TEAM HANDBALL The USAFA Team Handball Club is rebuilding on a foundation of tradition. Attention USA Team Handball headquarters—after spending a Saturday watching your sport at the Cadet East Gym I sat down and wrote some free copy for your next commercial: Do you enjoy taking headfirst dives onto hardwood floors? Does a fun afternoon include a hard, cantaloupe-sized ball being hurled toward your head at 70 mph? Enjoy being grappled to the ground every 45 seconds? Then play team handball today! Leagues now forming at a community rec center near you. TEXT BY DAVID BERGEMAN | IMAGES BY LEWIS CARLYLE

WIZARDS

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“There’s been a couple of times where I’ve been hit in the head and let’s just say you fall to the floor,” laughs USAFA Team Handball Club cadet-in-charge, C2C Matt Forrest. He pauses before adding with a straight face, “There’s no way you’re playing goalkeeper without wearing a cup.” Ouch. Suffice it to say, this isn’t your PE teacher’s handball. You remember, that game where disinterested teens rested against bleachers as you and an opponent tepidly smacked a rubber ball above a masking tape line on the gym divider. No, this handball is an amalgamation of virtually every sport that Americans find exhila-

This isn’t your PE teacher’s handball.

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rating. There’s the high hard one of baseball, the poetic no-look pass of basketball, the hand-to-hand battles of football’s trenches and the thrill of a hockey puck lighting the lamp (except in team handball the light is going dim from flashing 60 times a game). The sport also melds elements of soccer, lacrosse, water polo and almost every other game you’ve ever played—Dungeons and Dragons excluded. w

Most of the 22 cadets on USAFA’s team handball roster never played before getting to the Academy. Some didn’t know the sport existed, but that isn’t necessarily a problem when it comes to cultivating a reasonable amount of talent. “It’s one of the pure athletic sports out there,” explains Forrest. “You can pick it up very quickly if you have good athleticism.” Air Force is in the midst of rebuilding its program. The team feels it is well on its way to reentering the conversation as one of the elite collegiate programs. North Carolina and Texas A&M field two of the better teams, but the cream of the collegiate crop is West Point. “The contrast between Air Force and West Point is that they recruit athletes from their basketball and football teams,” says 14-year USAFA coaching veteran Michael Cavanaugh. “We recruit through word of mouth, so our kids are a little undersized [the average Olympic team handball player is about 6’4”, 200 lbs.]. I always tell the kids, we’re more intelligent. We’re more sophisticated and we can overcome some of the physical differences. We’ve beaten West Point twice in the past six years and that’s an achievement.” USAFA has a proud history of team handball success. The Academy has produced four Olympians and a handful of other players who have competed at the international level. Since 1976 the club has won several national and collegiate championships. But in recent years the interest and effort put into the club waned. This season has brought renewed enthusiasm and dedication from the cadets. “This is a good group of kids,” says Cavanaugh, who serves as the CEO of USA Table Tennis during the day. “They wanted to self-fund to play more and get the club more structured.”

USAFA Team Handball Club goalkeeper C2C Matt Forrest leaps to make a save during a game versus West Point. Left back C3C Drew Donlin rises to fire a shot over a leaping defender during an Air Force Team Handball Club game versus a team from Colorado Springs. Donlin is a member of the Team USA Under-20 Men’s Junior National Team. Wing C3C John Stout drives toward the net on his way to scoring a goal.

USAFA Team Handball Excellence Team Banners

Olympians

1976 National Championships Silver 1977 National Championships Silver 1978 National Championships Gold 1999 Collegiate Championships Bronze 2000 Collegiate Championships Silver 2000 Division II National Championships Gold 2002 Collegiate Championships Gold 2003 Division II National Championships Gold 2004 Collegiate Championships Bronze 2004 Division I National Championships Gold 2006 Collegiate Championships Bronze 2007 Collegiate Championships Bronze 2008 Collegiate Championships Bronze 2009 Collegiate Championships Bronze

1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games Bob Djokovich ’78 Tom Schneeberger ’78   1988 Seoul Olympic Games Kathy (Rex) Callaghan ’84   1996 Atlanta Olympic Games Dave DeGraff ’93

THIS SEASON In Europe the sport is just called “handball,” and it’s wildly popular. If you’re ever in a place like, say, Budapest, flip through the local TV channels—there’s a good chance you’ll find 14 large, five o’clock shadow laden middle-aged men (who look like they just chased a pack of menthols with a fifth of absinthe) winging a ball around a semicircle on a court. Ripping passes out of the air with their adroit hands, they’ll take an explosive dribble (in handball you’re allowed three steps without dribbling), before bounding into the air to fire a laser toward the goal. In Europe they play for both cash and country while frantic hordes of spectators anxiously look on. U.S. Team Handball hasn’t qualified for the Olympics since 1996 (receiving a bid as a host country). Qualification isn’t an easy task as only the winner of the Pan American games receives an automatic bid. When you watch the sport it’s somewhat inexplicable to think that the United States couldn’t be a world power. The core skills of leaping, throwing and dribbling are essential in our sporting culture. Yet, in 2012 only about 1000 Americans played the sport competitively according to USA Team Handball technical director Mariusz Wartalowicz. “This question has come up a lot in the media, especially since the London Olympics this past summer,” says C3C Drew Donlin, who plays left back for the

