The league season is coming to an end and now LATHC hits the beaches for some summer handball action! The 2008-09 season was very successful with LATHC sending 2 teams to 3 different tournaments including the National Championships in Chicago.

The summer always brings the heat, sunshine and beach handball! This year LATHC is looking to go on a beach tour around LA. The first beach games will be on Saturday June 20th. There will be games all around LA thourghout the months of July and August with our annual becah tournament capping the season in August. Last years tournament was very exciting with over 8 teams participating and this years should prove to be even better! Stay tuned for the tour information.

May 8th-10th: Los Angeles Team Handball Club sent two teams to the 2009 United States Club National Championships just outside of Chicago, Illinois. Out of the 20 men's teams that competed from all over the country, LATHC 1 finished 4th and LATHC 2 finished 17th. The tournament is the largest competition in the United States with the winner recognized as the National Champion. This year's tournament was well run, had good venues, excellent website updates and a magnificient playing floor.

LATHC 1 started out the tournament with a hard fought win over Knight Air and followed up the performance with a victory of Carolina Blue to reach the final 8. The final 8 were broken into 2 pools of 4. In pool play, LATHC 1 defeated Army and then ATH United. The third game in pool play against the Houston Firehawks faced two undefeated teams with the winner to play in the championship game on Sunday. Houston came out strong opening a 3 goal halftime lead. LATHC fought back and opened up a 5 goal lead with 8 minutes to play. Houston battled all the way back and tied the game 24-24 with 3 seconds left. Because the games were in pool play, the rules dictated that the teams could not play an overtime period or shootout to determine the championship participant on the court, but rather goal differential would be the deciding factor. With the tie, Houston advanced to the championship game and LATHC played in the bronze medal game where they were defeated by the NYAC.

LATHC 2 started the tournament with a tough loss against Chicago Inter Blue. In the play back round, LATHC fell one goal shy of advancing back into the main draw with a loss to Seattle. In the consolation bracket, LATHC 2 earned two victories against Minnesota and Polish Folklore.

LATHC congratulates the New York Team Handball Club for their victory in the championship game. They showed the heart of a champion by battling back from a 9 goal second half deficit to win in overtime. LATHC also congratulates the Houston Firehawks for an incredible pool play game and championship game. Houston proved they were a team to be reckoned with by opening a 9 goal second half lead and may have been one red card away from winning the championship.

For complete results visit www.usateamhandball.org

Sunday March 22nd, 2009: The Los Angeles Team Handball Club participated in the 4th Annual TH Santa Clairta Tournament. LATHC sent 2 teams to compete in one of the elite tournaments run every year in the West Region. Both Santa Clarita and Cal Heat have developed very competitive teams and are always provide more than a challenge. LATHC 1 pulled out a hard fought victory against TH Santa Clarita in the first game of the season and follwed it up by a tough loss to Cal Heat. LATHC 2 proved to be very competitive, but ran into a string of injuries limiting their overall effectiveness. With 3 teams tied with 2 wins and 1 loss apiece, LATHC 1 pulled off the tournament championship thanks to goal differential between the 3 team tied atop the standings.

LATHC congratulates TH Santa Clarita for a fantastic tournament and Cal Heat for making the trip down from the bay area to spread team handball in Southern California. For more info please visit the TH Santa Clarita website at www.thsantaclarita.com

Bellflower, CA: The King Team Handball league completed the first season in dramatic fashion. The regular season was dominated by the undefeated Team Mavericks, but the playoffs witnessed intense and competitive games throughout.

Finals: February 14, 2009

The championship game witnessed a series of runs. Team Mavericks started off strong and reminded everyone why they were undefeated in the regular season. By halftime, the top seed managed to open a 2 goal lead. Starting the second half, the top seed pushed their lead up to 6 and looked like they were getting ready to pull away. Team People’s Champs showed why they deserved their spot in the championship game and continued to fight back. Both Patirck Truninger and Vladimir Andjelic scored 7 goals each in the second half to pull their team within 1 goal. John Collin came up with another key save on an uncontested fast break in the playoffs at the most opportune time and Team Mavericks was able to extend the lead to 2 goals. With time running out, the eventual champs locked down on defense and secured their first championship with a 31 to 29 win.

The Spring 2009 season is currently underway and new players are also welcome to join. For more information on the current season please visit the league website at www.kinghandball.com

On Saturday January 17th, 2009 the Los Angeles Team Handball Club participated in an exhibition game at the Staples Center. The Staples Center is a 19,000 seat arena in the heart of downtown Los Angeles. It serves as the home facility for the LA Lakers and LA Clippers of the NBA, the LA Kings in the NHL, the LA Spark in the WNBA and the LA Avengers for the AFL.

The entire event was a total success! A 10 mintue pregame exhibtion was performed showcasing the athleticism, skills and techniques used in the sport of team handball. After the game between the LA Clippers and the Milwaukee Bucks ended, over 30 players from LATHC took part in the full exhibition game in front of several hundred fans. The game was very competitive with both teams trading leads throughout the whole affair. The fans were incredible with the passion and enthusiam they showed for both teams. When the final buzzer went off, the LATHC Green had pulled off the 2 goal victory.

The LATHC wants to think all of its players, fans and the Los Angeles Clippers for a great event!

Bellflower, CA: The King Team Handball league had a very successful opening weekend on Saturday November 8th, 2008 at the Hollywood Sports Park. The league is very unique as it is the first of its kind in the Los Angeles area and the only current weekly league in the United States. The inaugural season is composed of 4 teams made up from various clubs around the Los Angeles area. Team Handball is an Olympic sport encompassing various skills of basketball, football and baseball. With the United States missing out of the 2008 Olympics, there has been a ground swell of new athletes that are committed to improve the US National Team. The league is composed of 9 weeks of regular season games and 2 weeks of playoffs. With US National Team tryouts schedules for late March, the league is an invaluable tool to develop the athletes and allow everyone the opportunity to experience the physical, fast paced sport of team handball.

Pictures of the Beach Handball Tournament in Huntington Beach, September 2008, are online.

Click here for the pictures >>