Category: News

Handball players,
 
Local players are out in force as the 3-wall courts in Columbia are filling up most days of the week.  The Challenge Courts at the Supreme Club are suspended until it turns cold out again.  As always, please consult the website for details and entry forms, as well as our schedule and results of tournaments, local and national.  Players are typically out on Saturday and Sunday mornings starting around 9AM, and Tuesday and Thursday starting around 3:45PM.
 
The No Frills/3-Wall Doubles tournament is being held on Saturday June 7th, so get your play in to be well prepared.
 
After a hiatus last year, the Handball/Golf Outing is again on the books.  16 slots are available for July 12th, with golf at Fairway Hills and handball afterwards. 
 
The Maryland State Singles took place on May 3rd, with 26 entries.  Congrats to winners Roger Berry (40/50), Jerry Yee (60), Carl Lady (65+Handicap) and Daniel Zimet (Open), and Josh Osburn (B).
 
Congrats to Jay Miller on reaching the final of the 40+ National Singles, and good luck to all our local entries at the Nationals in Kansas City this year.
 
See you on the courts!
Dan Zimet

Handballers,
 
Please consult the website at your earliest opportunity for several reasons.  First, Nathaniel Frank has done a bang-up job reorganizing everything to make it easier to navigate.  As our co-webmaster with Josh Ho, Nathaniel also has placed the 2008 State Singles entry form online for your convenience.
 
Second, as a follow-up to the article on Doubles written by Rick Anderson (and still available on the website), I have written an article on the 3-Wall Serve that is now available on the site.  The article may also be printed in the Handball magazine in upcoming issues, but you can see it first and in it's entirety on the Maryland Handball website.  Additional articles and interviews will be posted in the future.
 
Finally, a query and petition to those players over 65.  This year an option is being offered and, with player feedback, I am hoping developed into a recurrent division.  In addition to a 60+ division, I will be offering the 65+B/70+ division seen on the application.  Players 65-70 will be required to meet general criteria for a B skills level.  All players in this bracket will be playing based on a point spread determined by age, where older players will be awarded points each game based on the discrepency in age between the two players.  One option is a 1-1 ratio, such that if a 70 year-old plays a 65 year-old, the 70 year-old will start the game serving at 5-0.  Depending on interest level, player feedback, and the Draw Committee (aka Alan Frank and me nodding my head when he asks me my opinion) the ratio may shift, but you get the general idea.  I am very hopeful that this will draw some of our older guys into the tournament, so PLEASE spread the word to anyone who might be interested to make sure we get this division going!
 
That is all – wish your local guys good-luck in San Diego next weekend, and know that 3-wall season is only a few months away!
 
Sincerely,
 
Dan

2007 Executive Committee – Maryland Handball Association Minutes

October 23rd 2007 

Old business 

1. Review of 2006 handball tournaments
   1. Singles, 3-wall doubles, Eastern Regional, 4-wall doubles
   2. Attendance
      1. 42 @ 3-wall doubles (2006, attendance was 48)
      2. 62 @ Eastern Regional (52 in 2006; 60 in 2005; 75 in 2004; 71 in 2003)
   3. Golf outing was cancelled in 2007 but will return in 2008
2. 3-wall court renovations- Completed
3. Finding 2 tournament assistants – Accomplished
4. Challenge courts – Ongoing during the winter

New business 

1. Current Financial Status – $7,732.00; $3500 dedicated to player dev.)
2. Executive Committee
   1. Review executive committee functions and 2007 contributions
      1. Tournament Chairman- Alan Frank
      2. Tournament Assistance – Joe Plezcoch, Dave Hinkelman, Howard Kolodny
      3. Website – Josh Ho
      4. Player Development- Dan Ho
      5. Creativity Chairs- Charlie and Sharon Parsons
   2. 2007 Executive Committee membership – all members volunteered for another year term for 2008.
   3. Nathaniel Frank was elected to be the 3^rd Tournament Chairman along with Daniel Zimet and Alan Frank.
3. 2008 handball tournaments
   1. Singles not to conflict with the National Singles or Doubles
   2. Eastern Regional to continue 2-weeks prior to the 3-wall Nationals
   3. Consider 4-wall doubles in early December on an ongoing basis
   4. Restart Golf/Handball outing in July
   5. Continue No-Frills in June
4. USHA letter regarding 3-year time commitment of State/Regional Chairmen
   1. Daniel Zimet to continue as State Chairmen
   2. Discussed major contributions from the MHA committee this year
      1. Sharon Parsons who did tournament meals, the towels for the Eastern Regional, and other supportive roles.
      2. Nathaniel Frank who did the tournament pre-registration and organization, as well as registration and court assignments.
      3. Alan Frank who continued to develop the draws and co-chair on tournament day.
      4. Dan Ho who was played a major role in the renovation of the 3-wall courts, coordinated the original schedule of the Challenge courts, and scheduled the Handball Class with HCRP that did not run due to lack of interest.
      5. Josh Ho who developed our new website and continues to update and advance the use of the internet for the MHA.
      6. Charlie Parsons who continues to provide creative elements on tournament day and put up the fence extensions on the 3-wall courts prior to the new fence getting put in.
      7. Joe Plezcoch who worked on court assignments
      8. Howard Kolodny who continues to work on tournament registration.
5. Player Development
   1. Lack of movement with regard to Howard County Public Schools on a global scale.
      1. Jackie French contact seems to have resulted in a lack of global interest for Handball. 
      2. Consensus is that we will need to work individually with each school.
   2. Teaching classes at Atholton High School
      1. Two 3-day classes (Dec/Jan and Apr/May)
      2. Additional coaches to attend (Gary Cruz, Josh Ho, Dan Ho)
      3. How do we draw additional players into the game?
         1. Incentives such as $25 iTunes cards for winners
         2. Drawing in friends of youth who are already involved in the game, such as Nathaniel
         3. More frequent junior tournaments once we get interested players to keep interest going.
   3. Unable to get interest with HCRP summer 3-wall classes
   4. Courses at Sport & Health Clubs Lakeforest/Arlington
      1. Club has expressed interest in MHA running a clinic
      2. Dan Ho to contact and schedule
      3. Scheduled in 2007, but cancelled due to a lack of interest
6. Should we consider buying silk-screening supplies?
   1. Consensus is that once space allows it will be worthwhile to determine if our budget allows the ~1K start up fee for silk-screening our own merchandise.
   2. Savings will be approximately $3 per shirt/item, which will amount to ~$600 per year.

