Roster Announced for Youth IHF Trophy, World Championship Qualification at Stake

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by Matt Collins

USA Team Handball has named the roster for the upcoming Youth IHF Trophy, which will be held in San Juan, Puerto Rico from November 19th to 25th.

YOUTH MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM (Club) – IHF TROPHY ROSTER

Alvaro Alcover (Club Balonmano Mijas), Abdelrahman Awad (Olympic Sporting Club), Edwin Bengtsson (IK Savehof), Jacob Effertz (San Francisco CalHeat), John Gallittu (HSV Solingen Grafrath), Jorge Gomez de Santiago (Club Balonmano Alcobendas), Ewan McBride (San Francisco CalHeat), Elvis Mescall (Spjelkavik IL), Sydney Robertson (Lodde Vikings HK), Iraj Sabouri (ASBTP Nice), Wolf Simianer (HSC Kreuzlingen), James Webb (Tv Offenbach), Aaron Wolf-Bloom (San Francisco CalHeat), Maximillian Zoller (SG BBM Bietigheim)


In the 2022 edition of the Youth IHF Trophy, held in Mexico City, the team secured a Bronze Medal. The third place finish qualified them for the 2023 IHF Men's U19 Handball World Championship, where they finished in 28th place. The only retruning members from the World Championship roster are Aaron Wolf-Bloom, a product of the Bay Area-based San Francisco CalHeat, and John Gallittu, with Youth Men's National Team Head Coach Martin Bilello calling them "veterans of these tournaments" and will look for them to lead the group.

John Gallittu at 2023 IHF Men's U19 Handball World Championship

"We are excited to see this team play together. It has players that have gone through a Qualification and World Championship already, and some new faces that have already played with the National Team as well."


Canada, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mexico, and hosts Puerto Rico will round out the competition field. The only loss at the 2022 tournament for the United States was to eventual champions, Guadeloupe, while the Americans picked up wins versus Dominica, Canada, Puerto Rico, and drew with Mexico.


There is a lot at stake in Puerto Rico, as this tournament serves as the qualifer for the 2025 IHF Men's U19 Handball World Championship. The World Championship will be played in Egypt next year, with the North America and Caribbean region only receiving 2 slots.


"This group proves that we are building a pipeline that brings in new players every cycle, and continues our development of the US Men's National Team," Bilello added.

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