A Handball Journey from LA to Cairo

Two weeks ago Tuesday, I got the call up to the A Team to attend the IHF Men's Club World Championship (Super Globe) as a member of the California Eagles. And, within 17 hours of the call, I was on my way to LAX passing the Long Beach Pyramid to see the Egyptian Pyramids for the first time.

The Eagles are now in our third season coming off of winning the 2024 California Cup, USA National Championship, and North America and Caribbean Continental Championship.?

This last title is the one that earned us a spot in the world's premier tournament for clubs in team handball where all the defending continental champions qualify, plus the defending world champion, host nation champion, and the best side not yet qualified.

This meant that me, a player in my 25th game of playing the sport, and my team, in our 23rd month after having played our first game in Salt Lake City were now in a group with then defending 3-time world champions SC Magdeburg - Handball Magdeburg GmbH of Germany and Champions of Asia Al Khaleej Club of Saudi Arabia.?

The gap in pay and talent between our teams were astronomical as we were a mere amateur club and these clubs provided more than healthy enough salaries.

Unfortunately, this reality showed in the group stage and in the later placement rounds against Champions of Oceania Sydney Uni and one of Egypt's and Africa's most storied sides, Zamalek Sporting Club .?

Despite our lack of success in results, we made incredible progress to continue American handball growth.?

Currently, the situation in USA Team Handball is one of optimism but much criticism. Many of our teams including our own club and our national team feature few American-born players mainly due to a lack of infrastructure and youth leagues. Thus, it is always difficult for our clubs to compete let alone our national teams because we come from different development and linguistic knowledge of the game.?However, this reality also makes us stronger and the experience more fun as we find out strange ways of telling time in German and us Americans have to explain why Fahrenheit is the superior temperature system.

Within the last seven seasons, the USA have seen some historic results. First, we have seen three clubs, one from the Bay Area near San Francisco and San José in Fremont, another from New York City, and now us from the Los Angeles suburb of Torrance qualify for the Super Globe to play against the world's best.?

Next, we saw our men's and women's national beach handball teams become perennial top sides featuring in all the major events.

Then, our men's national team won our first two games ever at the national team World Championship in the 2023 edition having not been to the event since 2001.

And most impressively has been our men's wheelchair handball national team who secured the silver medal at the 2024 World Championship in Cairo a week before we got there. This was the USA's first world medal in team handball ever.

While our Eagles' in-game results were upsetting to say the least, many of our players had life changing experiences.?

One, we got to live in Egypt's New Administrative Capital for nine days and visit various sites most people have yet to see. Two, we got interviewed on Egyptian national television and became temporary stars. Three, we made friends with the top handball coaches and players around the world. Four, we got to see the ancient sites of Cairo too like the pyramids and sphinx in Giza and the National Museum. Lastly, many of us accomplished a goal of playing at the top against the best in the world. We may not play in the Handball-Bundesliga or the EHF Champions League but we got to share the court with those that do.

With team handball coming to the LA28 Olympic & Paralympic Games , it was very important for us to become the Los Angeles area's first club to ever represent our nation and continent at the club world championship.?

What makes our story even greater is how we practice 15 minutes away from the Long Beach Arena which will host our sport in 45 months' time at the Olympic Games.

This next season will be extremely challenging as we are now the team to beat in our country and continent but the goal for the Super Globe remains the same: to finish the highest we possibly can.?

Perhaps, our next immediate frontier is to create youth opportunities in a nation where nearly none exist for our sport. This may be the most challenging as nearly no handball courts exist in the USA and most handball equipment has to be shipped from other continents raising costs.

But, with continued efforts, just maybe, we might see an Eagle or two in the Olympic Games for 2028 and our club win future Super Globe matches.

Congrats to Hungarian side Veszprém KC for becoming the new club world champion for their first time after winning in two back to back extra-time victories in the semi-finals and Final.