Many have expressed interest in when the Centennial Park 3-wall courts will be completed in Columbia.  So far, the painting of the courts is finished and two main projects remain.  The company responsible for the concrete needs to work on one of the courts and then surface the area behind the courts.  This process has been delayed somewhat by weather, as well as some problems with the work they did pouring one of the courts earlier in the year.  Once that is finished, the fencing people will come in and do the ceiling and area behind the courts.  The estimated time of completion, as reported by the HCRP, is for the first week in May.  This date depends on our getting a week of dry weather.

Once the courts are opened, we’re hoping for a great summer of play.  The back courts are to be extended, which means more room for those deep shots.  If this year is like previous years, Saturday morning will be the most attended day, followed by Sunday morning, Tuesday and Thursday after 3:30p, and some people showing up on Wednesdays as well.

The No Frills has been scheduled for 6/9/07 and the Eastern Regional for 8/17/07 – 8/19/07.  There will also be the classic Golf/Handball Outing in July that is yet to be scheduled.

Player Development work has continued with Dan Ho and Gary Cruz having talked to the Howard County Public School Gym Instructors on 3/23/07.  Dan Ho has also scheduled several Handball Clinics through HCRP to take place this summer at the 3-wall courts.  We continue to make efforts in pursuing options for gaining access to groups of youth for an instructional.

This winter the Supreme Club offered Challenge Courts for players to drop-in.  I want to thank the players who made travel plans to come in and help fill the courts, including the Andersons, Zimets, and particularly Bob Bardwell.  The Challenge Courts were a great opportunity for players to match up with new partners and challenge new teams, adding variety in these
days where we experience fewer and fewer player options.  The last day of the Challenge Courts will be the first day the 3-wall courts open.  I hope to continue these Challenge Days next year.

I want to apologize for the Maryland Handball website, which has been under construction for the past month.  We are hoping to have it up and running with improvements in the next week thanks to the technical assistance of Josh Ho.

Having been injured over the past few months my play has been quite limited, so I have not been able to spend as much time talking to and playing ball with you all.  I hope to see each of you this summer.  If you have need of equipment (e.g., balls, gloves, goggles) please know that I have a stock of items for sale.

See you soon, and pray for sun and reasonable temperatures!

*Check out the latest video uploaded to the web. It was created to introduce handball to college students, but serves as a great way to show anyone the basics of the game. Send the following link to your friends and family members just starting to play or show interest in the great game of handball.

Go to this Google video link listed below and download this six-part handball video to your computer. Don't forget to give the videos your highest vote, so that it stays on top of the handball video search results. Do this by clicking on "write comment" and clicking on the stars to rate it.

Do this for all six videos.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4493024343384388255&q=handball

2007 Calendar of Tournaments:
• 3/17/07 – 3/18/07-PA State Singles, Sinking Spring,PA
• 3/22/07 – 3/25/07 – National Masters Doubles, Overland Park, KS
• 4/30/07 – 5/6/07 – 4-Wall Nationals, Minneapolis
• 6/9/07 – 3-Wall No Frills Doubles, Columbia, MD
• 8/17/07 – 8/19/07 – 3-Wall Eastern Regional Tournament, Columbia, MD

Bullet Points on What's New:
• The 2006 4-wall doubles was a great success!  See the page for the doubles tournament for details.
• CHALLENGE COURTS ARE HERE!  See above for details!
• You can now order your XS Energy Bars and Drinks online at www.srice.qhealthzone.com.  Sue Rice is Maryland Handball's Representative.
•  We are in need of players willing to volunteer as Tournament Assistants.  This role will involve offering help on tournament days ONLY.  If you are able to volunteer, please let us know by emailing at MDHandball@hotmail.com.
• The USHA has identified Dan Zimet as a reseller of Handball Supplies.  If you are in need of equipment, please e-mail MDHandball@hotmail.com.

Thanks to the contributions of players in the Mid-Atlantic, Maryland Handball has a fund of $4,000 devoted to the promotion, support, and development of new players in the area.  Here is what’s going on:

Gary Cruz again came to Maryland and met with all the gym instructors of the Howard County High Schools on March 23rd. Dan Zimet met with Jackie French, Superintendent of the Howard County Athletics Department, on July 18th.

Dan Ho volunteered as the 2006 MHA Player Development Committee chair.

The USHA and Player Development Fund has kindly donated gloves, white-ace balls, and goggles to the MHA.Gary Cruz of the USHA flew in and, with Dan Zimet, taught periods 2-8 for 3-days in April.