team. “I heard a quote somewhere that said, ‘handball is the most American sport that no one has heard of.’ I think that’s really true. USA Team Handball is working hard to gain publicity for the sport of handball. I think that if we can get more college basketball players aware of it the U.S. could become a great program.” Donlin is a member of the Team USA Under-20 Men’s Junior National Team. At 6’5” and 215 lbs. the former high school quarterback and basketball player is the type of athlete who could help change the international fortunes of the country. You would think that athletes of his caliber could be found on almost any collegiate basketball team and inserted into a highlevel team handball lineup with little trouble. This hasn’t been the case. At some level there is a disconnect between the player and the sport, and that x-factor has to be experience. Across Europe kids play the game their entire lives. This USAFA team has played in two tournaments this season. The first was held in Chicago and the team got a taste of that European style of play when they faced a club from Kiev. “They had a ton of talent and vision,” says team captain C1C David Bradfield who, as the team’s bulkiest member, plays pivot, the equivalent of a center in basketball. “We ran them hard with our youth and athleticism and were up two points very late in the game. We made some crucial mistakes and ended up

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Meet a Cadet

TEAM HANDBALL

C1C David Bradfield Home state: Illinois. Position: pivot. Favorite sports team: Dallas Cowboys. Favorite book: Bible. Favorite movie: The Sum of All Fears. Favorite food at Mitch’s: peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Dream career (if not in the military): working in the church. Favorite class: history 340—the history of pre-colonial and colonial Latin America.

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C2C Matt Forrest Home state: Illinois. Position: goalkeeper. Favorite sports team: Chicago Bears. Favorite book: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. Favorite movie: Braveheart. Favorite food at Mitch’s: spicy chicken sandwiches. Dream career (if not in the military): politician. Favorite class: management 345 Human Managerial Systems I.

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usafa.org

C3C Drew Donlin Home state: Minnesota. Position: left back. Favorite sports team: Notre Dame. Favorite book: Quiet Strength by Tony Dungy. Favorite movie: Rudy. Favorite food at Mitch’s: buffalo chicken wraps. Dream career (if not in the military): professional sports executive. Favorite class: law 220—law for Air Force officers. C3C John Stout Home state: Minnesota. Position: wing. Favorite sports team: Minnesota Wild. Favorite book: It Worked for Me by General (Ret.) Colin Powell. Favorite movie: National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Favorite food at Mitch’s: New York strip. Dream career (if not in the military): dentist (but really only wants to be a pilot). Favorite class? economics 201—introduction to economics.

We’re not just here to smoke and joke. We’re here to win.

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tying. The sport is so popular in Europe, their skills and experience were just very advanced.” Coach Cavanaugh was pleased with the results of the tournament as the team ended up beating Chicago State before losing to an excellent non-collegiate squad from New York. This past January the team hosted the “Colorado Cup” for the first time. The tournament was another initiative by the players to accrue more experience. During a game between Air Force and a Colorado Springs based team (featuring USA Team Handball’s CEO in goal) Air Force wing (a player who works the corners and leaps for shooting angles) C2C John Stout

received a pass on a two on one break. He made two quick dribbles before leaping toward goal and firing a bounce shot off the ground and through to the back of the net. Air Force won 30-19. The Academy typically fields two teams for tournaments. The “A” squad finished second after losing to a very skilled team from Denver. Denver starred a former professional player from Europe whose advanced ability was on full display throughout the competition. Building Momentum Beat Army. Win national titles. Those are the goals and Air Force will have a chance to accomplish both this spring. The team will travel to West Point in March for an extremely competitive tournament before attending this April’s College Nationals. The crowds at West Point bring a level of passion that the Air Force cadets relish. “It’s a very hostile environment,” says Stout. “Their fans are very good. It’s a rowdy atmosphere and with any inter-service rivalry game, the intensity rises.” No matter the results of the upcoming matches, the club has already had a great year. Among the players

there is a universal feeling of camaraderie, of brothers working to help each other on a court and in life. “It’s a great family atmosphere,” continues Stout. “It makes life a lot easier when you can come down a couple nights a week and be with the team. And we’re competitive too. We’re not just here to smoke and joke. We’re here to win.” “Our goal is to build on the foundation that we’ve put in place this year,” Forrest elaborates, “our senior and junior leaders have taken charge of the club and kind of brought it back from a down period. We have high aspirations. We want to beat West Point. They’ve finished first at college nationals for the past eight years and we’ve been in the three to four range. We need to blast thorough that plateau to enter elite status.” Team handball may be a blip on the American sporting landscape, but there is passion for the sport at Academy. If this club can continue to build on their current momentum, a national championship may soon be within the Falcons’ grasp.

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Give them a hand! Visit giving.usafa.org/give/handball to learn how you can make a donation to the USAFA Team Handball Club.

Save The DaTe

founders day april 5

Jabara airmanship award dinner May 3

Visit usafa.org to be a part of these exciting eVents! ASSOCIATION OF GRADUATES UNITED STATES AIR FORCE ACADEMY

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