Junior WPH Flourishing Across North America in the First Four Months of 2016!

Junior WPH is extremely proud to provide opportunities for young people to participate in positive, encouraging, and fun handball programs across North America with Certified WPH Coaches and Mentors that emphasize handball fundamentals, core values, and the benefits of developing an active lifestyle through handball.

Junior WPH coaches weekly clinics at 3-Wall courts and schools in Tucson, hosts numerous JR WPH Outdoor 3-Wall competitions and clinics in conjunction with the WPH Outdoor series throughout the year, hosts junior handball clinics and junior competitions at all Race 4 Eight events and enthusiastically supports weekly clinics and tournaments for JR WPH Sponsored Programs in California, New York, Kansas City, Utah, Florida, Arizona, and Mexico.

2015 JR WPH Coach of the Year Richie “Drft” Fernandez leads weekly clinics in Juarez, as the WPH proudly sponsors one of the best junior handball programs in North America. With the help of the WPH and Coach Drft, the Juarez junior players are able to participate in structured clinics and have traveled to junior handball tournaments and clinics across the United States, including the “Battle of the Border” in Tucson, the USHA 4-Wall Nationals in Southern California, and the WPH 3WallBall Championships in Las Vegas.

The JR WPH sponsored University of West Florida program continues to flourish in Pensacola under the direction of handball’s greatest collegiate promoter and 2015 WPH Collegiate Handball Coach of the Year Michael Morgan, “The University of West Florida team is doing really well this year. The major focus of this year was player retention. In years past, we would retain roughly 40-50% of the players that came out to practice at the beginning of the fall semester. This year I’m excited to say we started the year with eight freshman players and all eight are still playing, as well as a few more that have joined the UWF Handball Family along the way. Each of the freshmen is excited about continuing the game next semester.”

We are also excited and gearing up for the summer, which is a major recruiting time for the team. The UWF Recreation Department hosts several Freshman Orientations throughout the summer, where the incoming freshman tour the recreation facility, giving the UWF Handball Team prime opportunity to grab their attention and show them what handball is all about. Last year we introduced roughly 400 students to the game of handball using two-bounce (short court) as a fun and beginner friendly way to showcase the game. This year we are hoping to duplicate that success, if not make gains from it. The summer is also an exciting time for the team as we are still active with tournaments, having plans to attend the Southeast Regional Championships in Chattanooga TN, on May 13th-15th, the State of Florida 3-Wall Championships in sunny Ormond Beach FL on May 28th-30th and the RFC in mid-July in Pittsburgh, PA. Needless to say, the UWF Handball team is ready for what is sure to be a fun-filled summer of recruiting and tournaments.”

Early April’s WPH Outdoor V Stop #3 at Downey Park featured WPH Coaches leading a spectacular JR WPH 1-Wall clinic for 20 junior handball players in attendance. The youngsters were treated to lessons from the best player in 1-Wall handball and soaked up every word from 1-Wall’s top player. Thank you to Timbo Gonzalez and Mando Ortiz for donating their time to nearly two dozen junior handball stars at Downey Park!

Most recently, Junior WPH was thrilled to host a junior clinic with the WPH sponsored JR WPH Park City junior handball program and a Junior R48 Showdown match at the 2016 R48 V Salt Lake City Aces.

The enthusiastic youngsters from the WPH sponsored Park City junior handball program were treated to sidearm stroke instruction, target-hitting competitions and cross-training exercises with R48 Elite 8 pros David Fink and Daniel Cordova. “These kids are like sponges to the game,” revealed WPH Coach McManus. “We have a group text with more than 20 junior players during all of the R48 broadcasts and we are always sending messages back and forth about all of the incredible shots and matches during the great broadcasts.” Thank you to WPH sponsored Park City JR program head coach Ted McManus, the juniors and the WPH pros.

Just before the start of the main draw in Salt Lake City, the youngest qualifier hopefuls in R48 history squared off in a special Junior R48 Showdown match, with California’s Anthony Sullivan and Canada’s Michael Gaulton staging a sensational junior showdown at the final regular season event of the Race 4 Eight V tour. The pair of future R48 superstars traded the lead 15 times in the one game match to 25, with Gaulton rallying from a 20-24 deficit to take a 25-24 lead, only to see Sullivan score the final three points of the match to claim the showdown title, 27-25.

What an event for Junior WPH at the 2016 Salt Lake City Aces!

For an update on the first three months of Junior WPH in 2016, click here>

The World Players of Handball Foundation is extremely proud of the daily positive impact we make on the next generation of handball players. With a number of junior handball clinics and events planned for this summer at camps and tournaments, our aim is to inspire the next generation of community leaders by teaching sportsmanship, respect, discipline, teamwork, camaraderie and a physically active lifestyle through handball. The World Players of Handball is able to provide opportunities for young people to learn sportsmanship, discipline, camaraderie, and physically active lifestyle through handball solely on contributions from our generous donors.

We invite you to make help us grow the game by making a donation to Junior WPH by kindly sending a check to the WPH at 3561 E. Sunrise Drive, Suite 125, Tucson, AZ 85718, Paypal a donation to extremehandball@cs.com, or make a credit card donation at our website here