.
"Everyone is happy and coach [Morava] feels like they are getting better everday," said Kathy Rex. "The [Robert Schumann] Tournament was exactly what they needed."
According to Rex, several players have surprised the coaching staff with their ability including 13-year-old Nicole Anderson who plays her club handball for Lyngby (DEN).
Tomorrow, the competition will be stepped up a notch as the Select Team will take on Julia Sayer's club TSV Hahlen, Minden's first team, in an official exhibition match.
UPDATED Wednesday, August 25 at 2:20PM CT
Wednesday, August 25
The USA Women's Select Team fell to TSV Hahlen 22-26 in what USA assistant coach Christine Witte called their best game of the week.
"It was amazing," said Witte.
Witte also credited the performance of Karoline Bor g for almost leading the Select Team to an upset of their host German opponents.
More details to come!
Meanwhile, read the following....
We also came across a pair of articles in the German press that focus on the Select Team's trip to Germany. One is from the Wochenanzeiger-Herford and the other is from the Mindener Tageblatt - the main newspaper in Minden which is where the team is currently.
The piece from the Wochenzieger is a quick blurb regarding the team's stay in Minden with their hosts TSV Hahlen.
The article highlights how different the youth sport system is in the United States compared to that in Germany. In the U.S., sports are primarily played through schools and universities while, in Germany, sports are organized through sports clubs like TSV Hahlen.
According to Dr. Ralf Niermann, the Select Team was astounded by the fact that over 400 teams and 83 active handball clubs exist in merely the Kreis Minden-Luebbecke area.
"There is an active social life [in conjuction with the club team] here in Muehlenkreis that does not exist in the United States," Greg Morava told the Wochenanzier-Herford.
To read the full article (in German), visit here: http://www.wochenanzeiger-herford.de/Stars-and-Stripes-im-Muehlenkreis-93817.html
The article in the Mindener Tageblatt is a little bit older than the one in the Wochenanzier-Herford (published August 14); however, it provides a detailed account of how Julia Sayers came to represent the United States in handball.
"If so many coincidences had not been strung together, then this journey would have been impossible," Julia Sayer (pictured below with TSV Hahlen - Wochenanzier-Herford) told the Mindener Tageblatt.
Sayer actually has an English father; h
owever, he moved to Atlanta to accept an engineering job and Sayer was thus born in Atlanta which grants her American citizenship. The Sayers would move back to Minden, Germany so the whole citizenship issue was not really an issue at all for five years.All of that changed when Sayer when to Scotland for a study abroad program. London is, of course, the host of the 2012 Olympics and the host nation does not have an illustrious history of handball.
As the host nation, they have automatic entry so they have been very active in piecing together a handball team to represent Great Britain in the 2012 games. The British federation approached Sayer but she told them that she holds an American passport.
This sequence of events gave Sayer (Photo Credit: Julian Rueter/Mindener Tageblatt) an idea and she went online to find information on USA Team Handball. She joined up with a very young American squad and Poland and thus her USA Team Handball career began....
To read the entire story (in German), visit here: http://mt-online.de/lokalsport/handball/3700859_Julia_Sayers_Wurf_ueber_den_grossen_Teich.html
(Look for an English version of Julia Sayer's journey to representing the United States in the near future)
Tuesday, August 24
There are no updates yet from the team on Tuesday, August 24.
Monday, August 24 (Updated Tuesday, August 24 at 4PM CT)
The Select Team tied TSV Hahlen II today in a scrimmage today.
The 21 players on the Select Team were split equally in three teams and were all given 20 minutes against the second team from Minden, Germany. The late arrivals to the squad boosted the entire squad's energy level and everyone left the scrimmage quite satisfied.
"Everyone is happy and coach [Morava] feels like they are getting better everday," said Kathy Rex. "The [Robert Schumann] Tournament was exactly what they needed."
According to Rex, several players have surprised the coaching staff with their ability including 13-year-old Nicole Anderson who plays her club handball for Lyngby (DEN).
Tomorrow, the competition will be stepped up a notch as the Select Team will take on Julia Sayer's club TSV Hahlen, Minden's first team, in an official exhibition match.
Sunday, August 22
The USA Women's Select Team went down gamely to VFL Oldenburg II to lose their ninth-place matchup 12:21.
VFL Oldenburg's website credited the USA Select Team for its courageous efforts against stacked odds. They also noted that [translated] "Many players on the American team come from other sports and have only been playing handball for a year."
The team can definitely hold its collective head high as they continue on their journey. Although the short-term results may not be there, the long-term benefits of playing against older and more experienced top-notch European opposition can only aid their development.
VFL Oldenburg I was the overally champion of the Robert Schumann tournament as they successfully defended their title against the Russian side of Rostov - Don 25:19.
A full summary of the day's games can be found here (in German) as well as in additionally commentary here.
The USA Select Team, led by Head Coach Greg Morava, marches on to the city of Minden to train and scrimmage with TSV Halen - the home club of USA player Julia Sayer.
The team will immediately scrimmage against their German hosts Monday evening. Sayer, who, as a dual-citizen, had the option of representing USA or Germany, will play against her club team and for the USA.
The team will immediately scrimmage against their German hosts Monday evening. Sayer, who, as a dual-citizen, had the option of representing USA or Germany, will play against her club team and for the USA.
In an article with the Mindener Tageblatt, TSV Hahlen's Director Otto Weng said that [translated] "It is the first time that we are hosting a team from overseas. As a village club, it is a special challenge [to act as hosts].
He also notes in the article that he hopes that his American guests will get to know the city of Minden.
Photo Credit: Mindener Tageblatt
After their stay with TSV Hahlen, the USA squad will head to Bremen on Friday, August 26 to engage in their second tournament in as many weeks where they will be looking to utilize the experiences gained from the Robert Schumann Tournament.
He also notes in the article that he hopes that his American guests will get to know the city of Minden.
Photo Credit: Mindener Tageblatt
After their stay with TSV Hahlen, the USA squad will head to Bremen on Friday, August 26 to engage in their second tournament in as many weeks where they will be looking to utilize the experiences gained from the Robert Schumann Tournament.
Saturday, August 21
The USA Women's Select Team were unable to pick up at a victory at the Robert Schumann Tournament in Oldenburg Germany; however, the experience they gained should not be underestimated.
With the squad's average age of 18.5 years old, coaches were looking for their players to absorb everything they could from their European opponents and try to utilize the lessons learned in future games. It is worth noting that the teams they were going up against were much older and hold a great deal of more experience.
Of course, the team was still out there to gamely compete and that is exactly what they did.In their closest game, they fell by only seven to Czech side DHK Banik Most.
In their first two matches, they fell to VFL Oldenburg and Husyer E & O. After the narrow defeat to DHK Banik Most, the Select Team fell to NP GK Rostov - Don who finished first in the group ahead of host's VFL Oldenburg I.
The team finished 0-4 in group play on the day and will compete tomorrow in the Ninth Place game against VFL Oldenburg II who finished last in Group 1.
Summary of results for Saturday, August 21:
USA Select vs. VFL Oldenburg I 6:24
USA Select vs. Huyser E & O 6:18
USA Select vs. DHK Banik Most 6:13
USA Select vs. NP GK Rostov - Don 5:18
The Robert Schumann tournament's official summary of today's games can be found here in German.
Look for this article to updated with daily results and commentary as the USA Women's Select Team continues its tour of Germany.
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